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Published: November 7th 2007
At the Gates...
The Brandenberg Gate separated us from them.We showed up in Berlin, which seemed like a huge city on a map, not knowing where the hell we were going to stay. Luckily, after jumping on and off trains we wandered into a pretty cool hostel. It actually turned out to be one of the nicest places we have stayed in...down pillows, duvets...let's just say it was pretty high class when compared to a bamboo mat. The next day we hunted out some coffee to keep us warm, since it was the coldest place we have been, and headed out to check out the sights. Little did we know, the city is pretty massive so most of the day was spent walking around aimlessly, not sure what we were looking at, while freezing our asses off. We opted to take one of the city walking tours the following day. That night still trying to stay warm we figured we would give some Absinthe a shot. Let us tell you that stuff tastes like ass...but is highly effective (160 proof to be exact). The next morning we got off to a slow start and met with our tour group...barely. Russ needed to grab a quick breakfast consisting of red bull
TV Tower
A famous landmark...How many channels do you think they get? and donuts...breakfast of champions baby. The tour took us most of the main sights like the Reichstag, The Brandenburg gate, Hitler's Bunker (where he committed suicide), The Berlin Wall, Bebelplatz (the site of the Nazi book burning) and Checkpoint Charlie. Oh yeah and we also saw the hotel that Michael Jackson hung his baby from. Our guide was a pretty intense story teller (see picture) and it really helped hearing the background information about the sites we were so blankly looking at the day before. For example, the only thing left of Hitler's bunker is a patch of grass near a condominum parking lot...people think it is appropriate that the place where Hitler died is now where the community takes their dogs to take a deuce. It was crazy to think of a wall through the city and that the people walking past you on the streets actually lived through it. Even though the wall came down 18 years ago, thank you David Hasselhoff, socially and economically it is still up. 20% of the population wishes it was still up and 75% of easterners feel like they are treated as lower class citizens. There is also so much new construction
Checkpoint Charlie
The main checkpoint which controlled those coming from the east. Where Soviet and US tanks stood fully loaded 100 yards apart during the Cold War. going on, that some areas feel like on giant job site.
All and all Berlin has a really cool urban vibe. The graffiti all over the city doesn't give it a trashy feel, but more of an artsy feeling. Many of the bars and nightclubs are "squat bars" meaning they just set up shop until the police kick them out..it rarely happens because no one really cares. Also, we heard a lot of the night life is in "underground" clubs and you have to know passwords to get in...it you ever go, it is New England clam chowder...we can't ever remember if it is the red or the white though.
Sorry we have been slackers with the blogs, but we'll have them up soon. See ya.
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Circus
Did you guys stay at the Circus hostel? That place is like a 4 star hostel but cheap. You guys also need to check out the Kebob’s.. I think they are like 1 Euro and they will keep you full. I can't wait to see you guys. When will you be home? We are heading back down to SD for Thanksgiving so call us up if you are back by then!!!