Early Friday morning, F.Do and I planted our butts on the train and were off to Berlin!
I believe the men we were sharing our cabin with were highly amused with us. I guess I would be too if I saw 2 girls spread themselves in the train cabin as if they were setting up a home. Then to make matters more amusing, when they weren't sleeping they were eating!!! My defense is that it was a 6.5 hour train ride, what else were we supposed to do???
F.Do stretching after yet another nap. I think she was eating something here. I am betting it was a chocolate!
PARK PLAZA WALLSTRASSE HOTEL: it was the cutest hotel. There were chocolate coins, dollar bill tissues and dollar print rug! "If you don't make dollars, you don't make sen$e"
Welcome platter... yummmm
Lobby of the hotel:
Traditional Pork Sandwich: in other words, an entire can of spam that was fried and put on a bun!
KAISER-WILHELM GEDACHNISKIRCHE (KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH): Bombed during WWII. The damaged tower is a symbol of Berlin's resolve to rebuild the city after the war and a constant reminder of the destruction of war.
PIECE OF THE BERLIN WALL:
POTSDAMER PLATZ: Formerly the busiest square in Europe during the '20s and '30s. It was completely destroyed in '43, then completely flattened by the construction of the Berlin Wall in '61, and was fully rebuilt in the '90s after the wall went down in '89.
Sony Center: it is quite the odd feeling when you look on one side of the street and see an old half-bombed church and then on the other side of the street a square of modern buildings.
These bears were so cute... just like us!!!
BRANDENBURGER GATE: right on the border between East and West Berlin, it is a symbol of the reunified Berlin.
Flying German Flag:
REICHSTAG: German Parliament. In '33 a fire broke out which many believe was started by the Nazis. The German Communist Party was blamed, the Nazis moved in and that was the end of democracy in Germany.
Side-story: when we arrived at the Reichstag, we immediately saw a long line and assumed it was the line to get in. After waiting for approx. 30 mins. and assuring a family (with small children) that this was indeed the line to get into the Reichstag, we arrive at the entrance only to discover we were in line for a restaurant! whoopsy... good thing the family had a sense of humor! Lesson of the day: do not assume that any long line leads to your desired destination!
The Purple seats is where the European Union hold their meetings.
Site of EU meetings:
GEORGBRAEU: a pub located in the Nikolai Quarter which was where our hotel was located. They served traditional German dishes and brewed their own beer, what more can one ask for? I really, really, really wanted to take the beer mugs as a souvenir.
I believe F.Do got the stew...
I got half a deep fried duck... literally...
BREAKFAST BUFFET: this is what F.Do and I look forward to on our trips!! We honestly can't sleep the night before because our brains are just churning with the different exciting things they could potentially serve!!! They certainly did not disappoint...
PARISER PLATZ:
BRANDENBURGER GATE:
REICHSTAG:
BERLIN WALL: the line formed by bricks in the road is the marker of where the Berlin wall once stood.
MONUMENT TO THE MURDERED JEWS IN EUROPE (HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL): Occupies about 205,000 square feet of space, and is made up of 2,711 gray stone slabs that bear no markings, such as names or dates.
Some slabs are ankle high while others tower over people.
The ground the slabs are placed on rise and fall, in a wave-like pattern. The architect wanted to create a feeling of groundlessness and instability; a sense of disorientation... most likely the feeling of those at the time of the Holocaust.
One of the few old buildings still standing. You can still see the bullet holes on the exterior...
According to the tour guide, David Hasselhoff had a song at the time and many believed he saved them from communism.
I cannot recall what the significance of this building was but I am guessing it was some sort of gov't building.
BERLIN WALL: I cannot even begin to describe the feeling I had while in Berlin. It just shocks me to think that such a wall existed up until recently. From '61 to '89, East and West Germany was divided by the Berlin Wall. I cannot imagine waking up one morning to find a 4meter high wall prohibiting me from entering the other side of the city. So simple/routine things like going to work or visiting your friend on the other side of the wall was now off limits. Or if you had stayed over at a friend's place the night before and the next morning you wake up to discover you can't go home because of the wall. Absolutely mind-blowing.
The tour guide had us wait around the corner first. Then she made us run around the corner only to be confronted with the wall which would now dictate your boundaries. It was the most chilling experience.
CHECK POINT CHARLIE: U.S. built checkpoint that allowed diplomatic corps and allied forces to enter West Germany.
Straddling the East/West German border...
GENDARMENMARKET: consists of three landmark buildings, the Französischer Dom, Deutscher Dom and the Konzerthaus.
Deutscher Dom (German Cathedral):
Konzerthaus (Concert Hall):
Französischer Dom (French Cathedral):
Pink Plumbing: I cannot recall the reason for this...
BELBELPLATZ: the center for the arts and sciences.
State Opera House:
Alte Bibliothek (Royal Library): part of Humboldt University where the Grimm Brothers, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels were once students and where Albert Einstein taught for nearly 20 years before the Nazi regime began to gain power.
Monument: on May 10, 1933, the Nazi minister for propaganda and public enlightenment, Joseph Goebbels, organized a nationwide book burning, with more than 20,000 books by Jews, Communists, and Pacifists burned in the middle of the Bebelplatz. The rows of empty bookshelves represent the books that once filled the shelves.
NEUE WACHE (THE NEW GUARDHOUSE): The Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyrrany
Mother with her Dead Son by Kathe Kollowitz: sculpture is directly under the round open window, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold of the Berlin climate, symbolising the suffering of civilians during World War II.
FERNSHTURM (TV TOWER) & THE BERLIN CATHEDRAL ACROSS THE SCHLOßBRUCKE (PALACE BRIDGE):
BERLIN CATHEDRAL:
ALTES MUSEUM (OLD MUSEUM):
F.Do, myself and our tour guide: On a whim, we decided to take the Free Berlin Walking Tour (not entirely free, they make their money from tips) and boy did we not regret our decision. She was the best tour guide I have ever had. She was very personable, humorous, and best of all, an engrossing storyteller. Absolutely amazing.
JüDISCHES MUSEUM BERLIN (JEWISH MUSEUM BERLIN): this building is called the lightning bolt and some people describe its shape to be a shattered star of David.
Shalechet (Fallen Leaves): over 10,000 open-mouthed faces coarsely cut from heavy, circular iron plates cover the floor...
...when you walk on them, they clang together creating loud noises in the narrow and hollow room.
Hee hee...
Onions are the best!
No comment...
Initially, F. Do and I were going to go on a pub crawl held by the tour company we had taken a tour with earlier that day. However, the meeting point was right across from the Thai restaurant that F.Do's coworker had highly recommended. So it was either pub crawl with a bunch of hooligans or yummy Thai food.... of course the food choice won out in the end!
Yummy Beer... and dirt cheap too! I miss Europe!!
Oh boy did we ever make the right decision. It was some of the best Thai food I've had. yummmm....
CLUBBING IN BERLIN: I can't recall the exact name of the club we went to, but lets just say it was quite entertaining.
.... I guess some consider it to be cool to dance with your buddies in a cage....
Note the Asian dude at the far left... wearing the crop top and arm warmers....
... Asian dude is flexible in those Argyle...
FINAL BREAKFAST BUFFET:
F.Do preparing some sandwiches for our train ride home. It's all about efficiency people, efficiency...
This is my happy face after F.Do discovered there was a bottle of champagne by the buffet table. Many would overlook the bottle as mere decoration, but F.Do thought outside of the box. When she approached the servers, they were taken aback and were unsure what to do since no one has ever asked. Long story short, because of F.Do's resourcefulness we happily enjoyed our meal with mimosas. WELL DONE!!!
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