Ampelmännchen

Wed 28 Jun

We decided to go on the Insider's Bike Tour - a 5 hour cycle around the main historical spots in Berlin. As we were getting the bikes sorted out Aaron yelled my name and when I turned around Ian Hopkins (a friend of ours from high school) was sitting beside Aaron; he arrived in Berlin the day before and had decided to do the tour too. We hadn't seen him for years and had no idea he was in Germany!

The tour was fantastic. Very imformative and the little tidbits of info made it. A highlight for me was the story behind the 'Ampelmännchen' (little green traffic light man). The best parts of the tour included

+ Berlin Wall
+ Hitler's Bunker
+ SS and Gestapo Headquaters
+ Nazi Book Burning Site
+ Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
+ Checkpoint Charlie
+ Brandenburg Gate
+ Reichstag

Needless to say I learnt heaps.

After dinner at home we (usual four, plus a dude from Alessa's drawing class) went to The Winerei. At this bar you pay €1 for your glass and help yourself to wine, paying for what you think you had at the end. Really chilled out spot. Next we met Alessa and Yonca's friends and went to a funky we bar ('Zu Mir Oder Zu Dir'). We were there talking rubbish with strangers but when we left Aaron and the girls jumped in a taxi leaving me stranded and alone. Cut loose. It wouldn't have been a problem getting the train, but the S1 line was down so it was a 3 hour mix of walking, training and finally a cab until I got home at 7, very grumpy.