Veni, Vidi, Vici: Berlin = Awesome

Today has been a great but tiring day. Kenny, David, and I went on a free walking tour today of Berlin at 11 o'clock this morning, so we headed straight to the Brandenburg Gate. The company we went through is called New Europe and there is a similar tour running in Munich as well. Ended up getting a caramel coffee at Dunkin' Donuts before the tour started and bought my first patch for my jacket... yes, I got American coffee in Europe, sue me, I like them...

The statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate.

Barry, our tour guide, was really cool. An Irishmen staying in Berlin who was very knowledgeable and fun. It was well worth the time and blisters on my feet. Well that's kind of a lie. I already have a blister on my foot... so the worsening of said blister on my foot. Either way, it was awesome.

Barry and me at the end of the tour.

Here's a quick list of places we visited: Brandenburg Gate, Hitler's Bunker, Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, SS Headquarters, Berlin Wall, TV Tower, Pariser Platz, and the list goes on. It was déjà vu to have another Irishmen giving me a tour; made me flash back to Galway and my tours to Connemara & Cong, and the Cliffs of Moher & the Burren. That seems SO far away. Man...

After the tour was over David and I tried to go to Postdam, but since we had to leave early in the morning for our 8 hour bus ride (blech) to Munich in the morning, we decided to hit up more of the things in Berlin that we hadn't yet done. So we went to the Reichstag and rode the fastest elevator in the world so we could see the beautiful skyline of the city.

In front of the Reichstag.

No we're relaxing back at the hostel. I'm kind of flooded with thoughts of the day, and I'm sure I left some things out. Maybe if I can collect those wandering thoughts I'll post them here later. Berlin is in the top 3 cities I have visited thus far. Here's how they stack up at the moment:

Florence