Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Berlin

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  Berlin, Germany
Tuesday, January 31, 2006

I arrived in Berlin three days ago on the ICE train, which is the fastest rail network in Europe I'm told. We managed to get up to 235km/h which was displayed on the monitors in the train. It was almost like an aeroplane the way it looked inside. Nice seats with stowable tables and adjustable chairs gave me this impression. When I bought my ticket, I was unaware that there were two classes on board (first and second). When I hopped onto the train, the carriage I happened to board was first class and I thought "ooh this is nice and sat down in the leather chair with loads of legroom and what-not. It was an unpleasant suprise when I was told I would have to move down to the second class. By the time I found a seat, I had walked fifteen long carriages with my three bags on - not an easy task in a rattling train.

Arriving in Berlin was amusing because we took the train to the Warschawer St and I was confronted by a one-man-band-sausage-standİ which was a man with an umbrella above him on a stick, with a gas bottle on his back with a grill on the front which had cooking sausages on it. I thought that was ace, but unfortunately my camera battery was flat at the time and I couldn't take a photo. When we got off at the next station, we had to ask some street walkering prostitutes for directions - that was pretty funny.

This hostel is much better than the one in Frankfurt because it has private showers and toilets, even in the large dorms, it has a chill out room and heaps of games stuff. Additionally, there is a smoking room that is not the chill out room - this pleased me. In my dorm I had two punks who were dressed to the nines with their mohawks and army boots. They were in town because Berlin was hosting a punk convention at the time. Unfortunately for me, I was sleeping in the next bed, one of them hadn't showered for like four days, and believe me, you could tell. The other of the two, who I titled Bebop and Rocksteady (Teenage mutant ninja turles) got into some strife with the police so he was locked up for most of the time when he was staying there. I have included a photo of the fat smelly one.

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Berlin is full of cool stuff and there is a multitude of world famous events and sites here in the city. I have been to the place where Hitler suicided (which is now a carpark), visited the Berlin wall, crossed the border at Checkpoint Charlie, gone to the oldest part of Berlin which is about 1000 years old and a whole lot more.

I really like this city because it has so much going on and the rail system is just amazing: you can go almost anywhere in the CBD without walking more than a block or two. Infact, I reckon I've done more walking in the train stations changing services than I have to destinations after alighting. Sometimes this changing of services can be difficult and we had a little problem when I didn't read the sign and we got onto a train that was about to terminate. We were trapped in a dark tunnel until the driver got out and walked past and saw us. I thought the whole incident was pretty funny, but my travelmate, Ilkwan, didn't agree.

We managed to get to a Bundesliga (top German soccer league) match between Hertha Berlin and Hannover 96. It was a cheap afternoon of entertainment and I was thoroughly happy with the match. After the match, there was a massive fireworks display, which would have been a bit more impressive had the temperature not been -7°C.

There is this Aussie restaurant here called Corroboree, which I have been to twice. It is actually an authentic contempory bar like you would see in Perth. Something along the lines of the Brizzy or the Inglewood, except nicer than both. It is from outside there that I am writing this. That is why I will end it here, Potsdamer Platz is an open air environment and my fingers are freezing and it hurts to type.

Bye

PS the title of this entry refers to a poster I saw here on the street

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Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Berlin Olympiastadion	Berlin wall 1	Berlin wall 2	Bizarre lift buttons
Bloody Germans will drink anywhere	Brandenburg gate	Brandenburg gate portrait	Checkpoint Charlie sign
Fat bastard smelly punk	Fireworks after the game	Hertha supporters	Ilkwan - travel buddy
Inside Potsdamer Platz	Inside Potsdamer Platz 2	Match in progress	Me leaving West Berlin
Outside Potsdamer platz	Piece of berlin wall	Potsdamer Platz ceiling	Stuck in a war

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