So many things happen when you're 'sightseeing'! I've seen a lot in the last couple of weeks, but it would be ridiculous and boring to recount it all. I'll try and give an overview in a couple of stages. I'm currently in Holland, and heading back to France on Monday.
First on the menu was Berlin. After flying from Lyon and getting a train to the hotel, I left the station and bought a 1E currywurst. It was good to be in the country of wurst! Later that day I met Mum and Dad at the airport. It was great to see them, we had so much to tell each other (they'd been travelling through Europe for a couple of months also) that back at the hotel we ended up leaving late for dinner.
For me Berlin was punctuated by two things - sightseeing, and having a great time with the folks all weekend, sharing stories over wurst and beer. On that side of things, one highlight was a home cooked dinner at the house of (enter long connection here). Preceding the dinner, we were also shown to an outdoor 'wine garden' in a lovely square, where you can taste and then buy local wine by the glass or bottle, and plenty of tables and seats are provided where you can bring whatever picnic food you want. Not to be too much of the wine bar type, I also made sure we got to the 'Berlin International Beer Festival' on the Sunday. 2km, yes TWO KILOMETRES of differing beer stalls, and they were packed in too. Most of the beers were German - which was amazing to see, the country must have as many different beers as France has cheeses!
On the sightseeing front, we saw a lot - aided by the city's excellent public transport network. The Brandenburg Tor, Checkpoint Charlie (where Mum and her Sis crossed the border into East Germany a few years back as tourists), a boat tour, the history museum, a palace - the list goes on. One amazing thing about Berlin is how it has progressed in such recent history - from Nazi Germany, to the intriguing division between the capitalist west and communist east, to what it is today - a modern, progressive city (it IS the birthplace of curry wurst and the doner kebap!).
My lasting memory of Berlin is it's modern architecture. The highlight being the parliamentary buildings. The old Reichstag is national pride embodied. They have built an amazing glass dome on top, which we went up one evening for great views of the city, as well as a view into the parliament below. The parliamentary offices are proof that you can build something aesthetically pleasing with a metric f#cktonne of concrete. It's an inspiring place.
First on the menu was Berlin. After flying from Lyon and getting a train to the hotel, I left the station and bought a 1E currywurst. It was good to be in the country of wurst! Later that day I met Mum and Dad at the airport. It was great to see them, we had so much to tell each other (they'd been travelling through Europe for a couple of months also) that back at the hotel we ended up leaving late for dinner.
For me Berlin was punctuated by two things - sightseeing, and having a great time with the folks all weekend, sharing stories over wurst and beer. On that side of things, one highlight was a home cooked dinner at the house of (enter long connection here). Preceding the dinner, we were also shown to an outdoor 'wine garden' in a lovely square, where you can taste and then buy local wine by the glass or bottle, and plenty of tables and seats are provided where you can bring whatever picnic food you want. Not to be too much of the wine bar type, I also made sure we got to the 'Berlin International Beer Festival' on the Sunday. 2km, yes TWO KILOMETRES of differing beer stalls, and they were packed in too. Most of the beers were German - which was amazing to see, the country must have as many different beers as France has cheeses!
On the sightseeing front, we saw a lot - aided by the city's excellent public transport network. The Brandenburg Tor, Checkpoint Charlie (where Mum and her Sis crossed the border into East Germany a few years back as tourists), a boat tour, the history museum, a palace - the list goes on. One amazing thing about Berlin is how it has progressed in such recent history - from Nazi Germany, to the intriguing division between the capitalist west and communist east, to what it is today - a modern, progressive city (it IS the birthplace of curry wurst and the doner kebap!).
My lasting memory of Berlin is it's modern architecture. The highlight being the parliamentary buildings. The old Reichstag is national pride embodied. They have built an amazing glass dome on top, which we went up one evening for great views of the city, as well as a view into the parliament below. The parliamentary offices are proof that you can build something aesthetically pleasing with a metric f#cktonne of concrete. It's an inspiring place.
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