Berlin

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Woke up to make breakfast in Berlin at around 9am. It was a bright shining beautiful day and I was hoping for better luck today. Not the longest sleep in the world but I had to check out at 10 am just like all the other places. They always need to get in there to clean or whatever. First I had a shower which was quite nice. Everyone else was sleeping in the room. There was actually another guy below me who must have come in pretty darn late after me. Got downstairs in good time and the buffet looked amazing. All kinds of food around. It was somewhat simple but lavish by continental standards!!! There was Croissants, 2 kinds of cheese and two different kinds of meats, coffee, tea, fruit and cakes and things. I made sure to indulge so I could try and skip a meal at least. I stayed around there untill around 10ish. Went upstairs but they never gave me a key so they told me to ask the maids upstairs to let me in. Well how convenient is that eh. Got up there and they were like what the hell. Only one of them spoke any english and she kept trying to get me to speak into her microphone to talk to the lady at the desk. She JUST told me to do this so I was like no she knows Im here trying to get in. Finally they gave in and let me in. Ha just a pain in my ass.
Got my bag all packed up again. Took off into the city to see what Berlin had to offer. First I had to run to the station to book my ticket to Copenhagen later that night to make it to Villys wedding for Sat morning which was the latest I could still possibly make it. So thats what I did and it took WAYYYYYYY too long in the damn line to get my ticket. I was gonna be a bit late for this 11am Free tour that I wanted to check out. I think I had done like 4 of these now so I figured I might be able to meet them along the way if possible. Got my ticket reserved to leave Berlin at 11pm to Sweden and then back to Copenhagen to make it to Ringested to meet old Johnny.
Walked up the road towards Alexanderplatz which is the center of Berlin. The tour was meeting at Starbucks or just outside of it, and now i was 15 mins late and they were no where to be found. I saw another tour talking about this building for Jewish Herritage. I asked him if it was the free tour and he said ahhhhhhhhhhh no in his Aussie accent but said I could join them for 15 Euros. It last like 8 hours and I didnt have that much time so I said no thanks. He gave me a map and said that they had a free tour as well starting at 1pm at the train station I was just at. That was cool but it was 1145 and I had some serious sight seeing to do.
Walked over to Museum island and checked out a bunch of the museums they had. They had canals running through a lot of the town around this area. Came out at this HUGE ass cathedral and a Palace looking building where they were taking down sound equipment for some show they had last night. I saw the TV tower that is pretty hard to miss. It looks like something out of Star Wars or something. Big eye sore. Theres a story about this I learnt a little later on. This was all part of Alexanderplatz. Walked over to the big fountain across the road. There was all these Muslim people in traditional getups doing different activities all around the place. THey kind of looked like the 3 wise men out of the bible. THey were sitting in this big tent making music and some of them were doing crafts making things. It was odd. Something to do with awareness I believe on culture.
I was planning on going to the West Berlin Free tour and taking a tram to get there but now I couldnt find one after seeing soo many. So I walked back towards where this tour was supposed to start in Oranginel. Saw this crazy looking bombed out building with spray paint and music posters everywhere around it. I walked inside the building seeing a couple other tourist looking people do the same. There was all this scrap metal and crap around meant to look like art. The place was called Maggies Farm and they actually had a garden going. Not sure about veggies, and it was really quite cool to check out. There was little shops around where you could buy food and drinks and other souvenirs. I think there was more to the place I didnt see but it was still quite early. I walked around and saw this market place
It was getting quite close to 1230 when I had to be by the Zoo for this other tour. So I wasnt gonna be able to make it. I just decided then to check out the 1pm free tour that other company had. Same kind of things Im sure they had as well. I was a bit early so I stopped at a store getting extra batteries in case i ran out on the tour. I also got some other toiletry stuff. Made my way down to the station and studied the meet up spot a little more. It was right across the street at this coffee shop. Well it was 5 to and I didnt see anyone yet. All of a sudden THUNDER and major RAIN. Luckily there was a sweet little cover for the metro below which connected to the station next door. I was looking at this map to see if I read anything wrong and this group of 3 asked me if I was waiting for the tour as well. I was like yah not sure if we missed them somehow. There was this one fat dude with a nametag hanging out by us but didnt speak any english. Nope he had no clue what we were talking about. THere was even a sign saying FREE tour at 1pm but no one was there. HMMM we waited around and one of them even tried calling the number on the pamphlet. No answer nothing. What shit luck. How ridiculous is that. Im sure there was other people that wanted to take the tour as well. Hmmm so what now. It was pissing rain and I had no rain jacket cause I left it behind being such a nice day outside. HAHAHA
So there was one tour I could still make at 230 at the Zoo or on the East side by Alexandplatz. I decided to go back to the hostel and get my jacket to prepare for whatever else was to come. Got to the station and guess who was there in a big group beside a MINI cooper hung on the wall. THE freaking tour I missed in the first place! HA they were like 2 hrs into it now though. They were talking about the wall and the war and just how many innocent Germans died in the 40s. The guide was from New Zealand I believe. The rain stopped somehow after he stopped talking and I decided to follow them and finish this tour off. Im here and now why not. We walked through Postdam Platz where the Book burning happened by the College. It was actually the students who burnt the books and not the Nazis. To show their respect and try and pay back for all the priceless collections of Jewish or Homosexual authors they sell books outside of the college everyday rain or shine. Saw a cool chocolate shop where they made buildings out of chocolate. Didnt have too much time to get photos on the tour but its was something. Walked through the square where they put a French church and a German church facing each other. He also told us about the reparations the Soviets did after the war. They did it as cheaply as possible using crap materials and most of the buildings needed repair within 10 years. One of these buildings was where Lenin the Soviet godfather had worked and was one of his favourite buildings in Berlin. It was under a major reconstruction and was covered over by a Mercedes Benz poster.
