Hopping around Germany

Ah! What about germany...I am no fanatic of museums..as far as i am concerned museums are meant for school kids, school teachers and people who cant go out and take a look at things themselves :)). But must say museums in Berlin changed this altogether. I actually spent a good 7 hours of the day in just one museum, without realizing the amount of time I had spent. I guess I drove home the point, museums can be interesting...but still...

Got to Berlin with the hope of catching up with northern hemisphere's summer after a few chilly months in south. But guess what, it rained and rained and rained through my entire stay there. Might aswell have stayed in Oz.

I dont think I will ever get accustomed to driving on the right side of the road, it makes even crossing the road quite dicey..dont know which way to look for oncoming vechicles :) especially if i am hopping from one country where people drive on the left to another where people drive on the right.

The few things which strike are the lovely medieval architecture and right opposite to them are the strange modern buildings. Potsdam, known for its castles and also for WW-II, a stones throw away from Berlin, actually a couple of hours journey (I was talking in terms of Aussie land!) was worth the trip. Beautiful castles, and mind blowing carvings was the highlight. But amidst several castles it was the Chinese Haus which stands out, golden pillars and lovely treat for the eyes amidst the more strict european architectures.

Put off, was the number of tourists everywhere. But the locals whom i met were very friendly and we had great fun. Learnt opening up one beer bottle using another..guess it must have been one of those german things. Took one of the boat rides within the town to look around the city itself. It rained so heavily that I was the only one on the deck. But had great fun ducking below low bridges and watching people heavily dressed up cursing the rain.

Anyway decided to drop into Hamburg, a city I believed to be a less touristic place than Berlin, and yes it tured out that way. Got ditched by someone from "mittfar..." a net arranged carpool. So took a train at the last min and got there. Met up with an old friend Ap and lots of other people studying at Hamburg University. Was great fun. I got treated like a royal tourist (I have always hated being one of those) and was taken all around hamburg. I was very impressed with some old buildings, and the harbour was a sight. Not comparabale to the harbour in Sydney, but the harbour here had a charm of its own. Lit up on the either side, and interspersed with some wierd buildings which was lit up enviably, and then the floating restaurants...hmm was a charming evening. Owe it Ap and Di for that. We did walk up the huge tower (I slyly took the lift) where we caught sight of two rainbows one behind the other over the harbour. That just reaffirmed hamburg a pretty little city for me, quiet, small and charming.

Headed off from there to Rugen island. A train from Hamburg got us (me, Ap and Di) there. Was wonderful to cross the sea to reach the island. Take my word, the sea was stunning, jade green, yes that was the colour of the sea. Rugen has known to be the most inspiring places to several people and i dont wonder why. The beach at Osteebad Binz was breathtaking, and so were the cute beachboxes..they were fun..coloured in sparkling bright blue, green and red. A cruise from there and a bus ride through the woods got us to Jasmund National park.

Well the National park is located on the cliff, a chalk clif actually. The contrast is hard to explain. Imagine brilliantly white chalk cliffs looking over the jade green baltic sea. It was an awesome sight. Well we did the long walk over the cliff, a 10 - 15 kms walk. It was not a hard walk but considering that we hadnt done any walks over a long time we decided it was worth exploring. But merely the fact that we had gotten outdoors after a long time was good enuf to keep us going. We did the walk quite easily stopping in between to take a glimpse of the sea beside us. After the walk we then took what was, I think, the last bus to the train station. We perhaps slept through the entire train journey and got to Hamburg late in the evening. Celebrated Ap's birthday that night, me and my perfect timing :). And the royal treatment continued next morning, as I was escorted to the right train, to get to Berlin.

Well then it was short flight from Berlin to Sfax and then it was back to desert.

Pics on the next entry!

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