Waking up in Berlin was quite pleasurable though the lack of sleep from the past night was not so great. The time we had set to wake up was 7am and the boys managed this successfully however, we assumed the girls would be up before us as they do take a while to get ready but we assumed wrong.

Breakfast was at 9am and I was looking forward to the wide range of breakfast dishes that Germans like to eat. Personally myself I stuck to cereal with some milk however, some people did experience some brown German bread, for some it was enjoyable but for others a never touching source of food, joke.

Once breakfast was over we got introduced to the managers of the Kids and co charity. They were very nice and pleasant people and introduced us to some of the rules and regulations that we have to follow. After we had a tour guide of our accommodation where we got to explore the different rooms and see how the youth centre and hostel is operated. They have many workshops that help and provide the local people with new skills. The youth centre provides vocational qualifications to help the people to get a job in their chosen field of work.

Once the tour of the accommodation had finished we set out to Hellersdorf were we went to see the shopping mall and looked around the local town centre of were we are staying. While Doug and Nick where having a coffee break we had the opportunity to do some exploring of the mall and do some shopping. Once we had finished in Hellersdorf we headed back to the Kids and Co for lunch. Lunch was pasta with tomato sauce. It was simple but tasty. We also dined in a fancy dining room with lit candles on the tables. Desert was banana mousse, which had a chocolate-layered filling on the top and creamy banana filling on the bottom. It was a very appetising desert as Germans are known for there fancy deserts.

Having lunch we were all excited as we got ready to explore central Berlin where many of the famous attractions are located. We took the train to central Berlin and reached there within 1hour. We first headed from the biggest train station in Europe, which is called the Hauptbahnhof station. From there we walked. The weather was cold and snow was everywhere. Our first stop was to the Chancellor’s building; locals have a nickname for the building ‘the washing machine’. We then walked past the amazing Reichstag Building where we took photos and we were told about the building and its history. We then passed through the Brandenburg Gate. This was an astonishing site and attraction to see. We then were surrounded by other great attractions and buildings such as the DG Bank, which was designed and created by the famous American architecture Frank Gehry. There was also the famous posh hotel where the late Mr Jackson stayed and dangled his child from the balcony. The hotel is called the Hotel Adlon.


Once we had passed through the Brandenburg Gate we went to the Berlin Wall. This was a fascinating place where we learnt about the history of West and East Berlin. The history of the Berlin Wall between these two areas is emotional and we saw a monument to the people who had died trying to cross the wall. Then it was over to see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe monument. After that we got really cold, and hit on to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, a sit down and a warm up. Then we went to Potsdamer Platz to look at the new buildings. We also saw a section of the original wall. It was covered in graffiti. Then we had Italian for dinner and I had pizza. Then it was back to the Reichstag building to join the queue to visit the top glass dome. We had an audio of the building learning the history and seeing the amazing views. Then it was back to base via the U Bann and a short walk.

Saquib

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Message from Maria:

How interesting to read the information, - thank you Saquib.  What a  great experience, - all the best to you all and one of my students:- Tre.

Bye for now
And looking forward to reading more

Maria

Ps – it’s mild here! –apparently our cold weather IS OVER!!!....

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