We walked across the road and saw a memorial for this woman with a dead baby in her hands. It was the only thing inside this massive hall which was quite a powerful statement on humanity. After he showed us what he thought was the supposed best museum on the war in Berlin. We went back towards where the tour started in that big square with the HUGE cathedral and the Greek styled building which was Hitlers favourite building in all of Berlin. He always thought that Germany was the next major powerhouse of the world like Greece and Italy before it. SO he liked to style things that way to make it feel more elequent. He told us about the Royal Palace that they actually just finished ripping down this week!!! IT was a pretty big eye sore for Germany and the citizens voted on whether or not to keep it. THis was in East Berlin the Soviet side where Alexanderplatz was. It was pretty much the last stop so I stayed behind and went back to that museum to see how much it would be to get it.
Walked inside not really expecting to see it with minimal time if I was gonna try and make the next tour but I figured im here now might as well look. Well I got pretty darn lucky because the exit was open and unmanned so I just walked in. RIght there was two sections of the wall with writing tagged all over it. Pretty cool. THey had all sorts of things on the war. Propoganda posters, unexploded rockets, picutres of victims of the Haulacaust. Time was running out though. I made it through most of the stuff. I got in shit for using a flash by this one dude. That was ok though I didnt even want to use a flash because as you might be able to tell it ruins most of the pictures with that bright light.
I took off and walked towards the hostel.Well on my way back it starts PISSING rain again. AHhh man i didnt want to just wait it out either I had lotsa stuff to do still. I ran back to the hostel through the pooring rain. Stopped for a pic realizing how funny it was underneath an umbrella and kept on. Made it back sat down and just cruised the internet for like 2 hrs. I was soaked through and through. Got my jeans and sweater to change into and even socks. The luggage room was insane. They had bags piled 4 ft high in the path to get to the back, but not nearly as many at the back. I was slightly smart and put mine way up top of this cupboard. Mostly to deviate ppl from stealing it but it worked for not getting trampled either. My train wasnt untill like 11 so I had time to go out for some dinner and cruise around still so it wasnt a huge deal relaxing a bit. Watched a bit of the Le Tour de France and did more blogging. Im soooo behind on it now i dont know if i can ever catch up again.
After I left the bag behind grabbed my jacket and went to the station. I should of gotten a day pass sooner but it still made sense if I went far enough to get one now. So thats what i did. I think it cost 6 euro for the day. Not bad since it was 1.50 or 2 euro everytime.
First I went to Postdamer Platz where I saw a cool memorial for the Berlin Wall. Kind of lucked out on that cause i never even knew it was there. Some cool architecture around here and the Canadian embassy as well. At the station I got this Huge Sausage chopped into pieces with hot sauce on it for a snack. It was freaking tasty. So cheap too it was 1.25 Euro. THey even gave me a free coffee. I didnt think anything was free in Europe. ESPECIALLY GERMANY!!! So that was a nice surprise. The guy behind the counter asked me if I forgot my German phrasebook when I couldnt reply to what he said ordering my sausage. I said yah sorry about that and he just laughed. He was actually pretty decent guy.
Took the metro to the Zoo. Got out and explored. Went to this cool mall and saw a crazy looking cathedral. This time there was lebannese or turkish people singing and dancing for some reason by the cathdral.
Talked to some guy and girl who were doing some talk to me stunt. They just wanted to talk to people for some reason. Told em where I was from and everything. Travelling I had been doing. Lasted a few mins and I was off. Now was the best time to find a gift for Benny and Svetlana but nothing really stood out. I was thinking about getting a router maybe but they were using Vadims and it worked fine so meh.
Got back on the metro and took it as far as I could west to the Olympic stadium. THis was where France played Italy in the last World Cup 2006 in which I was in Calgary for the Stampeede for. Cool to think that happened here with the specacle about Zidance headbutting that Italian guy. HA . The guy at the gate on his cell phone was a real asshole he was like go home were closed no see. I was like I just walked that huge parking lot and Im from Canada come on man. NOPE NOTHING prick.
