berlin to amsterdam

Sorry that I havent posted in a while, it has been a busy couple of days and I havent had much time to get to the internet.

I was in Berlin from Thursday to Sunday and spent some time with my friend Paul who I know from some community theatre I did a few years back in Etobicoke. It had a good time in Berlin, but found that it was a very different sort of city.

I have spent so much of my time in cities which are visibly old and picturesque, although Berlin is quite an old city there is next to nothing left of what it was due to the bombings that hit it during world war two, and in turn the effects of the split of germany between communism and capitalism which followed throughout the greater part of the century.

Although many other cities were destroyed and bombed throughout europe (the continent has seen its fair share of destruction), none were as haunting as Berlin, where memories of the past (whether it be pieces of the wall left standing or looking out over alexanderplatz which was the soviet showcase side of the city) stand so clearly.

I took a trip with Paul and his friend Robbie out to the countryside where we took a gondola like boat through these canals around a forest... it was incredibly beautiful and serene. On the way back to Berlin we drove through a town which was once called StalinStadt which was built as a model city for the soviets. Although much has been done to give the town life and colour, it still came across much like it was built to look... endless rows of block communist housing, a giant steelworks, the only thing missing was the large speakers which once stood around town where workers would have heard regular announcements.

it was a very interesting time in Berlin and although I have learned a lot about Germany from world war two onwards in the best, I definitely gained a better understanding of the situation and a big appreciation for where the country stands today.

Amsterdam is a very beautiful city, but the contrast between gorgeous old architecture and the sprawl of the red light district is certainly stark. I am enjoying it still however, and will be heading off to see the Anne Frank house this evening as I have heard its not as full of tourists. I think that will be a memorable experience for sure.

Starting to feel really tired from all this travelling about and Im really looking forward to getting back to Bristol in a couple of days and then to Canada next week. It will be nice to have things slow down and to get back in touch with reality after being on holiday for so long!

- Chris