Jul 5, 2005 - Berlin

Word to the wise... never decide to go on a 9 hour walking tour in the pouring down rain, it will make for a long day!! I am starting to think the rain is following me because tomorrow it is predicted to be even worse. The tour was fantastic and I learned more German history in one day than I would have in an entire semester course. I will write more about that tomorrow when I have more time. I can't close this entry without sending kudos to dad too. Maybe I should change yesterday's comment to ALWAYS LISTEN TO MY PARENTS:) The book that he...

Jun 20, 2005 - Berlin

Bom, espero que estejam ligados no nosso trip journal Temos muitas fotos ainda para alimentar este nosso site maluco. Acabamos de chegar de Berlim e ficamos anestesiados com tudo: as historias, parlamento, igreja destruida e intacta desde aqueles tempos (é possível ver as marcas das balas nas paredes), o Muro, caminhamos pelo percurso que o Muro dividia a Alemanha Oriental e Ocidental, com os postais, fotos do passado pudemos sentir um pouco tudo aquilo e realmente eh uma experiencia unica...Alias, tudo esta em obra por aqui, aguardando a...

Jun 18, 2005 - Berlin, Germany

we left on a VERY EARLY train from Amsterdam, heading to Berlin. our train departed around 6 AM, and unfortunately we encountered some very unfortunate girls. we had reserved seats on the train, which we clearly marked on our tickets. so when we got on the train and found two girls in our seats we assumed it was our mistake. we got off the train, circled around, and found ourselves again at the same seats. we politely asked the girls if they would move since those were our seats. they proceeded to get angry and ask why we couldn't just go...

Jun 18, 2005 - Berlin

I have to say Berlin was one of my favourite cities, purely because of the general atmosphere there. The part of town where I was staying was one of the first truly multicultural areas I've seen, with actual authentic Asian, Indian and Turkish restaurants (as opposed to the revolting, greasy, microwaved attempts at foreign cuisine I've seen in many cities). The sidewalks were tree-lined and really wide and most of the cafes and even the bars and nightclubs had chairs outside. There were heaps of little independent hand-made clothes and art...

Jun 14, 2005 - the high-rent hooker

ok, this is the funny story i was referring to. i just saw (well, awhile ago when i actually wrote this) a 68-year old hooker. no joke. i was walking down a financial district street (think brushed steel, marble, and lots of glass) at around 10. and i passed a woman waiting by a post box. under normal circumstances, this would have not have been notable. except that she wasn't wearing any pants. just a longer sweater that BARELY covered her bum. and high-heeled boots. no kidding. and this wasn't a seedy area either (no red-light repeat of...

Jun 14, 2005 - you can run but you can't hide

starbucks. massvie road construction. asian tourists. these are the three omnipresent entities for cities of every shape, size, and color. berlin is actually a pretty cool city. it'd be a lot better, however, if people didn't speak german. ha! i went to this restaurant and ordered something. i have no idea what it was or even if it was an entre. i just took the menu, flipped a couple of pages in, after passing what i had assumed to be soups, salads, and appetizers, and i chose the first thing on the list. now i know how pavel datsyuk felt...

Jun 10, 2005 - Berlin doesn't sleep

O.K. Berlin was by far the most amazing place after Plakias that I have been to, I have ever since I was a child wanted to see the Berlin wall and finally go my wish and more. We went to Berlin for Chris's birhday and what a birthday to remember, Chris is from West Germany but has lived in Berlin for some time now and is punker along with alot of other East Berlin people. We started our night out by heading to a punk bar to meet up with some of his friends that were playing in a band there, it was mosh pit all the way on the dance floor, no...

Jun 9, 2005 - On to Berlin

Wow...we had a lot of excitement in Berlin. Our visit there started our great when a young girl saw us looking at a map and asked us if she wanted a ride to our hostel. She drove us straight to the front door, and when I tried to give her money for gas, all she said was Nein! Our second day there, we were riding the subway with what we thought were the right tickets, when the 'subway nazi' checked our tickets and made us get off the train. He proceeded to tell us that we didn't have the correct tickets, and then forced us to pay him 40 Euro...

Jun 8, 2005 - Bye Amsterdam

Just got a few quick shots of the more colourful side of Amsterdam... We bussed to Berlin today and are settling into our brand new youth hostel. Nice and clean and we're not sharing a room so it's good. Looking forward to the walking tour we booked on the bus. It's good because you get all the history you missed at school at the actual location!

Jun 7, 2005 - Berlin, Germany

Hi Berlin. I am a doughnut. Berlin Wall! Communism! Half and half! So it's the evening and we love evenings so tomorrow we will walk around and investigate. We are investigators. Berlin has the most Turks of any city in the world outside of Turkey, of course. It also, coincidentally, has the worst, god awful, Turkish food of any city I have ever been in. Maybe its because of the wall. We did alot of walking in Berlin, like we always do. We saw "Checkpoint Charlie", and a large section of the wall that is still standing. Ok, i guess we...

Jun 4, 2005 - Germany -- Berlin

Day 62 - Sat Jun 4 Chamonix, to Berlin (via Geneva) (Jen) We left Chamonix via train to Geneva Airport to hop a plane to Berlin. The first 1.5 hrs of the train between Chamonix and Martigny, Switzerland were particularly scenic. (Chris: There were little towns perched on mountainsides, visible from out train, where you had to think 'how on earth do people get to and from there?') Our flight was with EasyJet, a sort of Southwest Airlines copy-cat (or maybe Southwest copied them...). No assigned seating, no first class, super small seats (but...

Jun 3, 2005 - Berlin in 4 jam packed days

Wednesday June 1st - Had a short hour and 30mins train ride from Hamburg to Berlin today. I'm in Berlin city for 3 days. I'm roughing it in a cheap hostel - but the good side is I've just met an aussie who's going to join me at a Jazz bar tonight (you definitely meet more people staying in places like this). There's a jazz jam session going on that's meant to be pretty great - so despite being extremely tired from a big dinner out last night with Vicki (see last entry) I'm out again! Thursday June 2nd Today was spent on a bike tour...