Walked back and waited a few mins for the tram back. Stopped a few stations away from the hostel to see Checkpoint Charlie. This was one of the major American guarded ways into west Berlin. Famous stories of people trying to escape. Some good some tragic. There was one story we were told on the tour about these two Germans dressed as cows. No seriously they dressed up as cows, d were put in between hundreds of cows by this farmer who had a permit to import and export meat between the border. It actually worked too. Another story was that there was a foreigner who had a gf in East Germany and went to school in West Germany. Well they wanted to run away together so the guy rented the faster car he could get and picked up his gf at her house. He got there and the girl says to him im not going anywhere without my mother. Well it was only a two seater but they managed to squeeze her in between. Sothey got to the checkpoint and they said STOP so they could check them out and all he did was punch the gas and go as fast as he could through. Well there was a pole blocking the gate but it was just high enough for the car to pass through and they made it!!! THis story was instantly everywhere the next day in Germany and not even a week later someone else tried the same thing but didnt make it. They lowered the pole and put extra stages in to prevent this happening.
I got a huge Kebab thing and a half litre of beer for 5 EURO. Thats not bad at all. I was stuffed and pretty happy with my purchase. I hate getting ripped off when theres nothing else around. Thats a pet peeve for me for sure. I would almost rather starve. After I read some of the billboards around Checkpoint Chalie and shot some pics it was getting dark and I went back to the hostel. Saw this odd shaped figure on the way. Just like a huge multicolred ball. Modern art is kinda siilly sometimes.
Made it back and sat on the net for a bit again. Im addicted to the internet if you hadnt already figured that out. I need it for everything. I wish I could subscribe to an internet service that i could use travelling rather than trying to find wifi. Its a pain in my ass. BIG ONE.
I made sure to tell John I would be in Ringested at 1007 am at the station. He wanted me to stay with him cause he never got much of chance to see me before. I thought that was really nice. My whole Danish family are lovely. I wish we could see each other more often. Packed up my crap and walked up to the station. 7 Euro walk hahaha.
Got there and took the metro to the MAIN station just one stop away. I was nice and early for once in my life. There was some sort of celebrations going on downtown. I could see fireworks exploding from the train station. Lasted quite awhile. Went down to the train and put my bags into my room which was conviently at the back ass of the train. I needed a beer for the train so I ran up as fast as I could up two flights. Bought the beer and got the lady to open er for me. Got down to the train and we were off. Cool to be at the very back watching Berlin dissapear. I was in a great mood looking forward to seeing people that knew me again. I waved at a few people at the station and they waved back at me. This was this beggining of a very very long night that even I couldnt of expected. I met a family of Norwegians stayin in the cabin beside me. We all had to write our names on the sheet and our nationality on our room doors. My whole room was asleep with in mins of the train leaving and I had energy in me still. We got to talking about travelling. THey had just finished going around on the train for 3 weeks and were looking forward to being home again. They told me about Paris and even gave me some unused metro tickets to use. They tried to give me stamps to use but i wouldnt take em. Not needing!!!
Then they gave me a glass of wine and the discussions continued. They were keenly interested in Canada. I told them about my adventures through Norway and lots of other stories. These two guys came by looking for the bar. It was kind of funny cause one of the guys tried to go back already and we told him it was a dead end but he went anyways. Might have been drunk already. Then the man asked me if wanted to try some Grappa from Italy. Sure why not. OHHHHHH man it was rough stuff.
The other guy came back with a sack of beers after an asked us if we were staying up. He said he was planning on going to bed soon cause everyone else was already alseep other than us. He offered us his beers and I took one and the other Norwegian dude took the other. His wife and son were getting tired so we moved from in front of there room to the back of the train. THe bar!!! HAHA it was hillarious we stayed up till like 3ish chatting and the next thing you know were about to board a ferry.
That was something to see for sure. I grabbed my camera to take a pic of the guy hooking up the car to put us on the train, took the picture and I must have startled him cause he dropped his wrench with the flash!!! HAHA
Got off on the ferry to check it out. The food was super expensive but there was a duty free on there as well. We had to wait a few mins for it to open after we departed. More drinks anyone!!! IT was freaking cheap. Oh my what a night this was turning out to be. The Norwegian guy stayed up with us too. He grabbed some food and got drinks. He bought aquevit for us to try. I told him I already did and I didnt need anymore but that never worked. Haha tasted the same to me. UGH I bought some wine gums and beers and some champagne for Svetlana. YES!!! It was even from the Ukraine so hopefully its alright.
The American guy bought some whiskey. Oh man we were passed sleeping already so here we go. Sat up drinking untill about 5ish and the Norwegian guy had to get some rest. We said our goodbyes and thanked him for being a bad influence!! We sat up in the restaurant drinking that damn whiskey and watching the waves and the sun come up on the horizon. Well there was an hour left untill we were in Sweden so I said im going to bed for an hour. The trouble was finding our way back pretty pissed!! Sooo funny. Got to the car and passed out in my clothes. NIGHT NIGHT!!! or morning i guess

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