Berlin, Germany

Berlin was a success. I got there on Thursday in the early afternoon and started exploring.  The first day I walked around a bit and saw Checkpoint Charlie, the main border crossing for foreigners between East and West Germany.  After reading a bit about it on the signs they have posted, I continued my walk towards a piece of the Berlin wall.  I got some pictures and read up a bit more history.  After that, I walked to a place called Postdamer place and pottered around, got some food, etc.  The day ended a little earlier because I was pretty tired, but it gave me a good introduction to the city.  The next day I took a free walking tour, which was awesome.  The tour guide was great, which makes sense since they work solely based on tips.  It was quite interesting and we saw the major sites of the city in about 4 hours.  I continued to walk around a bit and take some pictures before heading back to the hostel and retiring. Side note: The hostel I stayed at was great, the Grand Hostel Berlin.  It was in a pretty good location and was really clean--always a plus.  On Saturday I went back to a few of the sites we saw on the tour because I wanted to spend some more time there.  I went back to the Brandenburger Gate and gots some pictures and sat and watched people and street entertainers for awhile.  Then, I meandered over to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  This place is fascinating and really makes you think about all that happened.  It is hard to fathom the number of people that were murdered under the Nazi regime.  I went through the little visitors' center there and got some good shots of the memorial (hopefully I can find a place where I can transfer pictures...).  I wondered around and got some food (Kebaps are way good) and then went back to the hostel, used the internet briefly, and headed off to the train station to go to Munich!  After a 11 1/2 train ride (it was longer than it was supposed to be, but worked out great, giving me a little longer to sleep and less time having to wait to check into the hostel), I arrived in Munich.  My hostel here is really nice too:  Wombats City Hostel.  There was supposed to be a free tour this morning beginning at 11:00 from the hostel, but after waiting awhile, I decided it wasn't going to happen and ventured off myself to see a little bit before heading to sacrament meeting at the local church, which is just like a 5-10 minute walk from the hostel.  Luckily, there was a missionary who translated.  German is so foreign!  I didn't really even think about the language barrier before coming, but it is definitely there.  I don't understand a lick of the language.  I guess it just makes it all that much more exciting and some words are starting to look familiar/understandable.  Anyway, it's been a success so far.  It got a bit cold and rainy today here, so hopefully the weather improves before I head to Switzerland.  I want a good view of the alps!  Sorry the pictures are so horribly placed.  I didn't want to bother with it.