Travel Diaries....Berlin

Berlin was the place I was most looking forward to visiting on my holiday, and when I got there I fell in love. It is simply fascinating with history and the kind of place anyone arty/crafty/musical would adore. Although I don't speak much German, I just felt comfortable with the place, I really clicked with it.

On my first day I decided to visit Sachsenhausen, the site of a former Nazi concentration camp. It was a deeply chilling but moving experience. I won't say a lot about it or post all the pics, except to say that the Camp was far bigger than I would ever have thought a concentration would be. If you would like to see the pics, you can have a look on my Facebook.



One of my favourite things to do when I visit a new city is go grocery shopping. You get to see what 'the locals' eat and compare products and it's lots of fun. I bought loads of raspberries which were ridiculously cheap (less than a Euro)



And you have to love a place where alcohol is sold at the checkout!


Vodka (aka Wodka) was ridiculously cheap and drinking on the street/park etc legal, so we had a lovely afternoon visiting the Zoological Gardens and enjoying the sun...





We even saw some naked sunbathers which I found hilarious. Apparently this is quite the done thing in Europe hehe.

I made a new friend:


Lots of funky cafes and bars in East Berlin:







We also saw a fascinating exhibition commemorating the smashing of the Berlin Wall. Just phenomenal stuff.


I thought East Berlin would have more Plattenbauten, but a lot of the prefabs had been replaced. We saw quite a few reclaimed as artists' spaces and communes which was cool.

Perhaps the different in rail way stations give a great pictorial contrast between the old Eastern Bloc and the West:





Amazing place!