Trip to Holland third part

Trip to Holland third part:
Monday was a quite nice day Wijbren needed to sort out some documents ,so we decided to go to Groningen which was around one and half hour far from Hallum and we got to Leeuwarden and from there got the train to Groningen.

We passed couple of times from Leeuwarden these days as it is a transferring city and basically is a big town with enough facilities. The city was so much for Wijb as he spent almost 9 years of study there. He showed me his university and we hang around the city for a while.


As usual I took some photos from boats which I love their style and harbor. we went to municipal office and I faced with a long queue as We face in Asia, but luckily very organized.

We were looking for a hair dresser that,I wanted to high -light my air but finally dyed it with anther type of brown color and quite nice amount of Euro.

These days in Europe I try not to think and convert currency ,just in case of not making my life miserable. Wijb found his old comic book hop and gave me the whole story of old times and it was such a freaky place to work in.

Well no misunderstanding it was quite big and full of books ,but like a haunted house and in some part was dark enough to crawl and find your way out of books, so many books, comics features and different crap around .

We got some small shopping and tried to find reasonable sale shops .It took another 2 hours to get train back and then bus to the countryside. Wijb wanted to call his Dad to come and pick up us on the train station but I told him is not necessary and but good enough.

Calling from public phones are pretty hard as coins sometimes don’t work and most people use mobile and our mobile doesn’t work in Europe and no credit card.
I was trying to use the toilet on train station and toilet just use the mobile to call and pay the amount of money was so weird that one.
Anyhow last night we were so tired and had to pack and get ready for Tuesday to get the train and go to Berlin.

Now I am sitting on the third train and see the sightseeing and hopefully be back home soon.

Our trip to Germany Third part

Trip to Berlin Third part:

On Thursday me and Wijbren decided to go to my embassy and ask some questions ,just to be sure about our documents. It was a kind of trip in fact .Taking the train to the Alexander and then long trip around one hour to the embassy, but beside the embassy was a big park, or I call it like forest park and we spent couple of minutes walking around ,in out skirt of city center.

the way back we stumble by the snack shop and got some stuff and observing other tourist which is sometimes quite fun though .

The rest of afternoon we decided as we were close to the Berlin Zoo ,go and see Zoo. It was really amazing Zoo. To be honest I had not seen such a big ,clean, green zoo before. The tour guide told us t s one of the best in the world and I must confess it took 4 hours walking and such a great relaxing place though. Beside the zoo was a huge park and a river pass by which tourists boats were hanging there.

Berlin’s Siegessäule - Victory Column - is another of Berlin’s monuments that has reinvented itself through the ages - from symbol of Prussian military victory in the 19th century to that of Berlin’s thriving gay community and favourite tourist spot today

There were so many specious from different part of globe ,the number of birds were so amazing ,majority from Africa and Australia, lamas and camels were part of other interesting animals to see.

It was around 4 in the afternoon we gave up and got out to eat something and back t our neighborhood. Friday quite slow as we were so tired and rest and got sandwiches to get ready for our journey the way back to Holland.

Our trip to Germany

Trip to Berlin second part:

Berlin has quite few places to see ,but in my view one day tour is enough .Some people got 2 days tour and some got Boat trip tour, but in fact I preferred scenic spot in the city in fact.
That is pity nothing that much left from Berlin wall ,just around 2,3 Meters and on the street you can see the sign of the wall everywhere in fact which kind of make this city different with the other cities.



Meanwhile we were on tour we passed by couple of Famous embassies as USA embassy and government building .In fact the classical style of embassies and parliament center was quite eye-catching.




There is a T.V tower near the Alexander square which has a rotating fantastic restaurant on the top. That tower remind me Tehran(Iran) and T.V tower there basically was a copy of this one The guide mentioned that the lift on the tower is the fastest lift in the world.

Another place we passed by was Potsdam which is listed as the world heritage site by UN and it is no small wonder. Include statue and palace and water fountains



the city which was a bit intersting the gate calls” Brandenburger Tor” which symbolized the reunification of East and West Berlin after the fall of the wall.

