Headed straight to Alexanderplatz which was the nearest station to our accommodation but deposited our stuff in the lockers (everywhere in Europe you can find these cool thing; maybe Singapore as well, just that I haven't notice since I haven't needed it but yea, everywhere should have these!) cos we were too early.
CURRY WURST!!! I had a grand total of THREE in my first day in Berlin. It instantly became my favourite food until I left Berlin and decided I had enough.
Free tour again, around Berlin which is really rich in history, particularly the contemporary part. Brandenburg Gate itself is really impressive but for the whole platz, that's about it, everything else is so made-up you can laugh at how out of place the gate really is just by looking around (or go to 9gag, they show the satelite view which is really quite joke). In fact, many of the places we have visited is also the case. "Tourism hypocrisy" I call it.
But one thing was a good "made-up": Topography of Terror. It's a really meaningful place that everyone should visit in Berlin (nice place to take profile pictures as well)
Parliament building was... meh. But the audio guide's really cool as the "guide" talks as you move according to which checkpoint you have just passed (would have been cooler if they can stop me from crossing the checkpoint before they finish that portion of explanation)
Itinerary said: pub at night! But brought beer back at Alexanderplatz instead and packet some food with us as we headed for our accommodation. Only problem: we weren't sure if he said he will come down to pick us as we didn't have a phone to call; we took the risk and went all the way down to his flat's location. And yep, we were trapped outside the main door, together with this guy that looked a little shady with all his barang barangs. In any case, we interacted and realize he speaks English though he's Spanish (he said his name is "Kuan" but I'm not sure how it's spelt); he's renting a room for 6 months and is waiting for his landlord as well. After awhile we realize we should probably call our host, Sylvain, so we asked Kuan if we can borrow his phone. He agreed. And while we were typing in the number, he asked about the host's name, we told him and... "Oh I know him! In fact, I'm waiting for him. I can talk to him if you want. I'm gonna scold him" so turns out Kuan has been waiting for Sylvain to pick him up for the past hour but didn't have his number. We had it, just no phone. Perfect. And we got in safely by pure coincidence. We didn't get the room we were supposed to get (not that we remembered how it looked like) but was given one that was equally nice, with a S$60 discount. Wonderful start to our trip!!!
The next day was planned for East Berlin, but we (I, actually) decided that going to the concentration camp was more important (recommended by Siying!) and it was really insightful (though I didn't really get the chills that I thought I'll get) and it really puts into perspective the current peace we are enjoying.
Eventually made it in time for some Berlin Wall to immerse ourselves into the most important landmark of contemporary Germany.
Day ended off with some Thai/Indian food, beer (again), and of course, CURRYWURST for the last time. Chit chatted with the flat mates before we turn in in preparation for the early train next morning!
