The friendly people of Sophia

So right now we are in the central train station in Sophia waiting for the train that goes to Turkey. This morning we caught our flight from Berlin and made it safely to Sophia, all the while the thought in the back of our minds was 'what might go wrong this time?'. Well it was in Jemma's at least especially because she kept bringing up the thought.

We made it to Sophia quite easily and I think the passport check coming in was the easiest we had yet. The biggest problem we had once in the city was finding where we were and where we had to go. I did pick up a map at the airport which proved to be a little help but mostly the help we got was from locals. They would see us standing there looking lost or looking at the map and offer their help , even if they didn't speak much english at all. Once we got on the metro train line the most helpful and friendly person was a young guy who actually showed us the exact platform that we had to be on by walking us all the way there and it wasn't even the train that he had to catch... Every one does seen very willing to help which is great!

So now I think we have a bit of a competition as to who can get the friendliest local to help us. I think I'm ahead at the moment with the guy who walked all the way to the platform, but Jemma isn't doing too bad :)

xxx

Moving on

So we've been in Berlin for a whole week now. We have done and seen a lot, but at the same time we have been able to spend some time just relaxing and resting as well. We decided not to go to Prague at the last minute which meant that we have had more time to spend here. This also gave us the opportunity to see things outside of the city and soak up a bit more of the scenery and greenery.

Other things that we have done in the past few days have included going to visit the sight of a concentration camp that was located close to Berlin (it was a really emotional and tough experience and who would have thought that seeing the way that they were treated and lived would remind me of being in Thailand), going to the Berlin Dungeon and enjoying the sights and greenery of Potsdam (a town on the edge of Berlin that had some castles and trees).

Tomorrow we make our way by plane to Sophia and then take the overnight train to Istanbul. Another city and another adventure. I wonder how our travelling will go?

xxx

Being in Berlin

Today we did LOTS of walking. We walked to a train station to meet up with a walking tour which took us through Berlin showing a lot of the sights and talking about the events of the third Reich. We got to see some original Nazi architecture (which has now been put to use by the current German government), various memorials for victims of the war. A fascinating one made of lots of different sized blocks for all the Jews killed in concentration camps, one that the Russians set up immediately after WWII, another memorial of "terror" that was set up as information regarding what the Nazi party did located on the sight that the SS and Gestapo headquarters were orignally. We saw the sight of Hitler's bunker, the Reichstag and had a very passionate, well informed tour guide. It was really a great tour. Tomorrow we plan to go on one about the concentration camps.

Following that we went to Checkpoint Charlie. The third American checkpoint in the Berlin Wall. They had a museum there which had a lot of interesting information about the wall, East and West Berlin and the many escapes and attempted escapes through the wall.

It was a long day. Following that we did some shopping, came home for a nice home cooked meal and now it's time for bed xxx

These photos are to go with yesterday's post. Enjoy.

Time to catch up...

So now we are in Berlin, Germany. A beautiful city with an amazing history. So far we have done some walking around, looked at giant Lego giraffes and people at Lego world, gone up in a really tall tower to look down on Berlin and had a wander through the oldest part of the city. There is still so so much to see especially in relation to WWII and the Cold War which will be happening over the next few days. 

It's been a while since I last wrote anything about what we were up to or where we were. You might have seen some photos of us on bikes in Amsterdam but nothing else since.  Do not worry. We are both still alive and healthy and lots has still been happening even without us writing about it.

After leaving the busy bustling streets of Amsterdam behind last Friday, we went to stay with Mum's Auntie for the weekend. This was really nice. We were really spoiled and got to see some of the sights of the town of Enschede, the Netherlands. This included beautiful walks in the dutch country side and, watching the leaves and flowers start to bloom on the trees. On the Saturday we went to the town center for the markets and a nice coffee, and on the Sunday we attended a dutch church service. Not that we understood that much of what was being said but we did know the psalms and hymns (in English) so we could sing along. In the afternoon we listened to a sermon which we actually could understand everything of.

Unfortunately I am on one of the computers from the hostel right now so I cant put up any pictures of the past few days. But that definitely will happen. Not too many though because otherwise I wont have anything to show everyone when we get back home.

Amsterdam, the city of ships, bikes and canals...

Today we leave Amsterdam to go and visit one of my mum's aunties in Enschede. We've had a good time here, seen lots, done lots and had a good time. Here are a few more photos.

We went on a canal cruise one night which was a really nice way to see the city. Apart from going to some art exhibitions we also went to the maritime museum (it was actually interesting also because the dutch and the VOC had a lot to do with the discovery of Australia) and spent a day riding around on bikes.

Neederland

Amsterdam. Another beautiful city full of history. In the last 2 days I've been able to get my fill of art and artists going to exhibitions of both van Gough and Rembrandt. Both artists were born somewhere in Holland and the exhibitions both showed the progression of their art and the ways in which their individual styles developed. Very interesting and inspiring.

We've had lots of fun, also going to the Amsterdam Dungeon, a 'museum' showing the darker history of this beautiful city. Presented in quite a scary way :) Still it was lots of fun.

Trains in another city are always fun to figure out... we've been travelling mostly by train to and from the hostel and unlike London there isn't a clear route for all the trains or even a distinct separation of the different lines, as a result yesterday we ended up on a train that was going to the next town rather than the next station. It was a funny experience if anything...

Photos of the Beautiful country of Ireland...

Photos in no particular order from our time in Ireland... enjoy.