Berlin, Germany Day 21

8:30am This morning we had to catch the train to Berlin at 10:30am from Prague Central Station (Hlavni Nadrazi Prague).  So our morning was basically having a quick breakfast, packing some of the breakfast for lunch, packing our luggage and then catching a taxi to the station.  The porter took my bag but Lauren didn't want hers to be taken to the taxi as she thought we would have to tip him but turns out we didn't have to.  Anyway... we had to wait 20 minutes before departure time when the platform number would show up.

Waiting.. waiting

Waiting at the platform

10:30am till 3:30pm We were in 2nd class carriage this time, it wasn't too bad.  Two girls from Vancouver came and sat next to us.  They were sisters, Robyn and Sarah who had just graduated from university.  They were half Asian and half Caucasian.  Later on in Dresden a Spanish guy came and sat in our cubicle space too, so we had quite a varied conversation.  Did you know a third of the population in Vancouver is Chinese, I didn't.  The Spanish lives in Germany but has to travel to and from Spain because his current work is there.  Apparently 20% of the population in Spain is currently unemployed.  Although I do not have a definition of what unemployed means in Spain that is still a rather large number.  Also border controls are being re-introduced back into Europe.  It seems likely that the Schengen zone will be disbanded and along with that the Euro currency.

Photos taken on the way to Berlin.

In Berlin!

Where we dropped off

3:30pm till 5pm We caught a train from Berlin Central Station to Alexanderplatz Station which is close to our hotel.  We agreed to meet the girls for dinner at 7pm so after we checked in we dropped our things and we were going to head for the nearby Galeria Kaufhof shopping centre to check out what they have but it's closed.  Instead we wandered about the area close to the Alexanderplatz Station, had a currywurst as a snack then went back to the hotel so I could change into warmer clothes, it's really winter here and colder than what I expect it to be.  Anyway after that we met the girls back at the Alexanderplatz Station at 7pm.

Snack!  Our "lunch" on the train was pistachios that we bought the day before and bread from breakfast

The pseudo-Asian food available in Berlin

7pm till 10pm We caught the train to Hackescher Markt ("Hacke's Market") and had dinner at Restaurant Rocco.  I had minestrone soup and prawns and Lauren had tomato soup and grilled vegetables.  The night was pleasant.  It was more of the same, just conversation.  Took a walk back to the hotel after that which was easy and needed no map, all we needed was to spot the Berliner Fernsehturm Restaurant which is close to where we live and head that way.  Tomorrow we're going to do to the free city tour and might see the girls there too.