Hallo Berlin

After a horrible night sleep on the Polska Bus from Krakow, we finally arrived in Berlin. The hostel we stayed at here was recommended by my friend Brontie and by Lauren's sister who stayed there when she was in Berlin last year. We got there early in the morning, so weren't able to check into our hostel for about 6 more hours but were able to store our luggage and take a shower. Lauren's friends Sarah and Mal were meeting us in Berlin later that night as they were coming from Frankfurt and staying at the same room as us. We made our way downtown near the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) to catch a free walking tour. Before the tour we went to get some Currywurst (sausage and fries for me) but unfortunately Katy had a bit of an accident and tripped and spilled her Currywurst all over her so we went back to the hostel so she could change. Next we made our way back downtown and did a tour around the TV tower, Berlin Cathedral and went to the DDR museum which showed what life was like for those living in East Germany (under Soviet rule) and how restricted their lives were. It was interactive so made it much more enjoyable. During university I had a course and wrote my major paper on the divide between East and West Germany and the underlying causes of the Cold War, it was so interesting to have that hands on experience.

One of the strange displays in the DDR Muesum, it was on anarchists

A typical kitchen of someone in East Germany

We also made a stop to the Ritter chocolate store in Berlin, where I tried to pay with a £10 note and didn't understand why the woman wouldn't accept it until she told me "We're in GERMANY" which made me feel a bit silly. We went to the grocery store near our hostel and got some snacks and to try and save money we made pasta for dinner since there was a kitchen we could use at the hostel.

Our room was "Ocean" theme

Berliner Pilsner - very good!