Final chapter

I've been home a couple days now and realised I need to finish my blog so here goes.

Berlin was fab, I did the free tour of East Berlin and it was amazing! We saw loads of Pre WWII sights as well as Nazi related buildings, artefacts from the Cold War and memorials, excellent! I would have tipped the guy more than a fiver but I really couldn't afford too. He was brilliant, told loads of interesting stories, including the most dramatic account of the fall of the Berlin Wall and completely made the city come alive with history, I would definitely recommend it! I also went to the East Side Gallery which is the largest remaining section of the wall, it is covered in art which is currently being repainted to celebrate 20 years since the fall. The art was fantastic! I also went into the Reicstag, to view the city from the famous glass dome which was really beautiful, despite queueing for an age in the cold.

The next day I wondered around the city a bit more to see some other sites and have a stroll through the beautiful Tiergarten. That afternoon I was meant to catch the direct train to Copenhagen. I was half an hour early so patiently waited on the platform for the train. Some how the train came and went without me even realising. How this happened I'm not sure but it was definitely the most retarded thing that happened to me. I managed to find an alternative route where i had to catch 4 train, I arrived in Copenhagen at 2am, fun! Berlin was amazing though, I love the city and really want to go back. There aren't many buildings standing that were built pre WWII but those that are, are covered in bullet and shell holes, graffiti and all sorts, it really make the history come alive and make you realise how recent the war was. Berlin is still a beautiful place despite suffering so much trauma in the last 100 years!

Copenhagen was ace, apart from the terrible bedroom I had! The city was beautiful and serene with plenty to see and do. There were bikes everywhere and I was convinced I would be run over (fortunately not)! I walked around for hours, went to see the Little Mermaid (not great), the harbours, Tivioli (the hugely popular theme park where I went on the rides on my own, sad!) and other sights which I can barely even remember now. I ate the most amazing mussels of my live and really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. The next morning I took a trip to Kristiania which is a free community in the heart of the city. Everyone was on drugs, most stoned, and the atmosphere was so chilled out you could have fallen asleep at the various bars. Everyone lives together and work alongside each other to keep this community going and too not become a refuge for the junkies. There are frequent raids from the Danish police but generally the place is really peaceful. You aren't allowed to take photos which is a shame because there is a lot of beautiful graffiti art and nature as its pretty much a park wit a few buildings.

I found some amazing vintage shops in the city, the selection of clothes and accessories was amazing, unlike the prices!! The high cost is a running theme throughout North Europe, Copenhagen wasn't the worse place for rip off prices but it was still bad. Despite that the city was an amazing place.

That afternoon I caught the ferry to Oslo. On board I watched Harry Potter 6 and slept! Not the most exciting part of the trip!

I arrived in Oslo the next day with no clue where to go! Eventually found the hostel, dumped my stuff and proceeded to explore as i was only in the city for 24 hours. Oslo was very pretty but with little to actually see. Everything was expensive and the free museums weren't amazing. I saw some cool Viking artefacts but the museum with the impressive boats was too far away.

My next port of call was Stockholm which was much more interesting. First of all the city is massive therefore there is a lot more to see. I went to the palace and saw the crown jewels, royal apartments and the museum. I went to the view point, the harbour, wondered around the old town for hours, I went to the comic shop which was full of FREAKS! I have nothing against comics, I read them myself but the people here were a new bred of weird!! I was mesmerized by the half marathon that afternoon and ended up watching against the road side for at least an hour, the people were amazing and I found myself a bit emotional by the whole experience. One of my room mates at the hostel had actually ran it so it was fun talking to him that evening about the whole experience! I want to run the London Marathon one day so my first step is going to be to dig out some trainers and start running.

My final journey was to get another overnight ferry to Helsinki, where I proceeded to sleep for 12 hours. Helsinki was amazing! I wandered around the markets, took a boat trip around the islands, went Christmas shopping and more. By the end of my trip I had seen so many churches, cathedrals, parliaments, city halls I couldn't really be arsed with doing that in Finland so I just walked and explored without a tour book. I chatted for ages with the people at the Hostel and generally had a great time in the vibrant city. I went to an Irish bar and had a stupidly priced cider and tried to buy reindeer meet but 50 quid was too much for a tin!!

After 2 nights in this fab city it was time to get my plane home! A guy from the hostel was also travelling to London and was on the same flight as me, excellent, so it was fab to have company on the otherwise boring 3 hour journey. Mummy met me at Gatwick and after seeing her I realised the trip was at an end!

I had a bloody amazing time and so glad I went, even on my own. It did get a bit lonely at times but I still had the best 5 weeks ever and can't get over how many places I've been and how much I've seen, A LOT! It was nice to come home, I was completely exhausted and in desperate need to vitamins plus I missed everyone a bit by this stage but I'm determined to do more travelling now, but with some friends!

Now that this journey has ended the next is about to begin. In a week and a half I start my masters at Surrey Uni and I'm mega excited! I don't think I'll update this blog until my next adventure but who knows you can never be too sure! So until next time, go see Europe everyone cos its great!