Berlin and Amsterdam - April School holidays

Hi,
Well, I haven't written for quite a while because it's been a pretty full on time.  I'm going to update a few entries here now, probably quite briefly.

So following on from Mt St Michel there were the school holidays.  We started them by having a farewell party for our friends in L'Aigle as everyone would be away for the two week holiday and we only had one week after the holidays left of our contracts and then Lucy would be leaving - so this was the only time to have our party. It was great to just spend more time with my dear friends.  They totally spoilt Lucy and I by pitching in and buying as each a bottle of Chanel perfume. Wow, so amazing.  These are some of the most accepting, generous and caring people I have ever met.

Then it was on the night train to Berlin.  I actually slept on this one this time so that was good.  I arrived in an amazing million dollar train station full of shops and trains coming in and out on different levels.  My hostel (which was pretty flash for a hostel) was right next to the station and everything was in walking distance.  I loved walking around, stumbling across remnants of the wall and learning all about the incredible history of the place.  I went on a walking tour which was so informative and the last day there I went to the Sachsenhausen Camp - the first experimental concentration camp set up by Hitler one month after he came to power in 1933.  After that very overwhelming day I ended it on a different note with a trip to the Pergamon museum to see one of the former seven wonders of the world - the gates of Babylon.

The Reichstag

The Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

Where Hitler used to give his famous speeches with his army infront of him.

Where the book burnings by the Nazi's took place

Where Hitler's bunker was.

Sachsenhausen Camp

The Gates of Babylon

Then it was off to Amsterdam to see my childhood friend Trina (Avon's sister).  We had a great time getting on our bikes and biking around the city.  The first day we discovered the city, went on a canal boat ride, I went to the Van Gogh museum (which was awesome and one of the best art galleries I've been to).  Then it was off to the Anne Frank museum, impressive to see the place I've read so much about, then out for dinner with exceptional food (mushroom and truffle risotto - miam miam).

On my bike in front of the Rijksmuseum

This is what happens to your bike when you lose it in the canal

Then we went to see some cheese markets where people buy the cheese to sell and headed off to see the tulips in the afternoon.

going to taste the cheese

transporting the cheese

Saturday we went out to this amazing national park where the former owners of the estate had an eccentric house and an amazing art collection.  We got free white bikes and biked around.  Then I went to see the reception venue for Trina's upcoming wedding.

Then it was back to L'Aigle for the second week of the holidays where I was running a English language course for a few students.  The rest of my time I made the most of my limited time left hanging with a friend in a near-by village called Mortagne-au-Perche.  Here's some pics of Mortagne a few months earlier during the winter and now with the spring flowers.