We are officially Berliners!

(Mom) You can quit refreshing the page hoping for a new blog entry.... one has arrived! As much as we loved Amsterdam there is not time to miss it yet because we love Berlin as well! Our hostel, The Wombat, is in the perfect area right in between Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg - both are two really cool areas! Lots of shops, cafes, resturaunts and bars right next door, not to mention the WomBar on the top floor of our hostel with a beautiful view of the city and the Fernshturm (a huge T.V. tower built during the cold war as a symbol of communist superiority). It reminds Hall of the Sun Sphere in Knoxville, except 4 times the size.

The train ride from Amsterdam was about 6 hours filled with sleep, music, and reading (Catcher in the Rye for Hall and The Sun Also Rises for Liz). Even though we were wiped out when we arrived at the Hostel, we went to the roof and ended up making friends and dancing at a nearby bar to Eastern Electro music til early morning. While climbing down from the top bunk, Liz's already worn down jeans gave out as the back completly tore open. She ended up wearing them out anyways, with no other jeans, and was quite embarassed the next morning when she realized the extent to which they were ripped. Needless to say, the next day was spent finding new jeans, recooping and getting a feel for the city.

Yesterday, we decided to get out and see some of the sites. The first stop was the Jewish Museum, where we got a thorough historical lesson of the life of German Jews. There was a special exhibition on Deadly Medicine, which was well worth the 2 extra euros, but quite grewsome at times. Afterward, we headed to what remains of the Berlin Wall. It is now called the East Side Gallery because they have painters and graffiti artists make murals on the remaining 1.3 km of the wall. We even got to see a few artists in action, which was really cool not only because the art is amazing but during the communist rule artistic expression like this would never have been allowed on the East side. We feel like this city is so different from all the other European cities that we have been to. Although Berlin is beautiful, it is found more in the people and culture than the architecture and physical qualities of the city. It is clear that everything was demolished during the second world war and was replaced as fast as possible with poured concrete buildings. What does give it a unique character is that all the city walls, even store fronts, are covered in graffiti.

Last night we went to a recommended bar, 8mm! It was right up the street from our hostel and as cool as we heard that it would be. They projected older Indie movies on the walls with subtitles with good music playing in the background. Truly a great atmosphere! Today is our last day in Berlin. So far we have spent the day wandering around Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, dropping in and out of cafes, resturaunts and boutiques. Laundry is next on the agenda then a traditional German dinner, which we are yet to try. Tomorrow we are headed to Munich. We know that you all want to see pictures, but you are just going to have to wait because we have no means of uploading them.

Cheers to yet another city which we hope to return to again in the future! Love, Hall and Liz