Hotel Goethe87 Berlin

... situation.

In 2008 I was in Cologne, Germany when I received the shocking news that my uncle in Pomona, California had been diagnosed with lung and brain cancer and that he only had six months to live. The prognosis stunned me and immediately changed my perception of life completely. With the help of his wife, sons, and daughters, he visited doctors and researched alternative methods of treatment, but the possibilities looked bleak. He tried to avoid ...

... as I expected – it’s been americanised with basically a central shopping strip. Although one place I didn’t expect was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church – it’s quite magnificent. They’ve torn down the ruined church and left the steeple in its damaged post war state. Then they’ve replaced the church with what looks like two unremarkable high-rise style buildings from the outside, except inside those buildings the church is transformed into a huge ...

... inflation destroying the middle-class. US loans helped keep the economy afloat until Hitler took over in the 30s. Today, Chancellor Merkel is really taking a dangerous platform with Germans by not engaging with the EU in government cash infusion. She believes Germany's economy can weather the economic storm. I really think she's got this wrong and will eventually have to chage her stance. It doesn't take an economist to figure it out... just take a ...

... s to visit the 1936 Olympic St*dium on the outskirts of the city. The Olympic st*dium *nd the surrounding *re* were very N*ziesct, *rchitectur*lly, but they were given * rev*mp for the World Cup 2 ye*rs *go. We then he*ded for Checkpoint Ch*rlie, the f*mous border crossing between E*st *nd West when the city w*s divided by the w*ll. Now * tourist tr*p, we got our photos *nd then he*ded on our w*y. After * busy d*y we elected for *nother quiet night.

... some boots for her Christmas present. At tea time we found a good cheap Asian food shop and had a lovely meal as they were attempting to close. Rested in the room and did some laundry after tea.

Sunday Berlin

Had a lovely walk before breakfast. Sunny but very crisp. Couldn't find a shop open at breakfast being Sunday. Started by taking a couple of connecting trains to the Mauer museum built on the site of the church caught in the Berlin Wall no man's land called the death strip ...

Day one in Berlin. Upon arrival it is immediately noticeable that this is a place where the traditional and the modern collide, creating an experience like no other. Once one of the most divided and oppressed cities in the world, it is now united and home to many world-renown universities and research institutes. The fall of oppression brought about new modern art, architecture, and an amazing night life. Berlin has evolved into a point of gathering for ...

... s time to go. So I did. I packed up all my stuff, walked to the train station, and booked myself a train to Berlin. The train left at 6 PM, so I spent the rest of the day asleep on a bench in the Stockholm train station. The first train was a 6 hour ride to the most southern city of Sweden, Malmö. I switched trains there, and got on a sleeper train where I had a nice little bed to sleep on that felt like a slab of concrete....The train was loaded ...

Woke up and jumped off the train at Berlin zoological garden station (the station which I had departed from on my overnight train to Munich- full circle). I was promptly told that trains to Hamburg left from the new Berlin Station, which I believe is currantly the biggest in Europe. Naturally I decided the quickest way to get there was by train- so I checked the timetable for ...

... of the night crying because I really did NOT want to go home and face the **** I would have to deal with. After some tearful goodbyes, I finally headed back to the hotel. Up early for the last buffet breakfast. I cannot believe how sick I was of them at this point. I drink nonfat milk, which was never provided, so I refused to have it. Well, all I was craving was a giant bowl of cereal! Seriously. Only a few people had early flights, so we said more final goodbyes ...

Hey All, Note to self, when arriving at a new city after midnight, try and not do it again... It was fun we arrived from Athens and attempted to get to our hostel...3 hours later (usually a 30 minute journey) we arrived, the best bit was when the train we through was going to get us to our location stopped permanently 2 stops before our station we need to change at for the underground. We waited around as there was lots of other people who looked like they were waiting for a train ...