Two Weeks in Europe: Part 2

The night train to Berlin was uncomfortable and extremely long.  I sat in a cabin with 5 kids who seemed to speak only Dutch until the end of the train ride when one turned to me and said, "You can have this beer if you want it." in perfect English.  Anyways, we arrived in Berlin early in the morning and got checked into our hostel.

After dropping off our bags we headed to the Jewish Museum which is supposed to be one of the best things to do in Berlin.  However, you can't always believe the books as the museum was not very interesting and definitely  not a "must-see" in Berlin.  The museum took up most of the end of the day and we headed for a beer garden later that night to sample some German beers.  This led to a few people wanting to smoke hookah so we found a hookah bar near our hostel and settled in for the night.  At the hookah bar we experienced one of the funniest conversations that I will probably ever have.  A 50 year old German guy (very very intoxicated) decided to join us as we sat around and talked.  He loved the fact that we were Americans but at the same time didn't think much of our country.  Over the two hours that we talked with him he told us that we were the number 1 terrorists in the world and that the Germans were a very peaceful people.  Also, he had an obsession with George Best (famous old soccer player from Ireland) which we were able to harp on for a few hours. This interaction made our night in Berlin a success.

The next day we were up early to do another Fat Tire Bike Tour.  Again, these tours are excellent.  We had a great tour guide who encouraged us to grab a beer at 11 A.M. before the tour started.  On this tour we hit all the major points like Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Hitler's Bunker, Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe, and many others.  This tour really reconfirmed the idea that Berlin is a city that is still rebuilding following World War II.  The entire city feels like a construction project mixed in with a lot of "i'm sorry's" stemming from Hitler's regime.  The Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe is an extremely odd monument that touches each person differently.  In the middle of this tour we got to stop at a beer garden for lunch.  After the tour we walked around the city for the remainder of the day and got to bed early as we had to be up extremely early the next morning to catch a train.

Berlin was a great city with much to see.  Although I did not like it as much as Paris, it was very interesting to see where the Berlin Wall stood and to hear how different people's lives were on either side of the wall.  There are completely different histories on each side and it makes for a remarkable visit.  The train to Prague was early the next morning (6:30 A.M.!).

Part 3 and Prague coming soon...