Berlin, Germany

Well, I ended up spending one less day in Berlin than I had expected cause of the way the trains worked out, but I still got to see everything that I wanted to. My first stop was at Alexandreplatz, a huge plaza that has now been redone and is home to many different stores. In the plaza is this World Time Clock. It is pretty neat to see. It tells you the time that it currently is in Berlin and it also tells you the time for anywhere in the world. All you have to do is look at it and find a city that is in your time zone and you can see the time there. It really is a great idea! I then went to see this huge tower thing that I forget what it is called but it is very famous there. It has kinda become a symbol of the city. After that I headed over to the cathedral dome. That was absolutely amazing to see because it is extremely ornate and from the top you could see a panaramic view of the entire city. I wandered around inside and then on the way out, you have to go through the crypt of royalty to get out. That was a bit creepy, especially since it is underground, so I didn't spend too long there, especially considering my issues with dead bodies and such. After that I went over to the Pergamonium Museum. That was phenominal! It is this museum dedicated all to ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and Islamic art. There are parts of the Babylonian Gate, A huge part of a temple that has been reconstructed from fragments from the Acropolis in Athens, and a ton of art from Islam. I LOVED it and spent a good few hours in there seeing everything.

The next day I headed off to a very touristy district where I saw the Brandenbourg Tor, it is this huge gate like the Arch de Triompe in Paris. At the end of that street is this huge Golden Angel on a way high pedastal that I had to see since I love angels. While I was there, I also saw the Parliament Building that is this interesting mixture of old arquitecture and this huge glass dome. I wanted to go inside to go up the dome, but the line was too long, so I just took some pictures and went on my way. I went next to see a part of the Berlin Wall that is still standing and has been integrated into this outdoor exhibit telling about the Gestapo and the SS that used to be housed on that site. It was fascinating ro read about and also very sobering to realize what actually went on there. It explained a bit about the wall as well and why that part of it was left standing. There are other fragments that have been left standing and are painted with messages and types of graffiti, but they are great ot see as well. Then I was off to Check Point Charlie where you used to have to go through to get from onside to the other. It really was not that big it reminded me of any one of the borders I have ever been through. It is now a big tourist site with a guard standing there holding a US flag because it is when you are leaving the American Sector of it when it was divided. They even have people who will stamp your passport for you there if you want, which is kinda funny I think. My last stop for the day was at the huge Sony Center which is this completely modern center that has shops, restaurants, and shows.

I had a very full 2 days because that was all I had, but it was good. It is a huge city and so a lot to cover on foot. There were no interesting stories here though for me to share, just average run of the mill stuff.