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Berlin - it's a complicated feeling

Berlin, Germany


yesterday was an extremely eventful day in Berlin!

1stly, i wanna say i really really HATE the train system in Germany. it totally SUCKS! we got 1st class ticket for d train. we didnt know it was a MUST to reserve a seat (u have to pay like extra 20euros to do that). so it turned out that these "expensive Premium" seats are all reserved! i ended up with no seats in d 1st class cabins! d 2nd class cabins aint any better either. there's loads of people standing around. it was horrendous! i ended up sitting near d luggage area with a number of passengers with d same problem. d trains staff was sooo f!!!ing rude i couldnt believe it! she was telling a passenger who was sitting on d floor of d luggage area to go away n not sit there cos it was blocking her way to reach other cabins! i was thinking 'then get us all seats u f!!!ing b!tch!' gosh this is sooooo f!!!ed up! after paying a shit load of $ for d 'premium' seats, i sat on d floor of d luggage compartment for d 2 hours journey.

obviously i wasnt too happy when i reached Berlin. i was so hoping to quickly meet our host at d station n head to his place so i can recover fr d horrid train ride. we waited. no1. we called. no answer. we sent an sms.... after 30 min, our kind host sent an sms n told us he cant host us anymore cos of work emergency n we shd go to a hostel. we didnt looked up any hostels previously cos he was telling us no problem staying with him. so we were there at d train station,tired, with no host, no internet access n no idea which area to go for hostel. managed to get d tourist centre to give us a list but still dunno where to start. we called our Hamburg host Seth for help. cos we remembered him saying he has a really gd friend who lives in Berlin who got him on CS(CouchSurfing). so we sat in McDonalds while trying to decide on d hostels & waiting for Seth to call us back.

after about 2 hours of sitting in McD, i walked around d huge train station trying to find internet access. when i got back to McD, Eve was saying Seth's friend Britta just came and is buying food! n that she says she will try to help us sort something out. by d time she got back fr buying food, she said she found a couch for us. we were totally impressed! but our host is working late n heading to her brother's housewarming party later so we should go to d party n meet him there. wow! from having no place to stay to being invited to a party! i was speechless!

we accepted d invite to d party. Britta was gonna get some much needed sleep before heading to d party. we decided to spend a little time walking around town n meet Britta when she heads to party.

so our 1st night in Berlin ended in spending a few hours in Hakersher Markt, eating an Asian dinner at a cheap Wok place, going to d party filled with tattoos, dreadlocks, alcohol & smoke, finally eating our accidental life-saver host, then heading home at 3am in d morning!

this is d most eventful day on this trip to date. what an experience!

so today we took it easy n just went to supermarket n spent some time walking ard city.

cant wait to see what else Berlin has to offer!

  • no photos today. next entry perhaps!



  • permalink written by  wangyng on April 26, 2008 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
    tagged Germany and Berlin

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    Berlin - need to go back again

    Berlin, Germany


    Berlin is huge n there's soooo much to see. ended up staying in d city 1 more night than we expected but still couldnt finish seeing what was offered.

    we went to soooo many places... where do i start... hmm...

    Tiergarten was d 1st place we went to. it is a huge garden with a huge memorial in d middle of d park.

    it's a pretty nice garden to juz sit around and have a pinic. we see some ppl playing frisbee as well. there was a big kid carnival there when we went so there were loads of families.

    we walked thru d Tiergarten n head to Brandenburg Tor. we went there twice, once when there's still daylight, then we passed by it again around night fall. it looks really grand n magnificent when d lights come on.

    the Holocaust War Memorial is really big. it has a gloomy n depressing feel especially during d evening when we were there. d shadows played a huge part in how it looks. walking thru d blocks, i cant help but feel solemn n low.

    we went to yet another depressing place, the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

    it was HUUUUUGE this is actually not d real camp where d Jews were housed but build according to d exact model of d actual camp. there were jail cells, torture area, etc. there's also a number of memorials for d Jews. i didnt feel as strongly as i felt when i was at d Holocaust thou. maybe it was way too big and not as many things to see. so it was pretty tiring walking from 1 pt to another pt. we spent like 5-6 hours there, juz walking d grounds of d camp. it was sooooo tiring! after we left d camp, my host Johannes n I was soo tired we juz wanna go home. we took a different way back to d train station n it turned out to be d wrong way. we attempted to walk past d rail tracks. we were half way thru when an announcement comes from the station. Johannes turned n said "that means us". apparantly d announcement says something like "no trespassing on d railway tracks". it was kinda funny! so we had to turn back where we came from n walked a big detour to d station.

    ok i need to talk about my host Johannes.

    he is d kind soul who took us in after learning that we were stranded at d train station. he juz got back from a business trip then n was really tired but took us in anyway. without even looking at our profiles on CouchSurfing or knowing who we are. he turned out be a really humorous guy n loves to cook! he made pizza 1 night n pasta on another. yummy! chatting with him is a great pleasure cos u end up laughing all d time. we also watched a few movies together. o yes, he offered his place for 2 more nights than we planned. we stayed 1 more night than planned in d end.

    ok i think i will stop here for now cos it's turning out to be an extremely long entry. more later...


    permalink written by  wangyng on April 29, 2008 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
    tagged Germany and Berlin

