Berlin Bears and Munchen Lions

So our next trip was in November. We left Dublin to fly into Berlin to stay with my high-school friend, Beth. She was so awesome, even though she had very little sleep after only just getting home from Chicago at 6am that morning. It was so weird/nice to see her. Almost like seeing a sister it was so much like old times. We sat around for the first day after going for a short walk through the biggest markets I've ever seen near Beth's house. That night we drank beer, ate Mexican food and slept soundly and heavily on a comfy fold-out bed.

The next day we met up with Stef Gagnon, a friend of Aza's friend Murph. I had met him in December the last year so it was nice to catch up with him aswell. He was the most amazing tour guide. He showed us all over the city and all the most historical places. We could have stayed in Berlin for another week and still not have seen half of it. We did manage to find the area above Hitler's Bunker, which is something most tourists can't find as it is not acknowledged by the German Government as a tourist spot or a historical site they want to preserve. A good reason to have a local show you around - you get to see all the stuff a normal tourist map won't show you!

We also saw the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche or the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. It is a beautiful structure that is only half-standing after it was bombed in the air raids of 1943. There is now new buildings constructed beside the old church which now hold the services in it's place. You can still go inside the bottom section of the ruined church and see beautiful paintings that have been preserved on the walls.

Another highlight was the pubs we went to with Stef. They were funky and youthful without the need for dressing the part that there is here and in Australia. You don't have to dress up to go out for a drink. You just get into your favourite jeans and T-Shirt and be comfortable while you chat to your friends over some HUGE steins of beer.

We then travelled down to Munchen, or Munich for the rest of our trip. Without a guide, we went to the Tourist Information and boght a walking tour book which pretty much gave us everything we could possibly need for finding our way around the city.

We saw the famous Frauenkirche and hung out in the VERY famous Hofbrauhaus for some more huge steins of beer and really yummy meals. The central area of Munich was so damn pretty and we were so lucky to see it in Autumn with all its vivid colours falling from the trees.

This was one of my favourite trips so far and I would gladly go back for another look anyday!