I had a really great four full days in Berlin over the weekend.  Søren's cousins have an apartment there and he asked if a few of the Interns (Trainees) wanted to go.  So it ended up being Søren, Carolina, Laurence and myself plus Diego from Leuven (Belgium), Rasmus (AIESECer) and Morten (friends of Søren and Rasmus).

 

So all of us except for Diego took an early flight Friday morning.  After taking the train/metro to the aparment near Eberswalder Str. metro station we dropped off our bags and went for brunch... and what a brunch.  There was a plater of different cheeses, spreads, cold meats and a basket of bread.  The great thing about Berlin, compared to København, is that food and drinks are cheaper!!  So after stuffing ourselves, we rolled towards Alexanderplatz.  Towering above us is the second tallest structure in Europe: Fernsehturm (Television Tower).  We then walked back along Kastanienallee with its many cafes and restaurants.  We grabbed a beer in an old brewery which has been converted to clubs and bars and where they had two big screens to watch the World Cup.  Morten and Søren made a really cheap dinner where we celebrated Rasmus' birthday with a lot of wine!  Soo much wine that most of us fell asleep.  So only Rasmus, Søren and Morten went out to some nearby cafe for cheap cocktails.

 

Sat morning was spent sleeping and then preparing another massive brunch which we had at home.  Diego arrived with some Belgian beer and then we all headed out for some sight seeing.  We walked down Strasse des 17. Juni towards Brandburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate).  Since the line was unusually short, we went inside the Parliament house (Reichstag) with its distinctive glass dome.  We then took public transport to Potsdamer Platz, an up and coming trendy part of town with the Sony Centre.  The original plan was to go to a Brazilian show at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the Cultures of the World) but when we got there it was sold out.  So Morten, Diego, Rasmus and Søren went to see the Olympic Stadium (which was unfortunately closed to the public) while Carolina, Laurence and I went to see the Berlin Wall.  Near Warschauer Str. they have part of the wall over a mile long.  From there we went to Checkpoint Charlie and then home to watch some games.

 

Sunday, I relaxed.  Explored the neighbourhood with Rasmus and Morten while the others went to some Museums.   The area where we lived has lots of ethnic restaurants and many cafes. So its a really cool place to live.  After a beer in a cafe, we headed home to watch the games.... unfortunately Australia lost to Brazil

 

Monday, the girls went shopping, the guys relaxed while Rasmus and I went to go look at some Soviet architecture near Karl Marx Allee.  Its a really wide boulevard where they used to parade their military might.  We then went to Treptower Park which has a memorial for 50,000 dead soviet soldiers.  Then Rasmus took me to this second-hand clothes store where you pay per kilo!  After a bit of shopping I headed home to pack and then Laurence and I took the plane home.  The others stayed till Wednesday afternoon.

 

Berlin was a great city to see.  The streets are wider and greener compared to København and there's a lot more sub-social cultures of people where I would say that most Danes conform to one large group.  I also loved Berlin for the cheap drinks... during happy hour, cocktails were as much as a large coke!

 

But..... the thing that I will remember is the food that we ate.  Since it was relatively more cheaper, we ate out mostly except for the first dinner and breakfasts.  But the other times, I ate: sushi, mexican, vietnamese and thai food.  The highlights being crispy duck in a coconut curry sauce, dim sum and finally a bowl of Pho!!!! yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!