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    more on Berlin

    Berlin, Germany


    continuing fr d last entry... more of Berlin.

    moving on... we visited Checkpoint Charlie, where d entrance to US's territory from Germany and vice versa. there's this guy dressed in the military uniform near d checkpoint, he has all the 15 ORIGINAL stamps from d WWII. u can have all these stamps in your passport for 10 Euros or something near that amount. of cos i didnt get it! not many people got it cos it cost too much! i saw an American couple getting their passports stamped just before we left d checkpoint.

    a little further down d checkpoint, there's a long marking on d ground where d berlin wall used to be. it's running across d road fr each side of d pavement. it's hard to imagine how d wall affected d people of berlin...

    of cos we passed by the huge square where the German Cathedral n d Concert Hall is. we didnt go in thou...

    and of cos d Rathaus... we cant miss it! it's huge and very RED!

    Berliner Dom is next! we didnt actually had plans to go inside this church for a look. but it looked soooo grand outside n d photos looked really good, we decided to go in. it was a good thing we did cos it was really beautiful inside! it feels like a palace!

    it was HUGE as well! i was just in awe half d time inside (d other half, i was busy being a tourist - taking photos!!). we also went up to almost d top of d domwhere we get a good view of d city. if any1 is going to berlin, i really recommend this church. really worth paying for!

    then there is this Fernsehturm, d highest building in berlin. my host johannes keeps saying it's d talest building in the world. i think he was being sarcastic... or not???

    d Topography of Terror is another place dat's really depressing. it is a really long stretch of exhibits of Secret Services/Police n d victims n how they were treated, etc. very effective to make u feel upset n uncomfortable there.

    on 1 of d nights, we visited d Parliment House Reichstag. there's a glass dom on d rooftop where d public can visit for free. there's of cos strict security at d entrance. every1 had to empty their pockets n go thru a metal detector, like at d airport. but d view on d top was really nice, no wonder it's 1 of d most visited parliment house in d world.

    we cant leave Berlin without visiting East Side Gallery of cos.

    d longest stretch of d old berlin wall, it has since become a long stretch of wall paintings of various artists. visitors left their views/messages on d walls as well. of cos i couldnt give up d opportunity to vandalise legally!

    so that mark d ending of our berlin visit! there's just soo much more to see. d clash of past n present, u can really feel it here! amazing!

    so as a big thank you to our kind host for letting us stayed more nights than we planned, we got up really early on d morning we are to leave n cooked him a nice breakfast. he was really happy cos he loves french toast!! really need to thank him for taking us in d very last minute n spending so much time with us (we even visited him in his office n had long coffee breaks! good thing he is his own boss!)

    so here's to future visits to Berlin!! n to our new found friendship!!




    permalink written by  wangyng on April 29, 2008 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
    tagged Germany and Berlin

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    Again Berlin

    Berlin, Germany


    I'm planning a very short trip to Berlin in October (just three days) and I'm already excited of the idea. I've booked just the flight yet and I'm desperately looking for an accomodation..there's too much choise, I know I know..I really can't make up my mind!

    permalink written by  ruggine on August 29, 2010 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Berlin
    tagged Germany, Accomodation and Berlin

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    Test

    Berlin, Germany


    Test
    TEST

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    permalink written by  lapanamaria on August 30, 2012 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Meine Postgradstudies
    tagged Test, Germany and Berlin

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    Trip to Germany: Holi Open Air Berlin

    Berlin, Germany


    I was lurking online when I stumbled upon a website, which had an article about a festival I went to, the Holi Open Air Berlin (http://www.Germany-travel.org/holi-open-air-berlin/). It was a very cool event: lots of people throwing paint on each other, with such bright colors everywhere. I never would have thought I´d find the Holi festival (traditionally celebrated in India and some surrounding countries) in Berlin, but I got quite lucky. Check it out for yourself, and if you´re in Berlin then, YOU. HAVE. TO. GO.



    permalink written by  mintyfresh on March 5, 2013 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: European Adventure
    tagged Festival, Travel, Germany, Berlin and HoliOpenAirBerlin

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    Podróż do wnętrza ziemi

    Berlin, Germany


    Na naszym blogu będzie dokumentować podróż do wnętrza ziemi. Serdecznie zapraszamy

    permalink written by  singraph on May 22, 2013 from Berlin, Germany
    from the travel blog: Podróż do wnętrza ziemi
    tagged Berlin, Podr and Wycieczka

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    Christmas Market Tours 2013 across Austria, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia

    Helen, United States


    I am taking Americans and Aussies on an adventure throughout Europe to visit some beloved Christmas Markets. For 17 years I have visited thousands of villages, towns and cities across Europe drinking lots of Glühwein and being spellbound by the Christmas Markets. Looking forward to this year!

    permalink written by  vipalpinetours on November 5, 2013 from Helen, United States
    from the travel blog: vipalpinetours's Travel Blog
    tagged Christmas, Alps, Germany, Snow, Tours, Vienna, Hamburg, Austria, Berlin, Innsbruck, Holidays, Slovenia, Hungary, Tirol, ChristmasMarket, Weihnachtsmarkt, Christkindlmarkt, Wien, Graz, Tourismus and Christmastime

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