There was so much going on in Berlin that i'm going to have to split this blog post in half! Trust me, you'll thank me in half an hour! :P
One of our service stops on the way to Berlin was at Checkpoint Alpha!
There is a museum, but it was closed.
We arrived in Berlin in the early evening (the bus drove pretty much through the centre of the city so we had a lot of the monuments pointed out to us as we arrived, which was exciting), but just as we stopped the sky opened and it completely bucketed down! In about 30 seconds we and our luggage were drenched, which made for a fun walk to the hostel!
But after a change of clothes and a meal, we were happy girls again!
The best döner kebap ever!! We went back for seconds the next night! :)
Marvelous Maddy
and Jazzy Jade!
Bus Buddies!! Woo hoo!
We topped dinner off with an ice-cream (tiramisu flavoured - yu-um!), which, after forty minutes of searching, we decided we had definitely earned!
The next day we woke to brilliant blue skies and actual summer temperatures, which was not just a surprise after the rain of the night before, but my time in Europe in general!
I started the day with a hazelnut strudel and freshly squeezed orange juice (yum!) and then we went to the Sandeman's Free Walking Tour, led by a welsh girl who was very excited to hear that I was a fan of Gavin and Stacey :)
The tour began in Pariser Platz.
The Brandenburg Gate.
On top is the statue Napoleon "borrowed" for a while.
The hotel where the King of Pop infamously dangled his baby from the balcony.
The Reichstaggebäude (Parliament). In 1933 the place was burned, allowing Hitler to blame the communists and grab power. Today the glass cupola (added in 1999) is supposed to signify transparency, and to remind parliamentary members as they sit below the crowds of tourists winding above them, that they are working for "the people".
The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.
It is enormous.
I love that no matter where you stand in this grey labyrinth you can see through to the trees at the other end.
This was where high ranking communists were housed - it was considered "fancy" and was supposed to make the West Berliners jealous. I can see why it didn't.
Why is there a picture of a carpark?
Why indeed? This space, which is only noted by a small noticeboard, is where Hitler's bunker was. I, stupidly, was surprised at the size of the bunker (I guess you can't really command a World War force from a backyard bomb shelter now can you??)
This building was designed to strike fear and submission into the hearts of Berliners. These days it houses the tax department. Ha!
It also depicts a mural of a communist society.
One of the largest remaining sections of the Berlin Wall.
Checkpoint Charlie. Only the wooden frame for the sign (centre) is original.
The hot weather called for mango sorbet (which only set us back 1 euro!!!) I think our faces say it all ...
Two pretty cathedrals at either end of the square.
This one is slightly taller.
Concert Hall.
Very grand.
The university. Einstein studied here.
Bebelplatz - where the book-burning of 1933 took place.
The memorial - bookshelves representing space for each of the books burnt. Outside the university is a second hand book market, many of which are titles that were burnt by the Nazis.
The Neue Wache Memorial.
Inside is this sculpture; Mother with dead Son. Directly above her is a circular hole in the ceiling to let all of the elements in.
Back to the hostel for round two of kepabs.
The rubbish bin reminded me of R2D2.
Apfelstrudel for dessert! Tasty tasty!
Then Jade and I left the others to the pub crawl, and went in search of one of Berlin's biggest attractions.
It was incredible! It was about half an hour from our hostel, and then the wall itself is about 1.2kms long - I had developed a mother of a blister during the day, but soldiered on anyway, and was so glad I did!
Warning: I went a little overboard with the photos .. sorry!
This was across the road, so we had to go have a look.
"Romero Britto: Best Buddies Friendship Bear (2011). Dedicated to the City of Berlin in honour of people with intellectual disabilities who inspire their communities worldwide."
Yes, this may have been my favourite! :P
Although I loved this one! If you look at it one way he seems to be looking at something above him, but if you shift your focus you realise that his eyes are actually closed. This resulted in much shrieking of "Omg his eyes are closed!!!" on my part, which resulted in very bewildered looks from the other tourists, so then I had to explain that from where I was standing it looked like they were open. Suddenly everyone was walking backwards are forwards and sidestepping, trying to find the point in which it changed from one to the other. Very amusing.
Very successful use of the space. Lovely way to spend an evening wandering. Craziest part - after a day in the sun the wall was radiating heat!! Helped ward off the sunset chill (which, by the way, was amazing!)
Jade's photos again - isn't she talented??
Back to the hostel for an early-ish night as we had big plans for the next day (click here for Part 2).
xxox
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