been paying in Europe 2008: Day 7 and 8: Berlin

Arrival in Berlin

Although I have been in Germany for 6 months already, today was the first time that I stepped into the capital of Germany, or rather, the capital of the soon-to-be euro 2008 champs, as what the pilot of easyjet announced over the PA system on the plane. True enough, berlin is not a touristic place with beautiful historical monuments/establishments and most of the visitors are either domestic locals from other German cities or school children bored to tears. However the visit to berlin turned out to be very educational from a historical perspective. We got pieces of the Berlin wall after a little effort knocking some chipped stones of the wall too.

What I liked about Berlin:
-easy navigation, probably cos I was aided with a very good map.
-relatively cheap food, if we’re not choosy. In fact, we ate Indian and Moroccan food and they turned out to be very great.
-the hostel was wonderful too, 15€ per nite with everything provided and great sleeping conditions
-back to the cool weather again
-no bullshit from touts (well in the first place it was not touristic)
-friendly berliners, much more friendly than the mannheimers.

-benhardt

Yeah! The weather is finally cooling! Not sweating like mad anymore! But this part of the trip is more interesting for bs and py who has done history I guess. Though I know a bit of world war II and stuff I’m not very familiar with the dates and names. We chipped a few pieces of the berlin wall off. The sleeping conditions are also becoming better! This is by far the best hostel! Good clean beds. Good clean showering facilities. And a large room with nice temperature! Not like Venice. Everything seems perfect. I hope Prague don’t disappoint in becoming better!

We watched Russia vs spain in a roadside bar. Had chicken and beer for dinner. Very nice of the place to allow outside food otherwise we’d be paying through our pockets again. The most interesting part of the night was not the soccer match but the group that was sitting next to us. There were 4 caucasians who are bloody rich. How I know that cos they talk as though they are. 3 men and one girl. The girl is 20 years old and is about to marry the rich guy who I guess is about 30 odd cos she’s pregnant. How I know? Cos they were talking damn loudly. Showing off. Oh well. So they were talking about how a diamond ring has to be at least 4 carats and not just one. How the guy is refusing to be named “baron” in uk. How he sold his Porsche cos he was getting poorer blah blah… and I was just thinking to myself whether being rich means having to keep up with appearances. Like wearing branded good buying expensive stuff and having to put up with superficial talk. Maybe I’m jut envious. But I do agree with bs that backpacking is the best way to see a place. Somehow I see envy in the girl’s eyes. 20 years old. Getting married. Tied down with a kid. She’ll be travelling the rich and famous style. But is she really enjoying it? I don’t know. To me it seems really tiring.

~Y~

Before we made our way to the Marco Polo airport for the plane to Berlin, it was a mad rush as we finally managed to find the postcards that we saw the previous day. Reached Berlin in the late afternoon and we checked into the hostel. Till now, it is the best hostel that we have stayed – it’s called Heart of Gold Hostel.

Rather than say that I’m on a tour in Berlin, I would rather say that touring Berlin is like going on an educational trip. Visits to the remaining Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum were so meaningful considering I’ve been studying history and the likes since secondary school. It’s one subject that I really enjoyed. The chance to go to these places really allows me to “feel” and further understand the various events that I’ve came to know. This is one reason why I want to visit Europe, especially Germany – a country that I really love (although not so much the soccer team…). And I got a DDR visa!! So cool!!

Overall, the Berlin leg was a great one. Everything was nice – from the hostel to the various visits to the Euro match (Spain beat Russia 3-0!!) to the weather. The only idiotic thing was that I lost my spectacles! Think the cleaner threw them away when I left them in the toilet because which idiot would want to take the glasses when it’s not even an atas one. -_-

Alright. Forward to Prague!

~Pieter~

Der Reichstag (Parliament)

Das Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)

Fake Visa with the DDR (Former East Germany) Soldier: He only smiled in this pic when I asked him to cos he tried to look serious and stern in every pics.

Jewish Synagogue near our hostel: apprently a local policeman tried to save it from being ruined during Kristallnacht (Night of the broken glass on 9-10 Nov 1938)