Berlin, May 3

In an attempt to get as much as possible in, in just one day we decided to start our day nice an early, well not overly early, but a reasonable time.

We made our way out of the hotel by 9:30am, which is pretty good, if you ask me.

First things first, we walked down to Checkpoint Charlie, one of the main crossing points between West and East Berlin. There is a museum there, but seeing as we were only there for a day we knew we wouldn’t have time to give any museums due time.

From Checkpoint Charlie we walked to the Sony Centre at Potzdammer Platz. Here we saw the first bits of remnants from the Berlin Wall. It is very cool because everywhere that that the wall was is marked out by bricks through the streets and sidewalks. Berlin is very conveniently laid out and quite compact, From Potzdammer Platz we walked towards the Brandenburger Tor stopping along the way at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The Memorial opened in 2005 so I remember very clearly it being announced that it was being revealed..(better word). It was quite overpowering when you actually walk through it. It was surprising to me how powerful walking through the area was. It is quite interesting, it is a series of concrete blocks of varying heights, none of which really sit straight. The ground below has been formed into deep hills and rolls so when you are in the midst of the monument the concrete blocks tower above you, each one slanting at a slightly different angle then the next. It really can not be captured in a picture.

We went from there towards Brandenburger Tor, where we were able to appreciate the “most famous symbol of Germany” (see if that is something that is said). We walked over to the Reichstag, quite a beautiful and large building that is on the edge of the Tiergarten (large park). The building is topped with a glass dome that you can go up to get a great view of the city. We went to inquire about going up and were informed that we needed to book 2 days in advance to get in, but if we were lucky there might still be room for us. We walked over to the door and quickly were let in; we were told to tell the security guards that we were just “spontaneous people.” Ha. So we go in to the security area where they scan your bag and you have to show your passport, now, of course, we weren’t carrying our passports as they were locked in the hotel safe. The only ID I had with me was my Dutch temporary residence card, ha, but it worked.

So we headed up to the glass dome on top of the Reichstag. It was quite good, I recommend it. There is a free audio guide that explained what you were seeing around the city as you walked up (and down) the ramp that circulates the inside of the dome. The interior of the dome has this very cool funnel looking centre that is surrounded by mirrors. These mirrors reflect the sunlight into the parliamentary chambers which are below, making it able for them to use a substantially smaller amount of energy to light the building. We walked up, then down, then around the terrace before heading out of the building.

From there we made our way along the river towards Museums Island. By this time we decided to skip walking around the museum area in favour of finding something to eat. Unfortuately, we don’t seem to be very good at finding good, cheap places to eat. That or we seem to think we aren’t very good, give up, and eat somewhere we aren’t overly enthusiastic about. We found a pizza place where they make you a personalized pizza to order . It was quite tastey and I don’t think either of us regretted going there, but as soon as we walked about 3 more blocks there were tons of places to eat. Anyways, we got our pizzas and sat in semi lounge chairs on Spree river across from the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral, dating back to 1451). It was quite a nice place for lunch. Still the wind was quite cold but the sun kept us warm.

We walked along the river near the Museum Island area a little further until we headed into the very normal looking streets of Berlin. Our next destination was The Kunsthaus Tacheles (The Art House Tacheles) which was formerly a department store in the Jewish quarter that served for some time as a Nazi prison and has since been taken over as a type of artist cooperative location. Supposedly, there artists hang out here to do their work, sell their wares, and generally express themselves. Ya, its cool enough but mostly it is a run down building that is falling apart, covered in spray paint, and smells of urine. Ha, we didn't really know what we were supposed to do with it. We didn't stay long. That said it was worth a quick visit.

We headed north towards another section of the wall that was still intact. This time we were headed to the area known as the "death strip." This was likely one of the most interesting sections of the wall we saw. They have kept the wall - or recreated it perhaps - to look like it would have looked. Walking up to the wall it was very overwhelming how helpless and lost it made me feel. It wasn't even as though you could jump up to see over it, and it was just this depressing grey wall of doom. Across the street from this section is a viewing area where you can climb up and see it from above. This is important because it was an area that the was built very wide with huge sand pits and guard towers in the middle, and other unsavory control mechanism to keep the two populations divided. This was the sort of place where those who were shot trying to escape would lie and die because the West couldn't help them. What a mess.

We spent some time there before heading - via S-Baun - to the East Side Gallery, a 1.3km section of the wall covered in murals as a sign of protest. This section of the wall was very cool and it felt like it went on forever! I can't imagine what it'd be like to actually have that wall all the way through the city. The murals were great, some were weird, some confusing, it was a good walk.

We hoped on the metro again (U-Baun!) and headed back to the hotel for a little sit down to recuperate our energies. We hung out at the hotel until we were ready for dinner. We went out and found ourselves a restaurant that served German food and beer, because what else would you want really? It was quite a nice restaurant. I had a pork loin dish, Amanda had some sort of bread, cheese, mushroom thing. Quite delectable. From there we headed back to the hotel for bed.

Wednesday we'd be heading to Prague.