Berlin and the wall

Jessie and I got to Berlin around 11pm and went right to bed. The next morning we decided to take a walking tour through the city which was probably the next best walking tour I took. Our guides name was Mike and he was from New Zealand but was now living with his wife and children in East Berlin aka the bad side where we were staying too. Mike was very enthusiastic and loves Berlin but misses New Zealand to some degree. He showed us where the New Zealand Embassy was as well as where it is on a huge globe we came across on our travels as a little joke. On our walking tour we saw part of the Berlin Wall, places where the Berlin Wall once stood to show where the death strip was which was around checkpoint charlie. We saw where Hitler's Bunker was but you cant actually see it because its under 14ft of bad ass Nazi Concrete- as Mike told us. Near Hitler's Bunker is also the Jewish Memorial site which is really cool because you can interpret it in many different ways. For instance it can be the amount of Jews taken, the types of Jews, and since its dark and quiet inside the memorial and you can't tell where others are you have the type of fear that the Jews could possibly experience. We also saw the university where Einstein and other famous German philosophers and such went to school. This is also the same place where the Nazi's did the Book burning which is memorialized with empty bookcases under a glass in a square across from the university. We also went to Museum Island where there are 4 museums and you can see bullet marks left on the museum from when they attacked Berlin. Also across from the Museums is the Berlin Cathedral which is really dark ash from the war however the statues on the cathedral look new because the Nazis put the statues in the water and in special places so they wouldn't be destroyed during the war. Right near Museum Island was a little place to remember those from WWII where there is an Jew, a unidentified Nazi and regular soldier over a statue with a woman carrying her son. The building however had a hole at the top like the Pantheon which made Jessie a little happy because it reminded her of Italy but it was copying it which made her a little mad because of how many buildings copy it. Then we ended our tour by the Brandenburg Gate which is the symbol of freedom for people of Berlin and where the Berlin wall was in front of the gate. Also around that area the US, France, and UK embassy is there but more importantly is the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled Blanket over the balcony. Overall we saw a lot and had a great time but we were tired after the walk that we went to look for a place for Cappuccino, which Jessie has gotten me into. After Cappuccino Jessie and I went and got some Currywurst which is a Berlin delicacy and is indeed delicious. Then Jessie and I played with the Berlin Wall for about 20 minutes by going inside the crevices. We had a little too much fun probably but we had fun. Then we went inside the free museum which talks about everything the Nazi's did from 1939-1942

Then we wandered around and ended back up at our hostel where one of our roommates told us of an underground pub crawl which we had to do a mad walking dash to get to the first bar. We missed the first drink but we got our Piss Off stamp to get into the bars. The 1st bar we went to was a Goth bar where they played 90's music like Sugar Ray and Pink. At the bar we befriended Rodrigo and Paul who we pretty much stuck with the whole night. After the Goth bar we went to an absinthe bar where the 4 of us all did the shots together. Then we went to a secret Ping pong around the world bar where back during the war people would discuss politics but the ping pong would mute their voices. After that we went to what I call the black light bar where there was just black lights everywhere and strange rooms including the mens bathroom which we found out had a camera over the urinal . The our last bar was a Rastafarian bar where we spent about 20 minutes and then went to get Kabobs. We were planning on walking home but since we were on the other side of town and it was 3am we took a cab back to the hostel. Overall the pub crawl was a lot of fun and none of us got bad.

The next day we slept in til around 11 which is the latest the both of us had slept in. But today was a relaxing and free day. We walked towards the Brandenburg gate where there was a Starbucks. So a little slice of home while looking at the gate was just delicious. Then we went to the Reistag which is their Parliament building. On top of the building there is a huge glass dome which is circular and gives you great views of the city. While in the dome the audio guide tells you what to look for and once you get to the top there is an open hole like the Pantheon and there is a huge funnel to capture the water. This whole contraption and the dome itself provides heat for the building. That's not the only cool thing but when you finish walking down the dome you can look down to see Parliament working. The whole idea behind the glass dome and looking down into Parliament is the unification of the people and they have a say in government now.

After the Dome we went into 4 museums in the matter of 5 hours. To be honest probably not the best but it was definitely fun. They somewhat all blended and seemed to have an Egyptian theme except the art gallery which had morbid type of drawings like heads being cut off ect. However the thing that sticks out the most is the bust of Nefertiti. It was beautiful and looked like it could come alive. She had glass eyes that looked like they were real however she only had one eye due to someone taking it or losing it along the way. Overall Jessie and I were amazed at how much Egyptian stuff was at the museum. The best picture, although no one will ever see it because my camera card is gone was we found a face of a man that looked like Eric from The Little Mermaid and Jessie looked at it like Ariel; it was precious and its worth mentioning since one day I will forget and those are the only two things that stick out in my mind during those museums. After the museums Jessie and I pretty much called it a night because we had a fun filled footy day ahead of us.

