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Published: April 24th 2006
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Soviet Cannon
me wıth a cannon bewteen my legs we arrive late in berlin, courtesy of Mr Wilfried Bauchen and the Mitzfahrzentrale which is a really cool service, especially for those on a budget. Basically its a company that drivers register with and state how many spare seats they have in a car for any particular journey, those seats then get taken up by people who want to go on the same journey but dont have a car. think organised car pooling. i could have put that before, i know. it would have been quicker i guess but never mind. so, we get to berlin for 30 euros, whereas the train would have been over 90 euros. good value i think, plus you get to meet people on the way, not just the driver. for example, and i promise im not shitting you here, i was sat in the back of the car with two middle aged Ethiopian women, one of whom was called Lem Lem, talking about the merits of Bob Geldof. No more need be said.
anyway, we arrive ion berlin and find the Circus Hostel at Rosa Luxemburga Strasse. this is by far the best hostel you will ever stay in. its clean, comfortable, the staff
are amazing. just stay there, its like a hotel but cheaper than a lot of other european hostels. the next day we go on a walking tour that takes 8hrs, covers upwards of 12km and was simply brilliant. both joel and i believe that the best way to experience somewhere is just to walk around it and this tour (run by the Brewer's Tours) was perfect. The British guide, Victoria, knew everything about the place, was so friendly and informative that by the end of it, despite being more tired than my grandad on boxing day, we thought it was the best 12 euros we will spend. and it was. it took in all the things you will expect to see an more, things you would never have found on your own. there is a free tour around berlin, but i highly recommend spending the money and going with Brewers. through the tour we also met loads of people from our hostel and the other circus hostel in berlin which was cool. as a result of this tour "the joke" was also born. i know some of you know the joke already, but for those that dont, you will have
Squat Bar
had a beer in thıs place to wait as if i tell it you know you will be apalled and will stop reading the blog. i dont want that so have patience. and trust me as i have told this joke now to a lot of people (imin romania remember!) and have lost a few freinds along the way because of it. its funny if you have something against ginger people though, and i do, they scare me as much as the clown from "It". especially those with really blue eyes that look like they're gonna cry any minute.
i digress. again.
the next day, the 7th, we wander around going back to things we wanted to see more of the day before like the Stasi Museuam and the Topography of Terror exhibition. in the evening we went to a bar that the tour guide showed us, but its not just any bar. its not relly even a bar to be honest, its a squat, a near derelict 5 storey building that homeless people moved into a few years ago, graffitied the hell out of, opened up galleries for their artwork and a couple of bars on the 3rd and 5th floors. this place
Squat Bar Car Park
just like liverpool! was amazing, really really amazing. we went with a few people from the walking tour and all of us were blown away at how creative a place it was. we were told that, though technically illegal, it has an "open door policy" meaning that if a door is left open then you can go through it. other than that you can do what you want, except drugs, which a not tolerated. even though the place is basically a homeless shelter you feel safe, they have cinemas showing the newest films (walk the line etc) its only going to be there for a few more years when they get evicted so if your going to berlin go here and thank us later. its near the new Synagogue, which by the way is rubbish on the inside so dont bother with it.
on sunday the 9th we bum about and generally do nothing, save watching the devil itself (chelsea fc) give west ham a thumping. Later we meet Stefan Rudic who is our driver to Dresden.
bored now, save to say that berlin is an amazing place (well, old east berlin is, old west berlin is like anywhere else really)
and it is a place you can imagine spending so much longer exploring. love it.
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