It's been a while

It's been a while since we last did an update. Last time we wrote, we were unsure as to where we were going. After some debate and an extra night in Salzburg, we headed north to Berlin. We'd heard plenty of good things about Berlin from all of the other travelers we'd talked to, so it was a relatively easy decision.

Our hostel was one of our favourites so far (The Circus). It had a great location, all of the amenities and we really had nothing bad to say at all. At night, we were recommended a Swiss restaurant in a park that is supposedly Brad Pitts favourite restaurant in Berlin (we doubt it). We checked out the bar in the hostel afterwards (where there is a ton of stuff advertising David Hasselhoff - apparently he is big in Berlin), and went to bed.

The next day, we signed up for a free walking tour of Berlin that would take us to many of it's famous sights. Here are a few..


One piece of the outer Berlin wall. Not much of it is left standing. I was unaware it was taken down so recently.


Me with the same piece of the wall.


While this grouping of trees does not look like much, it is actually quite famous. This was the site of Adolf Hitlers bunker. Between the three trees is where he was buried after he killed himself and was burned. Many people like to spit (and do other things) on these trees.



Just down the road is the controversial memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. As Ryan shows us, many of the columns are quite high. One reason it is controversial is that it is only for the murdered Jews, and not other groups of people that were killed. Each column was also treated with an anti-graffiti chemical, but after this was done it was realized that the company providing the chemical also provided other "chemicals" to Nazi death camps.


The Berlin TV tower at night.

That night we went on a pub crawl throughout Berlin. It was one of the better ones we've done so far, judging by the fact that we don't remember much of it.

The next day we boarded a train to Amsterdam, as we near the end of our European visit. We had booked a popular central hostel the first night, and something a bit of a walk away for the next 2.


Part of the Red Light district at night.

Taking pictures in the red light district is not allowed (especially of the girls), but this is one we managed to snap. No matter how much you hear about it, it's still unbelievable to see.

After wandering the streets for a while, we stopped to checkout a couple of Coffee Shops, where we spent some time watching action movies, and then "Mega Builders".

The next day we switched to our hostel across town. This hostel was a Christian hostel, but it was pretty cheap and had availability so it was an easy choice. Guys and girls have separate floors (no mixed dorms), and our room has 18 beds, all full.


This sign blocks the door on our floor.


One of the canals of Amsterdam.

The next day we made our way across town to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. The actual brewery has since been moved, so it's essentially a giant commercial for Heineken. 3 beers were included in the price, and a free gift, so it's not that bad. We didn't really learn anything, but got to go on an exciting ride of what it's like to be a bottle of beer.


Some video mail we sent ourselves.

After some much needed shopping, we wandered the streets some more, visited another coffee shop, and spent our first night in the Christian Hostel.

After lunch at the Hard Rock Amsterdam today, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. Once again, no pictures are allowed. It had a fairly large collection of his paintings, yet many of the most famous ones were not there.

Our plans are pretty much set for the rest of our Europe trip. We have 1 more night in Amsterdam, before travelling to a beach hostel just outside of Amsterdam (everything was booked!), where we will try and celebrate Ryans birthday. Monday afternoon we are flying to London where we have our own accommodation for 2 nights. After this, we will attempt to meet up with some of Ryan's family.

Now it's time to get a bite to eat, and find something to do for our last night in the heart of Amsterdam.