Currywurst, How I Love You
Trip Start
May 04, 2008
1
9
18
Trip End
May 28, 2008
Berlin,
Germany
Sunday, May 11, 2008
After arriving at our awesome hostel (Wombats) in Berlin at about 5:30 we had a few minutes to unwind before another included dinner. The Wombats hostel is located in central Berlin and accommodations include two bunk beds and a bathroom, typical hostel style. There is a very cheap bar on the 7th floor with great views of the city and the cheapest drinks in all of Europe (at least where we stayed). After cleaning up we headed down to dinner which was fries, schnitzel, salad, and potato soup and made up for the poor dinner from Amsterdam.
After dinner we headed out for the Berlin 'Eye Spy' excursion that was new for this year. The excursion took us to a few of the darker sights in Berlin history (WWII) with only one of them still standing. Most places were just in the middle of a construction site with only a memorial plaque remaining
Hostel Room
. This wouldn't have been so bad if the tour guide wasn't the worst public speaker I've ever had to listen to. She said more 'uhm' 'yeah' and 'let me think about that for a second' than anyone I have heard. After the 30 minute tour they took us to two bars with an included wine/beer at the first and an included jager bomb/b52 at the second. After the two bars you had the option to go take public transport to a club for a bit as well. I left after the bars since the hostel was within walking distance and I was most disappointed with the night. A few of us decided to just drink at the bar where I got a sprite/vodka/blue curacao/grenadine drink for 3.90 euro and called it a night.May 12th, 2008
We woke up at 7:45 to catch the 8:15 included breakfast which was more of the same. At about 9:00 we left for our walking tour of Berlin with Torbin, who looked exactly like Matt Damon. The tour lasted about 3 1/2 hours til about 1pm and we went to a lot of unique sites in Berlin including the Jewish Memorial, the location of Hitlers Bunker, the Brandenburg Gate, and more. This excursion was most definitely worth it even for those who know a lot of European history.
After the tour was over I took the metro down to the Hard Rock for another pin (2.40 euro for metro, 8 euro for pin, 7.50 for a shot glass) and also purchased another magnet (4.95 euro) and shot glass (2.50 euro) at a souvenir shop near the Brandenburg gate. I decided to walk back to central Berlin from the Hard Rock (south end near the zoo) which turned out to be a big mistake as it took about an hour and a half (instead of a 10 minute metro ride)
Hostel Bathroom
. On the way back I tried amazing currywurst w/fries and a spite for 4.30 euro (you have to try this when in Berlin!) and hit up Tiergarten and Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral - 5 euro) on the way back. Neither of these were very impressive although I hear the view from the top of the dome is worth it completely, I was just very tired and was not as interested as I normally wouldve been after the long walk.After a brief rest at the hostel I met up with people from the tour and decided to head down to the Riestag to get pictures of the city. Along the way we ran into the Ampelmann store and had to stop. Ampelmann is the name given to the little character that is on all the pedestrian cross walk signs in East Berlin. He has his hands out and is red for stop and is pictured walking for go. The East Berlin citizens fell in love with this character during the Cold War and did everything they could to keep it up after the war was over and people wanted to remove it. It is now somewhat of a cult icon and has its own museum and store and was the source of many jokes for the rest of the trip.
After being side tracked at the Ampelmann store we made it to the Riechstag in about a 20 minute walk and met up with more people from the group. The Riechstag is the German parliament building famous for its large glass dome and art-deco internal mirror design, which allows citizens to look down on their government during sessions. The views from the top are also amazing and allow for awesome pictures. Once finished with the typical toursity pictures we grabbed dinner near the Brandenburg gate and I got another currywurst, fries, and a glass of riesling for about 10 euro. We then headed back to the hostel to unload and hit the bar where I got an amaretto sour for 3 euro and called it a day
During the Berlin Eye Spy
.May 13th, 2008
We woke up at 6:30 to catch another one of the same breakfasts at 7:15 and left by 8am. On this leg of the trip we had to pay off all our excursions for the rest of the trip plus the ones we did prior. Each tour manager sets their own policies, however our tour manager Lauren decided to have it done now. I paid everything except Jungfrau off (since it needs to be paid in francs) for 309 euro (after a 66 euro reduction using my $100 USD excursion vouchers - if you haven't booked and are from the US contact me about the referall vouchers!).
After a 3 1/2 hour ride we had a 2 hour break in Dresden Germany where we got to see the Kreuzkirche (free) and the outside of the famous Frauenkirche (8 euro to get in, but we did not pay). Dresden is the famous city in Germany that was completely destroyed in WWII by allied bombing. It was very cool to walk around and see how a city rebuilt itself entirely in just over 60 years. Since we did not go inside the cathedral another girl from the group and I got tiramisu and a fruit dessert for about 3.50 euro each and I got a bratwurst and roll from a vendor for about 2.75 euro before hitting the bus back to go to Prague.
We left Dresden at about 1:15 and arrived in Prague at about 3:30.
