Warsaw

Warsaw: full of wee

We then took the night train and arrived, at 6 am, in Warsaw. My initial impression was that Warsaw was odd, and full of tramps, enthusiastically weeing and shouting, and two days there didn't do much to dispel this. It is also became clear to see where all the prostitutes in Amsterdam come from. Most of the city is seedy old soviet buildings mixed with the odd brand new highrise office or hotel. None of the careful planning that Berlin seems to have enjoyed was apparent. There is an 'old town' there, but it was actually rebuilt after the war, so it kind of has the look and feel of a film set. I half expected to open a door and find that its all plaster, and held up with wooden joists. As far as I could tell, nobody seemed to live there either.

Berlin

Berlin: Lovely

We left Amsterdam a bit earlier than planned, and went to Berlin, which was ace. Berlin impressed me as much as it did the last time round. It seems that a lot of though has gone into making it a proper functioning city again – a real air of re-renaissance, if that makes sense. The path of the wall is laid out in cobble stones set into the pavement, but buildings have simply been build over the top, which I like. Acknowledging the past and having a reverence for it isn't the same as allowing it to, in this case literally, provide a barrier to future progress. I also noticed that they were simply building an office block where Hitler's bunker was, which is probably the best thing for it really. Then after pondering all of this, We went to the zoo and watched monkeys flinging their faeces around. Top notch.