First few minutes in town and we got stalked and questioned by a very drunk man and saw a group of people from Anonymous protesting a scientology stall #Berlin
Had lunch in an Aussie restaurant -walked up the left hand side of the stairs #rebelwithoutacause
Kangaroo salad
It's funny in Germany how people wear bikinis in the parks to go sunbathing. I think just generally people are really keen to get it all off in Summer. There are a lot of parks in Berlin actually -I think something like 30 or 40% of it is green or blue (water).
Sitting in the Bundestag listening to an incredibly boring presentation waiting for Angela Merkel #Iwishforit #notgoingtohappen
The one interesting thing I learnt is that Germany once had a 19-year-old MP (in the Green party).
Would love to say I'm fluent in Swedish, Indonesian and Spanish, but I'm not as talented at languages as some here (some have learnt sentences in almost every language!). I think both my Australian and American accents have improved (the latter so any English words I say can actually be understood!)
German fashion, I take back anything bad I ever said about you #Berlin
On that note, where do they get all their fab sunglasses from? Couldn't find any nice ones, even when we were released into an air-conditioned mall for 4 hours one hot afternoon. #Geniusidea someone who made cool sunglasses cheap (not necessarily copies) would make a lot of money. The cheap ones are always so ugly though. In saying that, I'm probably going to buy a 5 euro pair from next to our hotel that are cool. Pia found a really cool pair in the toilets somewhere #luck
Read on for less sunglass-related stuff:
Work on the opera house in Berlin started in 2011 and won't be finished until 2016 (because it's an old restoration project). Not used to that in NZ, since all our buildings are new! #3yearsmax
Missing strawberries after eating so many in Konstanz -luckily though there's enough to go round here -most German eis cafés have a separate menu just for strawberries!
One of our current jokes-which-is-not-really-a-joke is how Germans always say 'Achtung' (watch out) and 'Vorsicht' (caution) when you bump into one on the street (not 'sorry', or 'excuse me') #notthatfriendlytostrangers
Actually, a random group of 20-something-year-old guys did teach us a hand game in the U-Bahn today though #nice #strangers
Had to go through airport-level security to get into the Jewish Museum today.
Disregarding the whole emigration thing that makes people lose perspective, the problems of racism were really well-defined today at the Jewish museum. I really enjoyed that today (though it probably helped that I'd slept for more than 5 hours for the first time last night!) The tour guide was amazing -the best yet- and it made such a difference that she spoke slowly so we could understand it! Like a lot of Jewish-related art and architecture in Berlin, the building was so well-thought-out. The building is shaped in a zigzag to show the Jews' highs and lows, but a straight (but not continuous) line also runs through, with empty spaces in the middle to show where traces of history have been destroyed. You have to decide which direction to go in, just like the Jewish people, and the floors are weirdly sloped (as is the garden) so you come out feeling sea-sick, just like you should after hearing the history of the Jews in Germany.
Although, most of the Jews killed in the Holocaust were not German.
Learning not to judge a book by its cover in the #JewishMuseumBerlin
This is the garden, which is also very architecturally-confusing (though you can't really see how steep it is in the picture)
Nothing like learning about something that never happened though #AtomicBombColdWar #BerlinsAtomicBunker
Would be echt cool to have a party there (you can rent it out) #addthattoothebucketlist
For example a party for 3000 for 2 weeks #practicefortherealthing
We spend just about as much time talking about topics as we do in the museums, which is good. I was reminded today just how tough it was for Germans after the war #everybodylosesinwar
#BombedOut
Don't usually have time for shopping so when we were given an afternoon specifically for shopping I was quite the enthusiastic shopper.
The Ampelman (traffic light men only in East Berlin) is the most intense souvenir shop I have ever seen -it has literally anything you can think of, with the traffic light men on of course. Here is pasta but believe me it got crazy (and yes, I did buy stuff)
Also tried a massage chair for the first time during a much-needed break from shopping (with the Argentians). It really did feel like a little man was in the chair massaging your back! #creepy
Also, technically, this is mostly a food blog, so if you don't like eating, stop reading here.
This is a fabulous frozen yoghurt chain here
-you get to choose your toppings :)
The lovely Cande from Argentina
Thai soup -actually I could only get away with this when I bought it myself -Germans cannot stand anything remotely spicy -it's actually hilarious! (Ruby you'd fit right in!) The tub on the right is straciatella yoghurt I bought from the supermarket -the dairy desserts from the supermarket are so good here -wish I had more time to enjoy them!
Started really getting into desserts in Berlin. We have 15 euro per meal, so we often share a dessert. Have to admit I had tiramisu (and pizza) two nights in a row though..
The salads are mighty so they serve as their own meal..
By 'eis' (ice cream) Germans can mean your average magnum or gelato (and they don't seem to care about the difference) but the ice block type are generally more available so I think I've tried pretty much every one there is to try now!
Actually don't choose many things with meat here, because the portions are so big! Also since we eat out twice a day (and often have meat with breakfast) it gets a bit much! There are lots of vegetarians in the PAD groups.
Tschüss!
