Berlin blitz

6 hours is a long time to spend on a train. I kept falling asleep and losing my place in my book when I dropped it. Also the air-con went out in my carriage so it was sweltering. Wasn't terribly impressed with the mid to northern German scenery, everything was bloody flat. finally got into Berlin and spent a good half an hour trying to get a map that showed where my hostel was. Finally got on a bus which I'm sure I rode its whole route before having to walk a further kilometre to find the hostel. The Generator is huge but a bit impersonal due to its size. Nice rooms and ensuites though.

Ended up going out with the guys from my room, an Aussie and two Californians (these ones were alright). We tried to get into Watergate club, first to discover it didn't open until midnight, then it took the door staff a half hour to start letting people in, then they didn't let us in as we had no girls with us. A group of girls got turned away as the didn't know the name of the dj playing. So we ended up at a placed called the Soul Inn. Here they played 1950s style soul and Boogaloo. it was definitely different, but lots of fun.

Sunday I took a free walking tour of Berlin. These are great, Sandemans NewEurope free tours. I Spent 3 hours walking around seeing the sights of Berlin and hearing interesting stories about its past. Things like the Nazi SS uniform was designed by Hugo Boss, the company that made the anti-graffiti paint for the Holocaust memorial also made the Cyclon B gas used in the concentration camps, how Hitler couldn't watch his own dog die (they tested the cyanide pills on it), took cyanide and shot himself (thought he deserved a soldiers death) before being partially cremated, taken by the soviets and finally had his ashes scattered in the Elbe river in 1970. Napoleon taking the statue from the Brandenburg gate, the same statute renamed as Victoria above Paris plaza watching the French embassy which is designed like a bunker. The best story of all though was how the Berlin wall fell because the press secretary for Eastern Germany hadn't been at the meeting and said the wrong things, which resulted in a huge party for east Berliners with champagne, bananas and the movie dirty dancing.

I ended up hanging out with two Aussie girls I met on the tour, went to a random park that had a flea market happening while adjacent there was public karaoke and all sorts of street performers. Ended up drinking with the Aussie girls at their hostel bar before meeting a group of Irish lads and unsuccessfully trying to find a club. If staying in Berlin I recommend wombats hostel, rooftop bar and central location.