Berlin - Day 1

$%&!ing German keyboards!!! Why in god's name would you switch around the 'y' and 'z' key!?!?! (ok... fine.... the german language uses 'z' more often)

Left Prague this morning and am at the St. Christopher's Inn in Berlin. 2 for 2 in terms of hostels as this one is pretty damn good too. Not as friendly as Sir Toby's, but not bad. Rooms, bathrooms and showers are very clean. There's a super trendy pub downstairs, which is where I am right now, listening to a large contingent of Aussies cheer on their Cricket team (20-20 tournament) against India. There's a table of Indians at another table, but they're not nearly as surly.

It was so easy to meet people as Sir Toby's. This place - not so sure.

Yesterday, during my last day in prague, went to Terezin (pronounced Tereyeen) which was and hour north west by bus and is part of bohemia. Terezin, during WW2, was converted by the nazis into a jewish ghetto which was basically a stopover for Czech jews before they were sent to Aushwitz to be killed. Pretty brutal stuff, and well worth the visit.

(I think Australia just won based on the cheering)

(did I mention I have absolutely no understanding of cricket?)

Last night, hooked up with a bunch of people from the Hostel and went for a traditional Czech meal. Roast duck, red cabbage, potato dumplings and 2 pints of beer for about 200 Crowns (about 10 bucks CDN)

I'm gonna miss the cheap food and drinks in CZ. Already, I can tell Berlin is much more expensive. Switzerland will be even worse.

So after 5 days in Prague I still couldn't get the very basics of the language down. Even when I knew the word, I'd get gun-shy and wouldn't say or would say the wrong word. I'm talking about the basics here: Dobry Den (Good day), Prominte and Prosim (I'm mixed up between those two - but it's please, thank you or something like that)

My favourite is the fact that Yes is 'Ano' and No is 'Ne' (pronounced Nay). I was in a grocery store and I'm pretty sure she asked me if I wanted a bag. Without even thinking, I said 'No' and shook my head... which to her was a complete contradiction. She looked at me a little weird.

Hit the Cross Club again last night... god I love that place. I had told a bunch of people about it, and hyped it pretty good. Luckilly, it didn't dissapoint.

So Berlin seems real cool, but I haven't done much. Checked in, and immediately went out to do laundry. This were getting a little rank.

I've led a little bit of sheltered life because I've never been to a laudromat before. Worse yet, I had to figure it out in German. I nice lady who spoke English helped me out.

So my time on the net here is running out, so I'll cut this short. I'm here in berlin until wednesday morning when I leave for Zurich to meet Dave, Anita and Dalia. Looking forward to that. Otherwise, gonna try to fit as many sites as possible here in Berlin.

(Sorry. No pictures this time)

That's it for now. Til next time.