The Maya Diaries - Episode 13 - Europe Trip - Berlin

Well here we are Ladies and Gentlemen, the second video in my 5 part series documenting my trip around Europe.

When I left you last I was enjoying a comfortable nights sleep courtesy of Andre. in the morning I travelled to Berlin. Possibly the most cosmopolitan and diverse cities on our roadmap around Europe.

This description is meant to be a supplement to the video and will therefore not blandly describe the events that you see. I suppose it is meant to be a reward for those willing to take the time and actually read the supplementary information.

Obviously I don't have time to go into everything I did in burning in a 10 minute video so all just post some notes of interest and prose of wisdom.

Some reason Berlin was the first place we visited gave us an air of trepidation, I mentioned briefly in the video that a large proportion of the buildings and objects around where we were staying were covered in graffiti. There was graffiti in places which you thought it would be impossible for anybody to reach however this vagrant art form prevailed. I don't want to be the sort of person to jump to conclusions about the inhabitants of a location covered in tags however it doesn't instil in me a feeling of local pride.

I really did like the hostel boat, the ever so slight rocking of the cabin and the serene bar on the top deck really added value. What are having gone into depth about during the course of these videos are the interesting people that we met along the way. I've mentioned Andre from Bruges but we also spoke to a nice group of English students in the bar one evening before a meal.

I know I did mention that the Disneyfication of Germany's heritage was at best a misguided attempt at pandering to stupid tourists and at worst all-out sacrilege and caricaturing events which for some are still very raw and painful.

Obviously it should be clear from the video that the Holocaust Memorial was one of the highlights and you really shouldn't take the events of the Brandenburg gate or the theme park attraction that is checkpoint Charlie as indicative of Berlin's heritage. There are gems to be found and the visitor is rewarded if only they do the research.

The final meal at the Singapore style restaurant was fantastic. I can find no fault in the food in any way. However to save the video from being a complete environmental preaching session on my part as well as constraints of time and neglected to mention the double figure amounts of patio heaters. Bearing in mind that we went on the cusp of a heatwave. I would also like to make it clear that when I make the choice to eat outside I do expect to be eating at the same temperature as when I walked to the restaurant. If I find the temperature outside too cold or indeed to hot I will make my judgement as to where I sit. I do not need my own microclimate altered for me with the aid of fossil fuels. None but you're glad this didn't make it into the finished product!

Thank you very much reading and don't forget to subscribe as always if you enjoy this content. I will see you next time for another video of my around Europe trip where this time I will be heading to the Gothic city of Prague.

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Music used:

* Kraftwerk -- Trans-Europe express

* Kraftwerk -- Abzug