The European Extravaganza!

Ich bin ein Berliner (aka "I am a jelly donut")!

So, despite our talk yesterday of giving our feet a rest and taking it easy today... we lied. Sure, we bought ourselves the gift of unlimited Metro travel, but even then, there are only stops every so often, so our poor little feet were pounding the pavement once more. We thought we had seen everything Berlin had to offer yesterday, but we definitely had a packed day. Let's begin...

Breakfast was packed with more prepubescent German boys, and the fashion was exceedingly horrendous today. For some reason, European men feel that capris are a uni-sex look, but lest any of you get the idea in your heads as well, let us be frank: they are not. However, we saw a guy at breakfast who made his TIGHT tapered jeans into capris by rolling them up, then we saw a guy at the Reichstag (more about that in a bit) wearing powder-blue ones... will the madness ever end? Then a guy sauntered into the breakfast room wearing a shirt so tight that his very protruding belly strained the seams, and perfectly complimented his acid-wash jeans. He clearly thought he was hot stuff (probably thought it the reason we were averting our eyes), but it made me remark to Laura: How do people get married in this country? Seriously. So unattractive.

We then dashed off to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was bombed during the war and never reconstructed (one of the few genuine buildings in Berlin). Then we had to make some reservations for our train to Prague tomorrow, and with that, we essentially conquered the Berlin Transit System. Take that BVG! I actually used some German today, and both Laura and I have decided that no matter how awkward and bizarre it is to end conversations in English with these people with "danke" we do it anyway if it means they won't yell at us. Also, after we ascertain (in German) that people speak English, we then say everything in English in a meek and apologetic fashion. It seems to work. I think sometimes people say things that are essentially them making fun of us because they know we won't understand, but I guess that's their perogative. ANYWAY, we made our reservations, and then used both the U- & S-bahns heavily today. We had been tipped off that because the Berlin metro system works primarily on the honour system that we really didn´t need to buy tickets, but we saw that the fine for fraud was €40, and thought we would suck it up and be good little tourists. Oh, and how did we get this tip? We made friends with Wayne, the guy in our room who left today. Probably best that he did, because our 2nd stop on the S-bahn was accompanied by a ticket check (although we were a little confused at first because the person conducting it was not dressed in any kind of official outfit... rather, he was in an 1980s acid-wash jean jacket... come to think of it, perhaps acid-wash denim is a Berliner uniform!).

We jetted off to the Reichstag, the home of the German Parliament, and stood in line for quite a while just so that we could go up to the top of its clear glass dome for a panoramic view of the city. It's a shame that it was so hot today, because it really precluded us from spending too much time up there for fear of passing out! Also, we had to stand behind a girl wearing the shortest denim and what looked like scarves skirt ever. It was ruffled! And had cut-off pockets because it was so short! And she was wearing a studded belt! And she was wearing macrame shoes and was 45! What is wrong with these people?

After the Reichstag, we bought the best souvenir one can get in Berlin: a jelly donut keychain, with the words "Ich bin ein Berliner" on the back, to commemorate JFK´s infamous speech. We then went for lunch at a little pub, that we had read about in our Berlin Walks pamphlet (another good reason for the tour!). We chose it because we had read that they served traditional German food -- Laura and I have the goal of eating one traditional meal in each city that we visit -- but more importantly, they provide English menus! We both had parboiled sausages and potatoe salad, both of which were really good, and not all that expensive. Once again, there was some confusion about whether to tip or not, but we just followed what the patrons around us were doing and hightailed it out of there!

Then it was off to the Einstein exhibit, which we thankfully got student prices for. They had these really hightech audio tours that just somehow knew where you were in the exhibit and told you what you needed to know. The best parts were: the tiny room where you could conduct an experiment to experience how sound requires air to travel, and the movies on each floor in which you watched actors embody famous scientists and insult and yell at each other while providing you with backstories about people's theories. The one featuring Plank, Lorentz, and some other guy was so good, we watched it twice. Also, the one involving Niezsche finished with him storming off screen in a fit of rage. Awesome!

To end the day, we took the S-bahn to the very eastern edge of the city to look at the East Wall Gallery. We had heard from people (read: TARYN) that the murals covering the remnants of the Berlin Wall were really cool, but they were all peeling and not interesting enough to make the pain in our feet go away! Seriously though, all the paint was flaking off which made it very hard to appreciate the artistic intent. Our tour guide yesterday told us that the German government really doesn't have the funds to maintain the city, and often it shows. It is also really funny how they have all these impressive looking buildings in very ornate styles, only to find out that the original was destroyed and you are looking at something built under 10 years ago.

We returned to the hostel only to find that our keycards were no longer working, but we got that sorted out. We also have a new roommate, Patrick Dubois, who is from Montreal. I already hate him because he threw my towel which had been drying on my bed, completely defeating the purpose. So, I did the same to his, because it was blocking my ladder up to my bunk. Take that Patrick! I am not above petty warfare! Also, we are leaving for a 9:42 am train tomorrow, and I'll be sure to rock the bed a lot when I get up so as to disturb you as much as possible.

On the way to the internet cafe, we passed a child with a full-blown mullett. A girl child. Who was also wearing one hooped earing in one ear, and a long dangly one in the other. She was maybe 8. I guess you have to get them while they're young. Just thought you would want to know. Also, did you know that Camden, NJ is the most dangerous city? The girl at the other internet terminal felt like sharing that with the entire cafe.

2 days seems to be about the perfect amount of time for this city. We leave seeing everything we planned to, and perhaps most importantly, no longer fear Berlin. Yesterday morning, we never would have been brave enough to venture about on all the various transport options or say a few short phrases to people in their native tongue (the information lady at the train station actually complimented my German... all one sentence of it!). We are truly growing as travellers, as today we didn't make a single navigational error using the map! This was our goal, so it's nice to know we are improving. Also, we are supreme budgeters, as we only spent about €14 yesterday, and we are maybe at €20 today. And people said that to try and make it on less than €40/day was crazy. Take that people!

All right, that's pretty much it for now. We have an early day ahead of us, so we need our rest! Also, our feet hate us and might go on strike unless we placate them. I suppose the next time you hear from us will be when we're in Prague! Bring it on!

Aufwiedersehn!

posted by Steph @ 5:53 pm