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We try to get up at a reasonable time today as we have lots to see. We manage to get up and out for 11am (early enough for us!), but unfortunately spend the next 40 minutes trying to buy a train ticket, as the machine won't accept our visa card, and when we decide to chance it and go onto the train without one, we spot the train inspectors on the train and bottle it. So we have to go back outside and search for a cash machine which we eventually find, but not after a mini heated 'discussion' that nearly results in us going nowhere (that’s what happens when you spend 14 full day and nights with someone). You’d think we were pros at using subways in foreign countries by now, but clearly not.
Our first point of interest, when we do eventually manage to get there, is Checkpoint Charlie (for those who don't know what that is, look it up on the Internet) then we make our way to the remaining stretch of the Berlin wall still standing in its original place. They have a really interesting exhibit next to it explaining the history of it all, as
well as going back further detailing Hitler's rise in to power. Ultimately he happened to be in the right place at the right time (as well as being an insanely evil man) which is quite scary, as it makes you realise how wars begin if someone in power abuses it and doesn't have the right intentions in mind. My mind is whirring from all this information overload, so we grab a coffee and head to the Reichstag parliament building, for which we have a prior appointment (ooooh). I managed to get an appointment by contacting them online a few weeks ago, so we feel like V.I.P’s (very important pricks, I mean people). We are ushered through security, separated from the minions and given an ID badge. The views from the top of the building are impressive- you can see the Tiergarden park from one side and then the Brandenburg Gate from another. It's absolutely freezing cold by this point, and I stupidly didn't bring a jacket and have the thinnest wee shoes on ever, so we head back to the hotel for a heat and to plan our moves for the evening. I had read an article somewhere saying there
is an area called Kruezberg which has lots of cool little bars and cafes so we decide to make our way there.
Unfortunately we didn't take into consideration that Kruezberg is it’s own town, so it's like trying to find Ashton Lane in Glasgow as a tourist coming out of Central station with no street names or maps. Not the best plan, and there are quite a few undesirables hanging about, so admitting defeat we head back to Alexandersplatz, which is the main station in the centre of town. There's a mini winter beer festival going on, so we end up grabbing a massive plate of home-cooked food from one of the stalls for 7.50 euros. Greg tries curry wurst while I have a beef stew which is delicious. We share a large doughy pretzel on the way back, which is also very yummy (sod the diet).
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