Getting Out of the Bubble

When I say Berlin what do you think of? Do you think of its history? The legacy of the Third Reich and the Berlin Wall? Do you think of its reputation for crazy parties and nightclubs that stay open for days? Or do you think of currywurst and beer? All these things, and more, are part of Berlin and when I was there I managed to see how much variety the city really has to offer. My trip was (just about) four days long and a whirlwind mix of social, food and culture, the perfect weekend trip! I managed to cram a lot into four days and still didn't feel like I was rushing around manically trying to do everything in the time. My friend and I took a relaxed approach to our sightseeing and even scheduled in a morning to recover from Berlin's infamous night-life, but we still managed to hit most of the top sights. Overall we spent 3 days in Berlin and then spent the fourth day in Potsdam, about an hour outside of Berlin. Each of our 3 days in actual Berlin can be given a theme

When I went to Germany to volunteer on an Englischhausen English Camp (read about that here ) I decided to go a couple days early to get in a whirlwind tour of Frankfurt. Frankfurt is primarily a business city, think the square mile of London, so there isn't a huge amount of stuff to do in terms of tourism, but there is definitely enough to fill a few days! Here's my run down of what I did in the 2 days I spent in Frankfurt. Day 1 - Dom , Römer, and the Main River I arrived at Frankfurt airport at 1 pm, so decided to make the most of the time I had and head straight from the airport to the tourist hotspots of the city. After some brief confusion between the S-bahn and U-bahn I found my way onto a train and, with minimal effort, arrived at Dom/Römer U-bahn station to tick three of the big things off my Frankfurt check-list: the Dom (cathedral), the Römer and surrounding square, and the river Main. The Square where the R ömer sits The Römer is actually the town h