Skip to main content

Day 6: Berlin!!

Image
By
Where we stayed 
We were tired today! Alto ought we were relaxing out in the countryside with Kati we squeezed a lot in and we also did a fair bit of exercise too! So, a combination of that and the hostel dorm being too warm!! It was warmer in that room than it was outside!! A cold shower in the morning and at night helped us keep cool (and smelling relatively nice!). 

What we explored
We got the train into town and headed straight to the Brandenburg Gate where our walking tour was setting off from. There we met 'tall posh Rob' from Durham and he was our tour guide for the following three hours!! We learnt a lot about Berlin's history, some of which we already knew but a lot that was new to us and very interesting! We saw some of the key sites along the way too....another fantastic thing about these free walking tours!

The Holocaust memorial

Check point Charlie

Hitlers bunker (not the actual thing as it was destroyed and is now noting more than a 'glorified' car park) 

The Berlin Wall,


We also passed by the Nazi book burning memorial which was spectacular, a window in the ground on the site of where the nazis burned over 260 books. So under this window is a sculpture by a Jewish artist of a small room lined with enough book shelves to hold the estimated number of books destroyed that day. 

We also passed by Museum island and several beautiful sculptures and statues. After the tour though we were pretty exhausted from three hours of walking in the sun and so we headed to a place that had free wifi and something to eat, and of course some cold beers! We'll show you what we are below! 

After lunch we got the we're to the east side gallery, the longest piece of the Berlin Wall that still stands. It was wonderful to see that the locals had turned what was such a somber place into a creative and colourful area. Art and graffiti on the walls and as it happened the day we were there they were holding a small free music festival with several small acoustic stages, some food and drink vans and places to sit and relax in the sun while you listened to some music :) it was very pleasant! 


What we ate...
For lunch we went to spreegold where we had some of the best salad we've had since we started traveling! 
(Photos to follow)

In the evening we wondered around Alexanderplatz, around the square and round the spectacular tv tower! We managed to score a place to eat dinner under the TV tower there and ate some of the yummiest Currywurst!! (Much better than last night!!!) A couple of glasses of beer and we headed back to the hot-as-hell-hostel! 

Comments

  1. Unknown30 August 2016 at 14:02

    Brings back happy memories! Loved Berlin! Shame about your hostel - hope you get some sleep tonight! :) x

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zagreb and the not so orient express.

By
Not going to lie, this was not the most productive day we've had so far. We had the majority of the day to spend in Zagreb before we needed to board our first night train of the trip. However, we couldn't do anything with our big heavy rucksacks so we had to lug them about wherever we went. To be fair we did do a lot of walking the previous day, so we felt quite content with exploring the areas closer to the train station.  So, first of all we walked up to the grand hotel that used to serve as a rest stop for travellers of the great Orient Express. We considered having a wee coffee just to experience a small slice of what it might have been like to live such an affluent life (the hotel has been visited by the likes of Queen Elizabeth...). I would love to say that we did... But we gazed at the fancy waiters in their fancy suits and then took a look at ourselves and settled upon having our pack lunch in the gardens with a view of the hotel instead. We we haven't had a great e...
1 comment
Read more

Day 2 : A day in Amsterdam

By
Hello! We have lots to tell you about our day in Amsterdam, we tried the food, visited many places and learned a lot about the history of this liberal city.  Where we stayed: It had been suggested that we tried the lucky lake hostel, and it was certainly worth the pennies (perhaps one of the more expensive hostels we'll be staying in during this trip). The cheerful decor and helpful staff really made us feel at home, we're already dreaming of coming back some day. Our highlight was sitting in the hammocks holding a nice cold Amsterdam beer.  (Pictures to follow ) Places we explored: We managed to cover so much of Amsterdam in one day! The beauty of this place is that it's so easy to get around on foot (just watch for the cyclists, they will not  stop for you). As it was such a nice day we spent a lot of time visiting the outside attractions. We were lucky enough to stumble across a free walking tour, lead by a lovely guide called Karen.  (Pictures to follow ) Food we...
1 comment
Read more

Day 3: Amsterdam to Bonn

By
Day 3: We had an early start today, quite sad to be leaving the lucky lake hostel behind...but quickly we were looking onwards and eager to get to our next stop...Bonn in Germany!!  Claires lovely friend Kati lives in Kaltenborn just south of Bonn, where we'll be staying for the next couple of nights...so, we got the train quite early from Amsterdam central and headed eastward towards Cologne where we them got a train to Bonn. Kati met us there and we had a walk around the town (in 30 degree plus weather!!) En route we got some beer (which you're allowed to drink in the streets here!) and sat in a lovely park next tithe Rhein river for a few hours, chatting , napping, catching some sun!  (Images to follow)  By let afternoon we were tired and a bit hungry so we headed to Katis house where her family had prepared a lovely BBQ for us! YUMM!! "Jummy jummy!!" Her parents are lovely as is her brother! Trying very hard to speak English to us and there's ...
1 comment
Read more