We woke up at 11 and had lunch in the park before we were off to see the Germany, US, and England game. Jessie and I wanted to experience the World Cup adventure with Germans where the Germans go which was Olympic Stadium where the World Cup was played 4 years ago as well as the Berlin Olympics. We got on the train just in time... well Jessi got on and literally put her body through the door to help me get on the train which was pretty much the last train to get to the stadium on time. The train ride was getting crazier with each stop but it got extremely crazy 2 stops away from the stadium where the train cars ended up being like sardine and all you heard was vuvuzelas doing da da da daa daa daa da da da daa Deutchland. At that stop it took them 3 tries until we could finally leave the station. Once we got off the train we ran with all the other Germans to the stadium and we should of definitely had some brewskies before we got in because everything was overprices. Then when Germany lost it was sad because angry Germans are not fun. We ran into 2 fights 1 over spilled beer another for no apparent reason. Then we had angry german screaming at the screen 1 sounded like a smoker german and then the other who was behind us decked out in everything German Flag sounded like a Gollum Screaming German. Thankfully we didnt go back on the train we stayed for the US game where practically there was a small group of Americans who all came together and stood together to watch the game versus Slovenia where there was an even smaller group of Slovenians. They were the first to score the goal and a man with the Slovenian flag proudly ran in front of the Americans. But in the end America came back and Donovan saved the day and although the game was tied we should of been 1 up for the infamous goal we didnt receive because a man was possibly offsides.
Then we went back towards our hostel and watched the England game over there which they lost. I did better and was not upset. So overall the game day ended up being 2 losses and 1 tie although should of been a win. Overall it was a fun footy day and felt like we saw good football. I am referring to soccer but I call it football because thats what everyone else calls it over there.

The next day was probably not my most proudest moment. To sum it up I really wanted to enjoy it the best way possible since it was the Gay Pride Parade which is attended by many Berliners. I wanted to get buzzed and watch it but I had a little more Prosecco then wanted. Lets just say we walked in the Parade and all I remember is the YMCA. However when I felt better at night I had the best dorm conversation ever albeit it went till about 2 in the morning but it was hysterical. To set it up it was Jessie, Shubrah, and I all from America, Daniel Hussey and his passed out friend with an umbrella from Australia and another random Australian Johnny. The conversation overall was between the girls and Daniel. Daniel kept calling Americans Wankers and then gave me the nickname buckets, he was going to marry Jessie in Italy so Jessie was his wife and then Shubrah he kept messing up her name. Bottom line the best line of the night came from Johnny who had the best 1 liners and would speak at random times. So I asked Johnny when he came in if Americans were Wankers and he replied " Everyone masturbates now and then" You probably had to be there but it was a fun night which Jessie had to leave at 4:30am to catch her flight back to Italy. I also had to pack up because I had to leave around the same time the next day and was moving to a hotel.

The next morning Shubrah and I went to Sachsenhausen which is a concentration camp near Berlin which was the model for all the other concentration camps. We had a guide that was from the same company that did our walking tour take us through the camp which is pretty much destroyed. There are outlines of where all the bunkers were and there is a mock up of what one of the living spaces would of been. Then we saw the place where they executed people with either the showers or a "doctor examination" which was where the person was put up against a wall to what he thought was to check his height but behind him was a Nazi officer pointing a gun at his neck. They found this was the easiest way to execute people and then they would either bury the bodies or put them in the ovens.One thing that is different from Sachsenhausen than other concentration camps is that after the war the Soviets used it as a special camp where they kept prisoners inside barracks but they just stayed inside the barracks all day. People say that the Soviet special camp was worst than the concentration camp because they didnt do anything.

After the camp Shubhar and I went to the Berlin Dome and sat through part of a mass so we wouldnt have to pay admission price and see most of the church anyways. We both had pamphlets to tell us what to say and we started writing on them to decide when we wanted to leave and talk about how we had no idea what the priest was saying. He looked like a judge and all I could make out was blah blah blah but in harsh tones. So we finally decided to leave and I wanted to keep the pamphlet for my scrapbook but when we were leaving the man guarding the door took the pamphlet out of my hands because we were leaving and didnt have any more to give to anyone so he gave mine to the someone else which made me dash out of there because I didnt want him to look at the back and look at me. Once we got out of the cathedral Shubrah and I started cracking up hysterically because we couldnt believe what just happened and wondered what the person would of thought when he looked at the back.

After the cathedral we said our goodbyes as I trekked back to the hostel and to my hotel which was 20 minutes away. I got a doner Kabob for dinner and then returned to my hotel to watch the Ivory Coast vs Brazil game where Brazil dominated. Then I took a shower and went to sleep to get ready to go to Madrid in the morning