Berlin

Well… what can I say but, wow! Berlin has turned into so much more than I was expecting. I am not sure what in particular about this city impressed me more, but I do know that this city is one of the cleanest, most friendly, and all around enjoyable that we have been to yet. As is our tradition we of course took a nap once arriving… those train rides can really wear you out... now whether from boredom or whatever else I couldn’t tell you. So right before that nap we grabbed a bit from a restaurant down the street from our hostel, and after the nap we tried another near by restaurant, which by the way was horrible.

So on our first full day, we set off from the hostel and went to Checkpoint Charlie, the famous (or infamous depending on your views) main crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin, it also serves as the Berlin Wall Museum. There we grabbed some Mexican food… yes you did read that right… and yes it was awesome. From there we walked up Frederikstrasse (and please be kind enough not to check my spelling of these names because many of them will be wrong and I won’t care… if something is 20 letters long I’m just not going to get it right no matter how much I try) which has become a major shopping area for former East Berlin.

Afterwards we went to the Brandenburg Gates and walked on to the Reichstag, the seat of the government, which has an amazing glass dome on top where tourists can spiral down and view the city from up high. Around the Reichstag are some other government and educational buildings that were quite nice. The Brandenburg Gates I mentioned earlier lead into a huge park called the Tiergarten, which hosts concerts and events during the nice months. From the Reichstag area we wandered to the Monument for the Jewish Dead, something that I was familiar with because of the recognition it has gotten in the architecture world, but I was not fully prepared for it. I won’t go into too much about it, but one can say that when first walking through it, you have a feeling about it that changes completely after having gone through the museum attached.

After this we went to Potsdamer Platz, a newly reinvigorated square that has become a media and recreation center, for a beer… I had a “flavored” beer for the first time, and it was awesome… I am going to have try it at home (and probably fail miserably), basically drop a shot of apple juice in your next glass of hefeweissen. Afterwards we went to the first restaurant we went it and it was awesome again… although the lights did go out on me in the bathroom and I had to fumble around in complete darkness in a foreign bathroom… fun is not the first word that comes to mind.

The second full day we walked around the Museum Island, and yes no tricks here it was an island in the river covered in museums. From there we went on to the Alexander Platz, and walked up Weinerstrasse and Oresinstrasse, both of these streets are well known shopping and recreation neighborhoods, and are full of the “texture” that has made Berlin famous. We wandered back to Frederikstrasse and then made our way to Potsdamer again for a beer. That evening we went out to the Zoological Gardens area, and wandered through all of the shopping areas there. We also attempted to go to the Hard Rock, only to find that it was closed for a private party. We then wandered forever looking for a restaurant to eat at… sadly missing that they were all on the second level… and eventually after getting a little backwards went to an awesome Greek restaurant.

On our final day we explored the rest of the area around Potsdamer, seeing several nearby famous architectural sights, but spending most of our time in the Arkade, which is a wonderful shopping mall, that acts as the joint between a series of corporate and mixed use buildings. After this we went to the Jewish Museum, which was designed by Daniel Liberskind. It is famous for its use of life and how it simulates the feeling of loneliness and isolationism that the Jews were to have felt while in the terrible camps. After this we went on to happier things and returned to the shopping areas around the Zoo.

We also went to, yes, another Mexican restaurant… and yes it was awesome too… especially my nachos! Afterwards we went to the famous KaDeWe (Kauhaus de Westins) for yes more shopping fun… this place is a huge department store and was celebrating its 100th anniversary as we arrived. Near was an interesting old church where most of the church has been blown up in the war, so that only the center spire remained. Now the spire is flanked by a large blue stained glass tower, and on the other side is another blue stained glass structure, this one being the new sacristy… although they were kinda ugly… anyway afterwards we went back the house and Potsdamer for drinks and dinner at an Australian restaurant there called Corroboree. By the way if any of you have a chance to grab an ice cold Victoria Bitter I would strongly suggest you take that opportunity, as anyone self-respecting person who has been to Australia will tell you.

We had a great time here, that was probably made even better when we didn’t exactly expect it to be so much fun. Maybe it is because Berlin now sees itself as a city for all cultures, as opposed to its so well known recent past. Maybe it is just the product of the recent collapse of the Berlin Wall and the two halves of the city being rejoined… but whatever it is, it was great.