Berlin - Go Aussie Go!

Came in from Prague, a bit tired but ready to see the capital of Germany. We got into our hotel which was a little out of town but not too bad, to be pleasantly suprised by our hotel. It was really nice! Great bed and shower and some great stations on the TV. Even got to catch a local concert that was being broadcast on local MTV. They had some great German bands on. Drink some vino with one of our group, Anthony.

The group dinner was in the hotel restaurant. A buffet meal, they had fresh steamed vegetables, you should of seen them go! It was like we hadn't eaten veges for years! Everyone had been craving veges for a while, and there had been a bug lingering around the bus so we all scoffed on the veges and stuff.

Some people were heading into town to do some clubbing Berlin style. Of course Cam the party animal could't help himself and he was going into town with the group. First off we went to this underground bar that was really dark and scary. We were the first ones there so we had the choice of seats. Got some great lounges up the back. They had some cheap cocktails as well. Had to sample them! Turns out it was gothic night, and the freakshow was in town. Some bloody weirdos! This is the first time that our tour leader had seen this, but at least we won't forget it!

So some of us headed off to another club up the road which was pretty cool. They had the main area that had seating and stuff, more like a cafe, next door the main dance floor. Downstairs was the R&B club with €2 shots of tequila so we were into them! Met a couple of Aussie blokes there talking up the Aussies for the big game against Brazil the next day. Cam actually ended up dancing to that crap R&B stuff, but it was a lot of fun! Off home about 2:30am.

The next day it was off to the city to explore this place. We had a 3 hour bus tour of the city booked which was really great. We had a local guide who spoke great English and was really funny! Overnight our new friend Adam had become really sick with the same bug as everyone but really bad. Renee hanged back with Adam but wanted to came in as the Aust v Braz game was on this afternoon.

On the bus, checked out some really cool parts of town, along the river and stuff into the old Eastern Berlin the communist side. It felt like we were in Moscow. Definately a place you need to spend ages in to see the good bits. Anyway we went back with the bus to pick up Renee. She was rapped that we came back! On the train into town. We went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum where they had the post between West and East Berlin back in the divided Berlin days. This was very strange indeed and is hard to explain but East Berlin was in the middle with West Berlin around it, and this was one of the checkpoints to get through. You need to google this and read up to understand what a weird setup it was. The museum was great, it was mainly about how people escaped out of the Eastern side, through tunnels hidden away in cars etc.

We then expored a bit more finding this chocolatier that had these really cool models made of chocolate. They had Brandenbug gate that was about 1m high! A titanic that was about 3m long and a soccer ball that was about 3m round! Very cool. Sampled some local wares, and then off to get a feed and off to the soccer. We eventually found somewhere and fed up quickly and off to meet up with a group. We tried to get into the Gate area in the park, but this was full. Then tried Adidas stadium but it was booked out. So we went further into the park and eventually got it. But we had missed the first 30 min of the game. Lucky no-one had scored a goal in this time!

Wow is the word. There must of been over 20,000 people there most being Brazil supporters. But we didn't care, a beer and the Aussie flag raised we think that they were blown away that Aust managed to keep them goal-less at half time. There was a great set up there with 3 massive screens, beer and food tents setup everywhere. It was devistating to see the early goal by Brazil in the second half but Aust had many chances to score but it just didn't happen. We all still had a ball but! (no pun intended) After the game the Brazil supporters came out with there drums and stuff and were going crazy (of course, but they don't cheer unless they are winning).

We headed off still proud of how well we went against them and headed off to the Parliament building (as recommended by Anthony). It was pretty strict to get it but once up the top they have this glass dome that you can walk up, with a huge spiral ramp all they way up. Got some really cool pictures up hear with the crew as the sun was setting over this amazing city. It was time to do some more souvenir shopping and head home.

This is one city that we will definatly be coming back to. We only scratched the surface of what is an amazing city.

Will have to get the pictures up here soon.

Cam & Nat