Going to try to keep it short because I just wanted to buy 30 minutes of Internet time. Also, I want to get to the train station early ish so we can sort out the rest of our tickets. Tonight we go to Munich, which is going to be slightly less fun than the last one because we get in around 6:30. Considering the fact that it was a pain to get everyone up at 10 this morning, this will be a fun experience.
Last night, we did not end up going to the Turkish part of town to watch the game, and I think that was a very good idea. Instead, we found this little square in Alexanderplatz area, where they showed the game, sold food and beer, and had a merry time. I tried bratwurtz. German soccer fans are pretty intense, but I guess that goes without saying. We were all a little terrified on the trip back, not necessarily because of the fans themselves, but because there were about one thousand German soccer fans crowded into the tiny train, pounding on the ceiling and violently shaking the car around. I guess living in Florence when they won the 2006 World Cup wasn´t as intense because we did not have to take public transportation back (however the streets were crazy and I think I almost got killed several times that night).
Anyway, we woke up late-ish and managed to check out right on time. We made our way with our bags over to the train station, and after having some trouble finding the baggage storage, stored our bags. We had to store our bags sparingly today because this train station is a little more expensive than the others we have been to so far. Thus, Gianni and Mia were forced to carry around their extra bags.
After this, we grabbed some pastries and panini from a cheap little deli in the train station and headed over to the meeting point for the tour. Actually, we wanted to go to the Stasi Museum beforehand, but were unable to find it. We were going to ask the tour guide at the end of the tour how to get there, but by the time the tour was finished, we had limited time.
We hung around the area until the tour started. We were debating between the Third Reich tour and the free tour, but it turned out they didn´t offer the Third Reich tour on Thursdays, so we did not have a choice in the end (unless we wanted to take the free Spanish language tour or the Red Berlin tour again).
Anyway, the group for this tour was twice the size of the tour that we went on yesterday, but I really liked the tour overall. It was a quality tour and I would definitely say it was better than some of the tours that I have paid to see. A lot of history and a lot of interesting places. And the tour guide was not boring, which is a plus. We saw a number of things, including the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Cathedral, and the square that they burned all of the books.
Berlin also is a lot sunnier than it was yesterday, so I was glad that I made sure to put a lot of sunscreen on in the morning, even if I still look pinkish after my 46 spf sunscreen. Ah, global warming.
The tour let off around the Cathedral and Museum island area, but we backtracked to Checkpoint Charlie because they were selling a lot of authentic Soviet stuff, and of course everyone wanted to go look. I got a hat. I am happy. On the way over there, we also stopped by the front of Humboldt University. It was in in the square in front of that University that they had the big book burning, so as a part of a way to repay this they sell cheap books whenever the weather permits. While my pseudo intellectual siblings bought books, I found very cheap old Nsync singles..
We walked up the street a little more so we could get stamps and figure out what we were doing with the rest of our time in Berlin. While we were waiting on the corner of the street near a Starbucks, a man approached Andrew with his arms out and kind of hugged him saying something and then walked away. Andrew was very, very upset about this.
Anyway, we take the night train to Munich tonight. This is upsetting because last night we had very comfortable beds and a very spacious hostel. Tomorrow night we start sleeping in a giant tent for about half a week. It sounds very fun.
Need to go to the train station and try to sort out tickets and see if there is a smidgen of a chance that we can maybe and possibly upgrade our seats.
Will post next from Munich!
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I like touring Berlin. It has so much history and culture. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems a bit rushed. You guys may want to try a personal tour guide in the future. We tried it once, and it felt like you had a friend in Berlin touring you around. We also rented a nice apartment from this list of Berlin Vacation Apartments so we felt very at home. We rented it for a month, right up to the games, so it was less of a hassle than reserving a hotel room.
Anyway, I hope you visit Berlin again!
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