We arrived in the city, now seasoned travellers. We thought we had seen it all, but nothing can prepare you for what you see as you walk down the city streets of Berlin. Seeing the bullet holes on building walls, memorials from WWII and the Berlin wall, and just the lifestyle of the people living here. Remember, we were here just 5 years after the fall of the wall, and although the East/West has changed dramatically, you can still feel it.
We took the train to a spot where the wall was still prominent and
walked along the western side of the wall. It stretched for what seemed like miles. At one point, there was a break, so we thought we would take a peak to the east. People were living in small caravans, like gypsies you see in movies. Some were colourful and some were in disrepair. Either way, no one liked tourists peering in like animals in a zoo. A man came out yelling, and shaking an ax at us. Ok, we get the point.Sad to think that there is this opportunity to live a better life now that the wall is down, but some still choose this lifestyle. Life - there is a point where you have to choose left or right when you reach a fork in the road, in this case, some people still choose the right. We spent the rest of our time here exploring the Neues Museum and visiting the different memorials such as the Holocaust Memorial.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
There really is something for everyone in Amsterdam. There are the historic sites & museums, beautiful parks & canal boating trips and more bars & restaurants in a city block that would satisfy even the most picky visitors. But funds were running low, so no visiting museums, taking a canal tour, or eating in fancy restaurants. Life was just hanging out, chatting with friends and sleeping! We camped outside of town, across the river, and over a couple of locks. But it was fun. I call it the hippie commune, about 50 tents and shared facilities.England & Wales, United Kingdom
For a group of people starting to run out of money, you would think heading to the UK would be out of the question. But with friends in Bath & Spalding, and free accommodations offered, who could say no?
We rented a car and drove around areas in Wales and the UK taking in all the sites such as castles and cool little towns such as Portmeirion. We were having fun, not paying attention that our departure date to go home is looming - until it was almost too late!
We booked our bus ticket to get back to Frankfurt. This is where our plane was leaving from. When we were booking the bus, we were going off of Aimee's plane ticket, not mine, until I pulled my well crumped, hand-written airline ticket out and notice that I was leaving a few hours before Aimee... which meant, by the time the bus arrived in Frankfurt, and if on time, I would have about 40 minutes to spare. And to travel from the UK to Germany without issues, this was going to be a feat out of my hands. With stress at the max, and making multiple stops along the way, we arrived at the airport with 45 minutes to spare... just long enough to run to the gate and hop on the plane.
Almost 4 months later, I arrived back in Vancouver. Who would have thought that 4 young Canadian adventurers, grew to 8 international backpackers, decreased down to just 2 on the last haul and finishing with 1.
