Berlin

I'm starting my entry for these areas now while sitting in the Berlin train station about to go from here to Amsterdam.

My time in Berlin has been quick but good. I've spent some time visiting Paul Sikora and touring the city. Berlin was interesting the most notable of which was the architecture. I can definitely see the pragmatism in how the design things here. The industrial look of the older buildings and the shining glass of the newer ones makes for an interesting contrast. The city also doesn't have the panicked nervous energy that I often sense in North American and even cities in the UK.

Picture: Fernsehturm in Berlin.

The first day was not that interesting as Paul had to work and I recovered from my travels and worked out a Eurorail pass for getting around during the remainder of my trip. The afternoon was spent relaxing and back at Paul’s place which he was leaving the following morning. We packed up his bags and did the final inspection with the landlord which freed us up for spending the rest of the night visiting the sites of Berlin.

We started out by visiting the Fernsehturm (telecom tower), Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, the holocaust memorial, the remains of the Berlin wall and then had dinner. Mehrdad’s cousin (terrible with names and forgot it already) came and met us so we went out for a couple beers.

Picture: Riechstag in Berlin.

Picture: Part of the Berlin Wall. We had dinner behind the building in the background.

The next morning we were up at 7:30 and jumping into a taxi. Paul dropped me at the Bahnhof where I stored my bags for a few hours then got on the train and visited Tiergarten and the Seigessaule (the golden statue of Victory). I walked the length between the Seigessaule and the Brandenburg Gate then made my way back to the train station for my trip to see my cousins.

Picture: Seigessaule from the underground tunnel which takes you under the road.

Off to Amsterdam.