Berlin

We spent another night in Poland, in the city of Wroclaw. It was a nice night, and we got up early and headed for Berlin.

Berlin is an incredible city. We stayed in a nice hotel in the area that used to be East Berlin, and we were only a short walk from the East Side Gallery remnants of the wall. 

The place was full of character and all kinds of different people. There were heaps of organic shops and a huge range of people cruising around on their bikes. We wandered along the streets and kept an eye out for any english bookstores. It was a pretty run down part of the city, full of graffiti and all sorts of posters, but it was incredibly cool and only added to the uniqueness of the area.

The next morning we got up and went to have a look at the East Side Gallery. This is the largest remaining part of the old Berlin Wall, and it is covered in artwork that was painted in 1990 after Germany was reunited. All the murals some how relate back to a theme of freedom or hope, and the artwork is impressive. 

From there we caught a bus into the city centre. 

Here we had lunch on the river and then visited the GDR museum. The German Democratic Republic Museum gives an insight into the lives of those living in East Germany and specifically in East Berlin up until 1989. It was a really interesting place. We learnt a lot about how these people lived and the control the government had over them.
We jumped back on the bus and got to see the area that was West Berlin. The difference between here and what used to be the East, is incredible. This area is well kept and full of a lot more tourists. It’s not as quirky and different, it could be any city. That is until you come across some remnants of the wall or the line on the ground showing where the wall once was.

Parliament Building

Charlottenburg