Germany!

When we jumped off the bus in Berlin we decided quite quickly that our luggage was too heavy to we got a taxi to the hostel. And there was Ross! Waiting! Sadly we'd not had much luck contacting him about our delay so he was expecting us a few hours earlier. The nutjob had taken a 21 hour bus ride all the way from London, so everyone was a little tired that night. We did manage to take the train to Alexander Platz and walk back along the way to the Brandenburg Gate which is a super impressive sight. Check out Facebook for lots of pics. It was cold and snowy and slippery (which Timon continues to struggle with) but beautiful. I also saw a bar called Gandalf's - miss you buddy :(.

Ross, in his extended wait for us, had discovered a modern miracle called Back Factory. It was a cafe type place where you grabbed a tray and filled it up with random awesome foods and paid for it at the end. There was lots of bread, rolls etc but also some delish sandwiches, wraps and pizza strudels. We pretty much ate here everyday.

The rundown of our time in Berlin is simple - we ate, drank lots and froze our butts off. We wanted to see a film but nothing much was on. The cinema area was stunning though, very fancy film houses and an exhibition. There was an IMAX which was briefly exciting until I realised they were playing Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D and that it was sad for me to be thinking about (old) work. We explored some Christmas markets, drank Gluwhein (German Glogg sans almonds), ate goulash, potatoes, pork, pork, pork, croquettes, sauerkraut, this intense melted cheese thing and strudel. I loved the food, but Timon was disappointed we couldn't find a place with GIANT chicken schnitzels. The boys drank lots of beer in ridiculously shaped glasses and I filled up on "Mann girl' sized glasses of wine (that's just how they pour them!) and a grapefruit beer that was bearable.

We went on the most excellent free walking tour in Berlin that everyone should do if they visit. The history is so interesting and juicy, from World War 1 through the Berlin Wall with bits in between. My favourite part is the Wall while Timon was very taken with the bullet holes and damage from bombs still evident in some buildings. However! I must recommend that people taking this tour do not go in winter -12 weather.

We took a day off Berlin to visit Potsdam, a town 20 minutes out that star the palace called Sansoucci. For those of you Facebooking Ross you can see his photos. The summer palace of Frederick the Great has absolutely stunning grounds and the building itself is pretty and yellow. Let's call him the SunKing if you will. We spent hours walking around and went home exhausted but happy.