We arrived in Berlin on Thursday afternoon and found our hostel, an eccentric spot known as the Helter Skelter. Reception and bar were found on the fourth floor, and found our room, shared with two girls from the States on a college graduation gift trip and an Iranian man. We went to a potato specialty restaurant for dinner, and had very hearty and delicious meals indeed...a potato, spinach, and sausage casserole for me, and pan potatoes with various veggies for Karen. We went to see the Brandenburg Gate after dinner, a historic landmark, and renewed symbol of German unity after the fall of the wall.
The next day, we explored the Reichstag (parliament buildings) which involved a two-hour wait and security check identical to that faced in any airport you fly from. The building itself was quite beautiful, with a glass cupola (dome) that gave us an advantageous view of the city, and lots of environmentally friendly measures, such as the mirrors in this pillar which help to direct the sunlight onto the solar panels above.
Then we went to see this very interesting memorial to Europeś Murdered Jews. From the street, it looked almost like a cemetary of similarly-sized stones in perfect rows and columns. Upon walking into the middle of it, you realized that it actually was dug into a valley, so that by the time you reached the centre, these stone slabs were 12 feet tall. It was reminiscent of either tomb stones or a ghost town of empty houses. Hereś what it was like in the middle.
Karen was very interested in looking up evidence of the old split between East and West Berlin, so here is Checkpoint Charlie, one of the old border points you had to pass through to get between them.
...and the sign demarcating the American zone from the British, French or Russian zones.
We tried to see the remains of the wall and spent time lost because Karenś guide book gave us bad directions. My guide book gave more help, and she got some guidance from the people at the hostel, so she got up early the next morning to find it. I opted to sleep in a bit (yes, reversal of typical roles!) and look for an envelope to mail some postcards home.
We arrived in Berlin on Thursday afternoon and found our hostel, an eccentric spot known as the Helter Skelter. Reception and bar were found on the fourth floor, and found our room, shared with two girls from the States on a college graduation gift trip and an Iranian man. We went to a potato specialty restaurant for dinner, and had very hearty and delicious meals indeed...a potato, spinach, and sausage casserole for me, and pan potatoes with various veggies for Karen. We went to see the Brandenburg Gate after dinner, a historic landmark, and renewed symbol of German unity after the fall of the wall.
The next day, we explored the Reichstag (parliament buildings) which involved a two-hour wait and security check identical to that faced in any airport you fly from. The building itself was quite beautiful, with a glass cupola (dome) that gave us an advantageous view of the city, and lots of environmentally friendly measures, such as the mirrors in this pillar which help to direct the sunlight onto the solar panels above.
Then we went to see this very interesting memorial to Europeś Murdered Jews. From the street, it looked almost like a cemetary of similarly-sized stones in perfect rows and columns. Upon walking into the middle of it, you realized that it actually was dug into a valley, so that by the time you reached the centre, these stone slabs were 12 feet tall. It was reminiscent of either tomb stones or a ghost town of empty houses. Hereś what it was like in the middle.
Karen was very interested in looking up evidence of the old split between East and West Berlin, so here is Checkpoint Charlie, one of the old border points you had to pass through to get between them.
...and the sign demarcating the American zone from the British, French or Russian zones.
We tried to see the remains of the wall and spent time lost because Karenś guide book gave us bad directions. My guide book gave more help, and she got some guidance from the people at the hostel, so she got up early the next morning to find it. I opted to sleep in a bit (yes, reversal of typical roles!) and look for an envelope to mail some postcards home.
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