Natalie Downe

Today started with glorious sunshine and then just as we ventured outside heavens opened, not for rain but for snow, huge chunks of thick snow.

It didn’t put us off however, we were intent on going on the free walking tour I went on last I was in Berlin. Even if you know a lot about history both recent and early, it is still worth going on this tour. Both times I have been, the tour guides are like well rehearsed actors, enthralling and fascinating with new facts for the full 4 hours of tour.

The journey takes you through the Brandenburg gates, past the Jewish memorial and up to the location of Hitlars bunker (not over the peace bears like we expected, but instead under a carpark and a set of ugly flats). Going past the Nazi Luftwaffer buildings we learnt the ‘colourful’ history of the building also includes the Russian KGB headquarters and more recently the German Tax office

Once the tour was over, finishing up by the site of the old palace, our minds were swimming with new facts. The only thing left to do was to have them all drained out by the pub crawl organised by the same company.

The pub crawl was a lot of fun, we managed 4 of the 5 pubs before giving in. Berlin is full of some fantastic grunge punk bars, fancy cocktail bars and eclectic clubs, I only wish we had mode time to spend exploring them. It is an excuse to go back again.