Ahhhh... Berlin!

Guten tag!

For those of you that have never heard of the wonder that is the German capital city, allow us to fill you in. Berlin is one of the most amazing macrocasms that we have seen thus far- its an intense and ecclectic blend of neo-classical architecture with a modern urban flair. For those of you that would swear we just wrote that in German, allow me to translate: the city is an unusual blend of old school architecture, art and culture mixed with very modern buildings, immense consumerism and the feel of a city such as New York.

Ok, all that aside... we love this place!!!!!!

We arrived on Sunday and it was time to do some laundry- luckily, Alison told us about a place just around the corner from our hostel so we knew we could get this handled. What we didnt know was that the laundromat would prove to be a major challenge and probably one of the most amusing portions of our trip thus far. Not a big shocker, but all the signage was in German and their machines do not seem to operate the same way ours do (putting the money directly into the machine, filling the barrel with detergent, etc...) God bless this poor little German man that was trying in broken English, and we would swear broken and stuttering German, to help us out! After a long and arduous adventure, the clothes were finally washing- we managed to screw up the entire operation but our clothes were clean nonetheless. As we were finishing up, in came the man, at a near sprint towards us, with his English homework in hand, ranting and raving about how he "need ur help wiss my ENGLISH lesson." Trying not to laugh, we tutored this poor man (he was about 40, mind you) until we almost couldnt take it anymore and needed to leave. He insisted upon giving us his phone number and telling us to call him because he needed additional help and apparently, and as scary as it might seem, we were his only hope!

That night, we hung out in the bar in our hostel, Goldman's Bar, that has become quite popular with local Berliners and hostel-goers alike. We met two really nice Aussie boys and somehow got on the subject of our dogs- they were particularly fond of the fact that we have Australian shephards, however we were more enthralled with the fact that Jeremy's dog, Bonnie, is a Labradoodle!!! No joke, this breed truly exists in Australia (look it up) and is a mix between a Labradore and a Poodle- go figure! I asked if they bred Bullshits (Shitz Zsu and Bull Dog) and they got quite a laugh from that as well!

Yesterday morning, we decided to take a tour of a WWI and WWII underground bunker that is 80 meters (240 feet) below the surface of the main square, Alexanderplatz. It was really interesting to see how these people were forced to survive during the air raids- the room was about 100 square feet and it was often packed with over 150 people. Good stuff... very cold and damp, but worth it.

In the afternoon, a colleague of Colleen's Mom is German by birth and her sister still lives here. In trading faxes with Hannelore, we decided that she would pick us up and show us around the city. She came for us around 4pm and we saw Potsdamer Platz, the most modern and urban area of the city that most Berliners think is a major eyesore and hate. We saw our first Starbucks of Europe, damn near had a heart attack, and somehow conveyed our longing for a $4 cup of anything to this poor German woman, who spoke little English, but somehow knew just what we were talking about. After our mini break, we checked out the mall (minimal shopping parents, so keep the comments to a minimum about that one!!!!), and then headed to Hannelore's house for a proper German dinner- I dont think you have ever seen two happier girls, stuffing their faces with massive amounts of homemade delights!!!! We played with her dog, Anton (cookies and cream spaniel) and even attempted to teach him English because as you know, the dogs here only understand German! I think we were really getting somewhere with him until we discovered that each time he barked, he expected, and received, a treat for his tricks... gut hund (good dog!)! After an entire bottle of red wine and wonderful ice cream sundaes, Ingo, Hannelore's son drove us back to our hostel on the Auto Bahn, which we were particularly thrilled to drive on. Too bad the Auto Bahns in the city have similar speed limits to our freeways at home... oh well, we were happy!!!!

Today, we went on the most amazing and informative tour of the entire city of Berlin. We saw all the major attractions and our brains are overflowing with information about this thriving city- consequently, if u have any questions, speak now or forever hold your piece! Some of the highlights of the tour included: the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenberg Gate, Hitler's Bunker and suicide site, Museum Island and many more. We rode the S-Bahn back to our hostel with the tour guide, an American girl from New York, and I think she filled us in with a bit of supplementary information- the amount of knowledge this girl had of Berlin was astounding!!! If you are ever here, and we suggest you visit soon because the city is transforming and modernizing itself at such a quick pace, you have to take this tour!

Tonight, we are going to have dinner at the top of the TV Tower, an extremely tall and pointy tower that most Berliners again hate, but was built a number of years ago to display that the city was just as in tune with Western culture as the rest of the world (ironic fact: Swedish architects were employed to finish the project because the Germans were not able to), but offers an impressive view of the entire city. And then tomorrow, we are off to Prague, which we have heard nothing but great things about. Talk to u all from there!!!

Love, Kyle and Colleen