Finally time to go back to Berlin. Wake up to a miserable day in ‘Vrot-suave’, cold and rainy. Walk to the train station with not much time to spare before the train that I want to catch leaves. There are several trains to Berlin, mostly Polish not so good ones and one DB EuroCity train. I go to the ticket counter and ask for a ticket on the EC train and she questions if I really want it. See the Polish trains are like $2.43 to catch where as the EC train is about $70, so most people opt for the shit and slow but cheap trains. I however was over Polish trains and wanted to get back on to the German ones. And in the scheme of things a $70 train ticket is actually quite cheap. The train potters along quite slowly as we cross Poland, then we get to the border station and swap engine cars to the German one. All of a sudden we are now going twice as fast. Good to be back in Germany!
Couple of hours later it pulls in to Berlin HBF and just…wow. If you want to see how to build a train station then go to Berlin HBF. There is three different levels of trains, international trains going East West on one, North South on another, and then the top level is local S-Bahn trains. In between them is a couple of levels of shops. Its all signposted extremely well to make navigation a cinch and everything seems to run flawlessly. So I make my way up to the S-Bahn trains and go to Friedrichstrasse Station, then it was just a short walk to my hostel. Im staying at the same place that I did last year so it was easy to find.
Ill just start off the blogs on Berlin by saying that I love this place. Its a city that I could live, one day saying ich bin ein Berliner and actually meaning it. Its one of my favourite cities in the world, tying with the obvious other choice of New York City. These two cities are however completely different. Whats so great about Berlin is that it offers something for everyone. Its an ever-changing city, building itself back up from the devastation of WW2 and the falling of ‘The Wall’. For the historians and WW2 buffs then the list is never ending in what you can see. You simply just cant avoid it. I think its a fantastic thing that all of the history isn’t hidden, its even the complete opposite, with museums and exhibits showcasing the terrible things that the city has been a part of. There is different districts that appeal to different types. Mitte having the more upmarket shops, markets and tourist places to go and see. Then Kreuzburg being the alternate part of the city, what is also known as the cheaper part, but is now slowly changing. Walls (and really any surface) all over Kreuzburg showcasing some of the best street art talent in the world make a very colourful and interesting area. The nightlife is absolutely crazy, one of the best and biggest in the world. Its one of the only places that you can party from Friday to Sunday non stop if you wish to, with quite a few day clubs around. There is also a tonne of smaller more intimate bars too, and some ‘alternate’ ones as well, set in what used to be squats. If you feel the need to get out of the city then there is day trips to multiple places, including Potsdam the ‘city of palaces’, or Sachsenhausen the concentration camp. Everyone on a whole is also really nice and friendly, with the percentage of English speakers incredibly high, and they are all willing and proud to use it. So yea, ich liebe Berlin.
I didn’t really take many photos of the actual city while here, ive got a tonne from last year, that were done in far better weather, so I didn’t bother so much this time.
Berlin sounds cool, I must go.
A lot of awesome pics here, aside from one i’ve liked already, 26 is another cool angle of that place, 25 is great too.
Legoland :D
Comment by Tom — Thursday, 25 November, 2010 @ 23:56