Berlin

From WWI to WW2 and through the Cold War, Berlin has been bombed and rebuilt a million times.  Because of that it has an amazing mix of both the old and the new.  We decided that this city was too big to tackle on our own so our second day here we took a bicycle tour around many of the historical sights.  We started in East Berlin at Alexandre Platz and made our way past the ruins of the Prussian Palace and St Hewig's Cathedral and stopped at the memorial to the Nazi book burning at Humbolt University- in the square is a plaque that has a quote (in German) that translates to "When books are burned people will be too." by Heinriche Heine.  He was a Jewish poet from the 1800s and his prophetic words seem to echo throughout the square.

The tour lasted nearly five hours and we saw too many sights to name but here are some photos with captions explaining a bit.  Our tour guide, Alex, totally rocked and we even grabbed a drink with him the night after the tour to have some time to just hang out.  Making new friends in new cities is always so exciting and we look forward to getting back to Berlin to spend more time with him and check out one of his shows.  He is a bike tour guide by day and DJ by night.

Checkpoint Charlie- a former crossing between east and west Berlin

A portion of the Berlin Wall still standing

One of the sniper towers that used to be in the 'death zone' on either 

side of the wall

Memorial to the Murdered Jew of Europe

Brandenburg Gate, where people began tearing down the wall the night the wall fell.

Inside the dome of the Reichstag

The Reichstag

Keith Haring statue

Speaking of DJs- no trip to Berlin would be complete without a night of clubbing and so clubbing we went.  We found a great place that was an old abandoned warehouse of some sort in formally East Berlin with 2 rooms of music, red lights, and dancers dressed up in French Revolution costumes, white wigs and all.  I don't think we made it to sleep until the sun came up which is a pretty normal event for anyone in Berlin.

Our last full day in Berlin we made our way to the Parliament Building, the Reichstag.  The dome of the building is made entirely of glass and has the best view of the city and a great cafe to sit and eat and enjoy the view.  We were escorted in by the Polizei and had to show them our passports- it was a bit intense.

One of the best parts about being in Berlin though was that for the first time since high school I got to practice the 3 years of German that I had taken.  Turns out I remember more than I thought I did and with just a few days could carry on a simple conversation.  I hope to come back for longer and improve my skills.

Next we are off to Paris!  Our last stop before heading back to Amsterdam and saying goodbye to Europe.

Love to you all,
Kaitlyn