Berlin, Germany, New Years Day and after...

Naturally we didn't surface on new years day until the afternoon. We went back into the town center so I could see Brandenburg Tor in daylight. It was still surrounded in tents and stages so hard to get a good view of it but it was cool to try and match it with what it would have looked like with the wall.

Also in the square where the Tor is is Hotel Adlon. It's a pretty famous Hotel with scores of celebrities staying there and it survived the bombings of world war II. Most recently it's famous for where Michael Jackson hung his baby out of a window.

We walked over to the Reichstag, a very famous building where an arson fire here led to Hitlers fight against communists and a lot of important events occurred here. You can go up into the dome but the queue was insane so we didn't attempt it.

We explored the area a bit more then walked the Unter den linden, one of the two major streets in Berlin (the other was Freidrichstrasse which we also walked). We found a 'car forum' which had all these cars including a Bugatti Beyron (the fastest street car apparently according to Nick - he was quite excited) and a couple of restored 60s VW beetle vans which I really liked. I could definitely see myself in one of those. So styly.

We also found a bit of the real Berlin Wall (see pic) with the original graffiti from when it was pulled down.

There were a lot of beautiful buildings in Berlin, I don't know what they all are but the city is a great one to just wondering around in looking at all the architecture. It had snowed a lot too so it was fun to play in the snow :)

We came across the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (or the Holocaust Memorial) which is a series of over 2000 uneven granite blocks. Apparently there has been a lot of controversy around it but I thought it was a stunningly beautiful tribute. It was a very calming experience walking through the monument covered in snow. I personally found it one of the most beautiful spots in Berlin.

We had to move accommodation on the 2nd because I'd booked new years a bit late so everything was a bit disjointed. We stayed in a hostel in a suburb called Freidrichstein on the eastern side of the river. It was a really cool area full of bars and restaurants and chilled out people. A really neat area of Berlin to stay in.

On the 2nd we headed into Alexanderplatz to see the TV tower. We had been waiting for 3 days for the sky to clear so we could go up but with no luck. The constant grey mist never budged. So we gave the tower a miss and walked across the park and over to Museum Island.

The buildings were beautiful, the best being the Dom (church). All the museums cost and their themes were a bit boring for us so we just admired the architecture. We found a little market with lots of artwork which I had real trouble not buying and we tried the Reichstag again but this time it was shut due to the weather so we missed out on that again.

We found a really nice restaurant back in Freidrichstain for dinner, it was an arabian place. The food was awesome, mixed meat grill, chicken charwarma, hummus, eggplant, tzatki. yum yum yum!

Berlin, Germany, 30th & New Years Eve Dec 09

We took a train from Prague to Berlin on the 30th. All pretty easy really but not so much once we got to the other side. Berlin has one of the most confusing public transport systems. They have an S-Bahn and a U-Bahn and region trains and more lines than London so it took awhile to get our bearings. It didn't help that the main train station had the worst information when it came to the underground, it took us forever to find the platform we needed.

The Pension (B&B - but without the breakfast this time) we were staying at was cosy and close to a U-Bahn stop which was handy. We found a Vietnamese place up the road making traditional Vietnamese dishes. So delicious!!! I really love their springrolls.

On News Years Eve we visited the East Side Gallery, a small remaining part of the Berlin Wall where artists have painted murals. There actually isn't much of the wall left but they have placed a line of cobblestones and plaques along the entire length of where the wall used to be. The murals were cool, lots of interesting and political depictions.

Berlin was covered in snow so it was fun trying to negotiate our way around all that. It even snowed quite a bit that day. I love playing in the snow but when you're trying to get around it can be a bit of a hassle, especially when it's the mushy kind that soaks into all your clothes and shoes and you're constantly cold.

After the wall we went to Checkpoint Charlie, one of three checkpoints that allowed allies to move between West & East Germany. I was expecting some touristy overdone crap but it actually turned out quite good as they had an open air style museum with rows of photos and information along the road which was fascinating. I spent a long time reading up about the history of the wall and the checkpoint. It was freezing though so after standing out in the cold for an hour reading all the info we found ourselves a coffee shop to thaw out in.

We had a big night ahead of us so we chilled back at the Pension but of course stopped off on the way to grab some whisky for the night (hopefully to keep us warm) and also grabbed some Curry Wurst, an essential Berlin takeaway. Curry Wurst is spicy sausage covered in curry powder and sauce. Often served with a side of fries & mayo. Tasty as!! Om nom nom nom!

So yes we spent a few hours back at the Pension drinking whiskey to help us battle the snow and cold because man we were going to need it! The weather was terrible, it was constantly snowing and it was the sleety, slushing, freezing kind of snow. But we were still determined to make it to Brandenburg gate for NY.

It took awhile to get to the long street that led up to Brandenburg Tor (gate) where the party was. Traipsing through the snow covered park was fun though. There was a lot going on in the street, beer tents, gluwein, food, market stalls, a ferris wheel, massive balloons, all sorts of things.

We walked along until we got stuck in the crowds and couldn't get much closer to the stage (which was actually quite far away, there were millions of people! I think they estimate about 5 million attend!). The whiskey did help against the cold but it wore off pretty quick and standing still was tough. The music was a laugh, a mix between David Hasselhof style old crooners to a group of 80s style fluorescent dressed punk rappers (actually I found their songs really addictive and quite fun - check out a video here of the NY concert) But I couldn't understand a word of anything they were singing.

The countdown was fun trying to count backwards in German. Then the fireworks started. There were a lot of them all set to music, so pretty. A few people were even setting off fireworks in the crowd which considering how closely packed we all were was pretty damn dangerous actually and a little scary when it came near us.

We didn't stay much longer after the fireworks finished, I was so cold and my feet were soaked. In fact no-one really stayed around, there was a mass exodus to the underground.

Unfortunately that turned the underground stations into a mosh pit! we got caught in one such crush because they were periodically closing the station for safety reasons which was quite effective but meant a huge crush leading in and we had to walk down stairs where I was so jammed I could barely walk of my own accord, I had to go when everyone else did and the stairs were icy and I was petrified I was going to fall over. But I made it and survived. Unfortunately the ride home wasn't so pleasant as the carriage stunk of urine and some drunk chick threw up next to me and got some on my shoe! Not happy! Definitely a new years to remember though!