berlin round two: fail

We left the The Tent in München, with the intent of getting Berlin right the second time. This was a mistake: The rainy weather followed us the six hours to Berlin's Hauptbahnhof station; it poured all night and into the next afternoon. After an okay night at Mieninger Hostel (it was 13€ for the same cookie-cutter, flavourless accomodation we have experienced in similar chain hostels,) we traipsed around the city, packs in tow- trying to find accomodation with substance. Apparently so was everyone else: we visited seven hostels, (on both the West and East side of Berlin,) only to retreat to Hauptbahnhof for the 2pm train to München.

During our 3h 'tour' of Berlin's fully-booked hostels, however, we did manage to see the Berlin Wall, (and that aint all.. as Louie insists I mention here.) We also saw Checkpoint Charlie and numerous monuments to fallen soliers. So maybe Berlin wasnt a complete failure.

The train journey between the two cities is nice enough: shacks, (or houses,) in sunny shades of yellow and tan pepper the fields as they slope away from the tracks; I have no idea who lives in these sheds.. experience tells me that maybe they are gypsies.. although their upkeep suggests otherwise: flourecent bunches of flowers and vegetables line the meticulously manicured properties. Further down the slope, woods are so dark and thick that you'd think its impossible to ever go exploring inside- but, like Germany's best kept secret, every now and again there is an opening in the sweeping Evergreen and Spruce branches through which you can make out the forest floor. Covered in moss and littered with needles the colour of toast, its so deep that it seems like you could hike forever in these forests that were so recently Nazi territory. Kind of erie, don't you think?

Because we gave up our spot in the giant tent two days ago, we now have to stay in our own tent- which is actually much quieter, although I miss the comfey beds and wool blankets of the 100-man tent.

we are due back in Memmingen (1h outside of München,) on Monday, for a flight to Ireland to visit some friends- so over the next eight days we are thinking of going camping in Northern Germany (Sylt and Kiel,) if the weather stays sunny like it has been today. We are also considering a four or five day trip to Split, Croatia. It takes about sixteen hours to get there- not bad, not great.

Below are some pictures of Berlin.

keep it real
k&l

oh, ps:
our trip is half way over.. wow!! Here is a list of the places we have been so far:

Spain
Madrid

France
Paris (x2)
Montpellier
Lille

Switzerland
Zürich
Interlaken
Lauterbrunnen

Germany
München (x2)
Berlin (x2)
Frankfurt (x2)

Beligium
Brugges
Ghent
Bruxelles

Italy
Venezia
Fierenze
Bologna

Hungary
Budapest
Veroslöd
Veszprem

Netherlands
Amsterdam (x3)

We have flights booked for Ireland and Norway as well.