Ja!

In Berlin!! YAY!! Our day started with SNOW. SNOWY SNOWSNOW EVERYWHERE!!!!! We walked out onto the top deck of the boat and all along the pier and the harbour was a blanket of snow. It was amazing. And freezing. But amazing. We ate our awesome breakfast and departed, crunching along the SNOW(!) to Amsterdam Centraal, where we jumped on a train to Hilversum. The trip only took about 25 minutes, and then we jumped on a train to Berlin, and that trip took about 5-6 hours. It is strangely tiring, sitting on a train all day. I think its because you are carrying everything with you. We had to move seats a couple of times. But we sat opposite some really adorable kids who just babbled to us in German for ages and were really cheeky and cute. I managed to sleep a little as well. Then we got into Berlin Hauptbahnhof and had to take an S-Bahn train to Alexanderplatz and then a U-Bahn train to Senefelder Platz. This process sounds tiresome, but it didn't turn out to be too bad. The we reached the EastSeven Berlin Hostel and it is BRILLIANT. Firstly, the bathrooms are amazing. Thank goodness. That shower was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Secondly, we arrived at 6.20 and every Monday and Wednesday night they cook a free dinner for all the guests. You can pitch in and help at 7, or just show up for the free meal at 8. We went down to the kitchens and got chatting as we cut up vegetables. There are so many different people here. It's insane. We've been sitting in the lounge drinking since we arrived and people are only heading out now (midnight). I'm not going because I am absolutely knackered, but gosh, I've had the best night. We spoke to stacks of other Australians as well as Brits, Norwegians, Albanians and some really lovely people from Canada and Turkey. Dinner was also excellent. It was totally vegetarian. Awesome orange salad with walnuts and balsamic sauce, vegetable soup, and this rice, chickpea and vegetable dish. AMAZING. Everyone can use the kitchens and the storage facilities, so everyone just sits around after dinner drinking the Happy Hour beers for 1 euro and talking about the different places they are from. It's fascinating, and I'm really looking forward to spending the rest of the week here. I'm so tired though! So I'm off to bed now. We'll enjoy our snow, while ya'll enjoy your heatwave.

xxxxx