3 Nights in Berlin

Being in the epicentre of history. Berlin being one of the most historical sites of our age. World war II , berlin wall seperating the east from the west of germany. Berlin part of the west although not reall west. A wall is buit to ensure seperation surrounding the city. NOt until recent was the wall up , but I believe in the 90's it turned into a hippies paradice, graphity artist celebrating the unification of germany into one. NO long the poor east , but the central unified germany although the east is poorer and you can tell. Being in berlin the last 3 days, i got a different perspecitve of germany from munich. MOre modern , bigger buildings at potsdamer platz where the sony has created an entertainment plaza with big screens, a movie theathre and lots of cafes. A city where beer is served in movie theathers all the way to gas stations. Beer is cheaper then water as some range as low as .60 Euro or less than a canadian dollar.

After arriving in berlin late and having a gyro or Donaaa! 2.0 euros a bargain for any food. Next morning we topped 170 on the autoban heading to leipseg where my friend marty visited his roots. Although 37 degrees , the ac in our honda jazz , a european version of a civic hatchback We cruised as fast as we could only to be serpassed by cars north of 200 km an hour. I thought my highspeed train of 165km was fast , the highway is nuts. The night we headed to potsdammerplatz and met a couple german girls, who in exchange for a beer we got to learn some german. High Funff, or high five. We thought then the west side symbol as they gladdly accepted as their sign for west germany.

Bicycling BErlin

Day 3 was full of tourist cites. Finding out where Hitler killed himself (not enshrined but on a parking lot plaza, where his bunker used to be. In order to see all the sites we rented a couple bikes, full of european style, ie not too nice but still got us around. We biked to the various museums, jewish memorial, a statue in the middle of a huge round about with a lady in gold. We actuall walked up the narrow stairs to get a good luck at berlin from up above. The next stop incuded a bike ride to the berlin wall where there are layers of layers of graphitte paint , the walk looking liberated from its historical significance. Drums, music, singing. Overlooking a park and on the other side a soccer stadium. THe ora that oozes from this place is revolution and freedem. Hard to discribe, but definately an eery yet refreshing feelin.

in order to cool down , after biking we decided to catch die hard 4. yes it was in german but of cousre after all the german commercials.

Germany can be summed up as.. great beer... beutiful blonde girls..modern yet historic.. and of course full of history.. very instrumental on how we live out lives today... definately worth checking out if you can. Netherlands next...

Alfederzern and suishe

Lisboa to Munchen

Seems like i just left Portugal in Feb to find my self over using Abregaro to answer the locals in appreciation. After a spending 5 days in toronto for a friends wedding i headed to london via Air Canada. Of course the service was bad, blah blah blah. Whats new. Anyways many hours at the various aiports and 20 hours of sleeplessness i walk up four flights of stairs to a lovely little hostel in the heart of Portugal. Met stephanie a portugese born in toronto, out of breatch from the climb up the stairs i checked in and took a shower an nap. Washrooms here have plumbing issues and apparently the garbage shoudl be used to dispose of stuff. Yuk , multiflushing is the way to avoid this but dont tell the hostel.

Nap is up , my cuz and his gf come to the hostel and we head out on the town. We went to an area with lots of narrow streets and bars and little pubs along the way. Lots of street loitering. Portugese buns, some pasta , great food, and the walk back to Lisbonense shoe store where our hostel is above.

Kushyali in Lisboa

Lisbon has a small jamat but all of Spain and Italy were here to celebrate the golden jubilee. Full day of food and sitting , movies, dancing , line dancing (yes there were some canadians we met there who decided to show portugal how canadians do raas, was 10 of us in total). Great night of wholesome partying, raas style. Breakfast was had at Rossio enjoying fine portugese coffee and pastries.

Munchen

A couple of delayz and 8 hours of travelling i find my self in Munich. Marienplatz is where i met a friend of mine from mba dayz. we promptly went home and finished the bottle of port i imported from portugal the land of port. we checked out the university area. Todaz is friday after sleeping in we went to the market for some food, great seafood here. WE then headed to Marienplatz for a beer at a plaza, wow german beer is good, much better then the north american stuff. Checked out the fountain at Karlzplatz where the local run in to cool off, around 25 degrees here. Went up the 14 story tower of St Joseph Catedrel to get a view of the city. Tried to go the Deuth museum but it was closed. I will head back home now, but we look to get into some good fun tonite in downtown. It is Fritak afterall and we need to Feel eshpas. dont have shy kelty so need to take it easy to keep kelt for the rest of the trip. zamestak will be spent looking at the rest of the sights and meeting a local(who i met at the airport) at night to catch a german movie. she doesnt speek english and i dont speak duetch, so should be fun. On zontak i meet my buddy in berlin so until then chow chow and denke for listening. i will have a brew for you...