Berlin

The day that we moved to our new hostel, was a huge waste of a day. We got to the hostel at about 11am, and were told we weren't able to check in until 3. That was fair enough, most hostels only let you check in in the afternoon. However we were then told that the baggage room was too full, so they couldn't store our luggage. So since the places we had planned to visit don't allow you to take big bags (and it would have just sucked hefting those things around all day) we had to basically sit around in the hostel and wait to be able to check in. So this was really annoying, and put us a day behind schedule. Everything has been pretty rushed since then as we had to squeeze that days activities amongst the other things we had planned. 

The next day went much better. We went on a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This was one of the first concentration camps to be built, and was used as a labour camp. 

The tour was incredible. It was such a moving experience. To think that we were standing on the same ground as all of those tortured people, walking around a place where thousands and thousands of people lost their lives. I truly don't have words to explain this experience. It was something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Visiting a concentration camp is definitely something you need to try and do whilst in Europe. It's truly something that will stay with you forever. The tour took up the whole day, so once we were done we went back to the hostel for the night and reflected on what we had seen that day. It was something that moved both Harrison and I very much. 

The heat in Berlin is only getting worse and worse. Yesterday we decided to visit a few museums, to try and escape the blistering sun. I really did not expect it to get this hot! It got up to 36 degrees yesterday, and is only getting hotter! And we are both so unused to the intense humidity, that it just makes it worse. It's incredibly draining. The first museum we went to was the DDR Museum. This is a museum on what life was like for the people of East Berlin under communist rule once the wall went up. It was really interesting! It's set out so that you kind of get to live and experience the lives of the people of East Berlin. We learnt about the kind of cars they drove, what they learnt in school, what music they were allowed to listen to, what their houses looked like, and the incredibly invasive nature of communism. The people were so restricted in every aspect of life. The museum was very well set out, and we enjoyed our time there!

The next museum we went to was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Berlin. This museum was mainly the personal accounts of Jewish people living through the holocaust. There were accounts from both people who survived the holocaust, and those who did not. It was a touching and very sad experience. I would highly recommend visiting this information centre if ever in Berlin. 

That night we had booked to go on an organised pub crawl, so we had to end our museum trips there. We got to the pub crawl at 9, and were greeted by over 120 people! It was totally crazy! We were not expecting it to be so busy! Over the course of the night we visited 4 different bars, so we were given the opportunity to experience some of Berlins famous night life. The bars we went to weren't really Harrison and my scene, so we didn't love the pub crawl.

 

However we did still have a fun night, and we got free shots and drink deals at every bar which was good too! We met a nice guy living in Berlin and chatted to him for most of the time in one bar. I also had the most amazing goats cheese, it was a deep fried ball of goats cheese with honey drizzled on top. It was absolutely amazing! The pub crawl ends in a club, but when we got there we weren't too happy with the area it was in, and we were pretty tired so we decided to call in a night. We finally made it home at 2:30am, and fell into bed, completely exhausted. 

Today we had a pretty late start, as we had gotten in really late. We walked to the shops to buy some eggs, which have turned into quite a luxury, and made ourselves a delicious breakfast. In the afternoon we went on an Alternative Berlin tour, with the same company that does the walking tours. It was a 3 hour walking tour around Berlin, showing us the more alternative, grunge scene that Berlin has to offer. I really loved this tour! We got to see some incredible street art, and places that if you didn't know were there you would completely miss them. We went down one alleyway and came out in the most incredibly graffitied court yard! The walls were covered in graffiti! But not that tagging crap, proper amazingly done works of art! 

We were taken into this stairwell that was also just covered in graffiti. It was so cool!

 We also got to see the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, which also has some incredible artwork graffitied on to it. We are going to have to go back to see more! We were taken into this Jamacian type beach bar, that had a tree house bar, a fake sandy beach for people to lounge around on, and a very rasta, relaxed feel to it. 

Again, we would have totally missed it if the guide hadn't taken us there! It was a really fun and interesting tour. We got to learn about street art, the punk scene of Berlin, the underground scene, rebellion and various protests. I really enjoyed it. 

The new hostel we are in is alright. I think the best part about it has been our roommates. We met a guy from Russia who we really hit it off with. He was so interesting, and had a lot to share about his country. It was amazing to see him light up talking about it. We have also met a guy from California who is pretty cool. Our rooms are deathly hot though, so that kind of sucks!