Groovy Berlin

Tomorrow morning we leave Berlin and head to Hamburg. Berlin is a very groovy city. It is hard to explain the vibe in Berlin...it's very happening, very raw, very alive. It seems to be a city full of very alternative, artsy type people and places. The first day we went straight from the overnight train ride to a 4 hour walking tour of the city and saw all the main sites, such as the Brandenburg Gate, a remaining section of the Berlin wall and the TV tower (another CN tower...seems every big city has one). The next day we went to a huge flea market. Apparently a Sunday in Berlin would not be complete without going to a flea market. Then we went to Charlottenburg Palace. Finished off the day with a free pint of beer at our hostel. Every night at 8pm, they give away an entire keg glass by glass and every day at 2pm, they give away free cake...does life get better than that?? Today we went to the two other sections of remaining Berlin wall, the longest being East Side Gallery, which is 1.3km long and completely covered in paintings now. It is pretty incredible to see the wall...hard to believe something like that happened in my lifetime. We also went to this super groovy artsy area, Tacheles. This is hard to explain. It's like a huge junk yard and there are a bunch of little galleries and art made from the junk. There is also a huge warehouse building full of galleries that you can browse. The building looks condemned and smells of pee, but it was very interesting. It seems to be alternative art made by lots of independent artists...definitely not mainstream. Tonight we are just going to chill out and get ready for our early morning train ride to Hamburg!