Mercure Hotel Berlin an der Charite

... instructions posted online. Checked in and got all settled down in
my room. Unfortunately no one was in there yet. Walked around the area
looking for a good place to eat and found a little Asian restaurant
since I was craving Asian food. After dinner i walked around a bit
more to get an idea of the city. Headed back to the hostel for happy
hour. This meant 5 euro pitchers. Met with 3 Aussies from melborne ...

... br>We went to the Reichstag building to walk up the glass dome but there was a long queue, so went back across town because the Konzerthaus was having an open day until 5pm. We were able to return to the Grosser Saal and enjoyed a conducting master-class being run by the orchestra's usual conductor Lothar Zagrosek (who is known on the orchestra's posters as "Zag"). It looked like the same orchestra as we had seen the night before, but now dressed in casual clothes. They were ...

Last day in Berlin! I went back an revisited the Brandenburger Tor this morning for a couple of extra happy snaps of it. Then I joined the line at the Reichstag for about two and a half hours to get up to the top to see a view of Berlin. I must say it was worth it. The same guy who designed London's infamous Gherkin designed a similarly quirky glass dome for the Reichstag which visitors can go up - and it doesn't cost anything which is a bonus. Next I had a quick peruse through the ...

... another Elvis argument. We got to see part of the only remaining bits of the Berlin wall, which was interesting as i was expecting something rivaling the great wall of China, rather than a thin slab of concrete. It is in fact reinforced concrete, with a circle of concrete pipe on the top, as the curve edge makes it almost impossible to climb over. This was the higher of the 2 walls, the lower wall was placed an average of about 5 - 10m away, and inbetween ...

... a great time. So I think those were the highlights of Berlin. Jetsons Tower - prostitutes - getting lost - and diners... yup, sums that up. Next stop - Cologne, Germany ps. if you ever get the chance to eat the German pastry called a Strusseltaler (or something like that....), eat it! It is quite delectable! Mmm...

... to stop. Thus an amazing anomaly existed: while assembling in groups of more than six in any communist state was very much illegal, here you were allowed to go to church. You can fit a lot more than six people in a church. And so a lot of people in 1989 started to find religion, and express some discontent. Eventually there are protest marches - these are amazing people taking a huge chance knowing the fate of protesters in the last 30 years - and they get ...

... road....but it didn't feel very romantic, as it was wet and raining. But my reason for visiting this part of Germany was not for romance but to go in search of the land of fairy-tales..which in this case took shape at Neuschwanstein castle. Neuschwanstein Castle provides a fascinating glimpse into what happens when a romantic king with a well-developed ego and questionable grasp of reality has an unlimited interior design budget ...

... Kebab to only have lettuce, tomato, onion and of course the German input, the red cabbage. I always give the red cabbage a miss because it really doesn't fit with the rest of the taste. At the more fancy places, you can get corn and yellow chillies and beans added, but they cost extra, as does feta cheese. Salt is sometimes added, but I also politely decline, because it is just too much. Before eating, the last question is "zum hier essen oder einpacken" (to eat here or should I ...

I woke up this morning feeling a little worse for wear. I guess the effects of the last 2 nights had caught up with me :(. Doesn't seem like such a great idea now. I have to say I was luckier than some other. I know Amanda was feeling alot worse than me. After breakfast, where not much was eaten, we got on the bus and started our drive towards Berlin. Many people had to make a dash for the emergency toilet ...