Wednesday, May 21, 2014 - Berlin (Mark)

We had many possibilities for what to do today, and we decided to start with a walking tour around where the wall used to be, starting at Checkpoint Charlie. We rode the U-Bahn to Kochstr. and got out. The checkpoint is very, very touristy now. The booth and the "You are now leaving the American sector" sign are still there. There are also huge crowds and Germans posing as American MP's (and charging for pictures). We walked along the wall route to the Topography of Terror, an outdoor exhibit with the history of propaganda and brutality during the WWII and Cold War eras. Interesting, but reading everything there would have taken hours. We also dropped by an old guard tower.

The big thing on his belt is basically a price tag for photos. We didn't pose with them.

Liz is about to take a step into COMMUNISM!

Ostalgia!

Pieces of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz

We next encountered the Holocaust memorial which was still under construction when last I visited. It is a very interesting display, with thousands of monoliths of varying heights, and pathways through them that slope up and down. This was Liz's favorite sight of the day. We finally made it to the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's most famous sight. It is lined by embassies now, and of course there is no more wall around it. We decided to go back to the hotel for a lunch break at this point.

The organ grinder was definitely the best one we encountered.

After lunch, we returned to Mitte, this time to see the Pergamon Museum. There is a lot of construction and renovation going on right now, so we had to enter through a side door. This deposited us at the Ishtar Gate, instead of starting at the Pergamon Altar. The gates are still as impressive as ever, as are the altar and the market gates. It would have been nice to stay longer but Claire was not having fun and we were tired. We took an extended break in a nearby grassy area, where Claire crawled around and ate a lot of grapes.

The Ishtar Gate

Claire is thrilled.

Oh, are we ever tourists.

The Pergamon Altar

Claire doesn't care about historical relics, she just wants grapes.

The last thing we wanted to see was Alexanderplatz, and we went by way of a detour into the Nikolaiviertel. We took a glance at the Nikolaikirche, one of the few old churches remaining in Berlin. We finally finished our walk to Alexanderplatz, but didn't look around too much. We found a Doner Kebab place and sat down for a nice meal. Streetcars rode by our table every now and then. It was an enjoyable meal. After finishing, we went straight back to the hotel and collapsed.

The Pope's Revenge was in full display.

Schneider Weisse, weiß die Schneider.

Döner!

These bears were scattered around the city. This was Mark's favorite.

Observations:

• There was a guy in Potsdamer Platz yelling into a microphone. He truck had a slogan that said "Today we are tolerant. Tomorrow foreign in our own country." A large group of people, mostly young, were yelling at him in protest.