CONTIKI round 2- Berlin

I was worried that I went to Berlin too early before contiki started as the first leg of the tour was 3 days in Berlin, however I had the best time with my 5 days there and fell in love with Berlin, I was so glad to not have to leave just yet. I said goodbye to hostel life for the next 10 days and headed out to meet the new group and start the Berlin to Budapest tour. After induction we headed out for a traditional german meal of potatoes and meat balls of course washed down with beer. I went back to the hotel as I had had a huge night the night before on the alternative pub crawl but others went to check out the TV tower.

East Side Gallery, so much graffiti not enough time

The next day we headed out to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp. We had terrible drizzly weather, which kind of just added to the misery of the place. I opted to get the audio guide which was so interesting having people who were in the camp tell their experiences. I found it a little too interesting as I ran out of time and missed a lot having to RUN back to catch the bus, I could have stayed for a lot longer, you need a full day. But the run warmed me up a bit. Had to do a sink wash the first day of contiki as all my clothes were pretty dirty from going out a bit in Berlin, people smoke in the bars here GROSS!!

We had a free afternoon which I spent at the sunday flee markets!! Bought a few awesome jumpers and fridge magnets, and of course walked around with a nice hot gluiwien (hot wine) YUM!! had a spot of dinner in the christmas markets then back to join the group for an EYE SPY pub crawl, where we are given clues and codes to try and work out where the next pub is. The crawl was much the same as one I did a few days earlier so I had already been to the places and hadn't liked them BUT was good to break the ice a little with everyone.

4 story op shop!!!!!

Dee and I (met on the Italy tour) had already done a FREE walking tour so we didn't join everyone the next day for the PAYED one and just had a great and much needed time relaxing in a cafe. We met back up with them afterwards to check out Check Point Charlie museum, which tells you about the Berlin wall escape stories, very interesting.

We had a free night for dinner so headed once again to the Christmas markets, I will never get over going to them with the awesome atmosphere and food. We had a few beers in a German beer hall and a spot of ice skating where we were invited by some German locals for a drink, ended up being an amazing night and one of my favourite nights out on my trip. The beer kept on flowing and went down so easily, luckily there was A LOT of dancing to work it off, with young, old, and all styles of music everyone in the hall was having a blast. Good thing its cold outside as you can cool off after a boogie then get back in there for more.

DRESDEN- A quick stop over in Dresden south-east of Germany, a beautiful town on the river that reminds me a lot of Florence as it has a lot of bridges with arch ways and a romantic atmosphere. We just walked around for a few hours and had a coffee. I am seriously low in cash at the moment as I am waiting for my money to transfer to my travel card which takes 3 days!! Didn't plan that very well as I had to borrow money from the guide and from a friend to get me through, BUT for the first time on my 6 month trip I have actually had to think about money and if I can really afford to eat/do something! Has made me realise how much I could have saved but I wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way, theres no point stressing over money when your travelling your only there maybe once in your life so live it up.