Berlin!

I arrived in Berlin airport after a quick flight and caught the train into the city. I got off at the wrong stop, gave Karl a call and waited for him to find me. It was great catching up with an old friend I had not seen since we both did exchange in the same town in USA three years ago. We travelled back to his place but ended up at a friends on the way and we relaxed for the evening grabbing some dinner, drinking beer and playing pool. The next morning I let Karl sleep in as I went into the city which takes only about 20 minutes by train to meet for a tour of Sachsenhausen a concentration camp just out of Berlin. This was not like any other tour I had been on, it was very serious and respectful to the prisoners of the camp. It was quite shocking hearing about the system in which the prisoners where taken in and how they were treated. It was also sad to hear about the physiological techniques that was used to torture and control these prisoners. No matter what you hear or read I don't think it can compare to actually standing in the place where all this history took place and I highly recommend visiting this concentration camp. That night we went to a party not far away and to my surprise nearly half of the party arrived on bikes just like us. It was a bit of a different experience then the typical party in the backyard at home this was in a small smoke filled room in an apartment and everyone only having a couple of beers with most of the girls drinking beer as well. The next day I was up early to join a free walking tour of the city. The sights of Berlin are very impressive, I really enjoyed seeing and learning about brandenburg gate, square where the book burnings occurred and my favourite sight of course the Jewish memorial. This has to be the best memorial I have seen up to date as it is simply concrete blocks that gradually get taller the further in you walk towards the centre. It is so impressive because you don't have to view this memorable from behind a gate or glass you can walk, run and climb through it.

My next couple days I spent in Berlin were meeting some of Karl's friends, riding around the city and preparing for my future travels. And today we are both of to Prague to catch up with another friend Martin from exchange.

We are both very excited, and can't wait to see Martin this afternoon!



Also we had Dunkin donuts!!!!!!!