There is another place which calls “Check point Charlie” where the Stasi and CIA SPIED ON EACHOTHERT AND HEROIC AND TRAGIC ESCAE ATTEMEPTS WERE MADE FROM..
Which is stand for American and Russian tank in 1961.

Meanwhile we were sitting on the bus we passed by a gate inside




Anyhow the are so many places to sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee and some ice- cream and chill out and we were looking for a ice ,reasonable restaurant and finally we got ne and some handy, souvenir shops and I got some post cards and so far changed my money and they back walking stopped on Alexander square and sat beside the fountain and enjoyed the sun shine.
As in Europe people love sitting under sun shine cause they don’t have that many sunny days, opposite of Asia ,as we get distance from sun.

In the evening we decided to drop off the one of local bar and get some German beer .
Around our neighborhood are plenty of bars with cozy, tranquil atmosphere for tired tourists to hang out and discover the local culture as well.

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Our trip to Germany, August 2009

Trip to Berlin first part
On Tuesday me and Wijb decided to get the train and

hop on it and go to Berlin.
Life can be so easy and simple if you live in Europe and now I know it and it is so tangible for me. I can acknowledge why Wijbren is so impatient to move to Europe and leave Asia

Anyhow ,our trip started from Hallum the village he lives and we got a lift from his brother and he took us to Leeuwarden and then we got the train to another city on the the brother of the Northern province in Holland and switched it to another train which took us to the brother directly and the third train pass border to Germany.

Well from the time that Europe has European union system everything is so simple, The currency is the same and the same value .For instance if you want to buy something almost in West Europe cost the same.

In fact the salary and wages almost the same ,at least so people in West and center of Europe have no problem with exchanging money or spending for their holidays.

Moreover there is no need to have passport as they have just one ID card TO USE EVERYWHERE AND BANK SYSTEM ACCEPT DEBIT CARD PRETTY MUCH EASY IN ALL EU COUNTIRES.

Back to our trip when we arrived here, thanks to Wijb German knowledge we found our way not to hard to get into apartment.
We arrived to train station and it was 4 already and contact the owner of apartment which we rented for couple of days and in less than 2 hours we stumble there.
It is pretty nice apartment as I can say.

some of the spots which absorbs most visitors is:

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), completed in 1905, is Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church as well as the sepulchre of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty.

The Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin’s most important monuments – a landmark and symbol all in one with over two hundred years of history. A former symbol of the divided city, it drew visitors who used to climb an observation platform in order to get a glimpse of the world behind the Iron Curtain, on the other side of the barren “death-strip” which separated east from west Berlin, geographically and politically.

Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, located in Mitte on a stretch of the former “death strip”, where the Wall once stood near the Brandenburg Gate, is Berlin’s stunning monument to the Holocaust, dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide of World War II.



Berlin’s Siegessäule - Victory Column - is another of Berlin’s monuments that has reinvented itself through the ages - from symbol of Prussian military victory in the 19th century to that of Berlin’s thriving gay community and favourite tourist spot today.

Not that much view ,beside other ugly east German roofs ,you can see blue sky, but t is 100 meter far from underground and as soon as you get the underground in less than 3 station you reach to Alexander square which is ne of the biggest East Berlin square and around that square ,you can visit one of the oldest cathedral from 17 century ,Berlin Dom and old church on the other site and Berlin river which takes a lot of tourists boats and ferries every day along the river.



Thursday we were wondering around the square to find our way to reach to National Museum, old art Museum and I wanted to see 2 art museum old and Modern Art.
I know Wibren doest give a shit to the Art ,but I have studied art and I love it and now I am in Berlin, maybe not ne of the best cities for art compare to Italy( Roma) or London .

When we were discussing what to do, suddenly one of the local tour guide showed up and gave us the daily Berlin Tour which was so helpful and then we decide to pay 15 Euro and get the whole day city tour which was great and passed by every single of city and they described everywhere .

We dropped close to the Museums and spent couple of hours up and down in 3 floors and I could see Wijb dumb and emotionless face and tried to end up our visit as soon as possible.