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Friday, August 16, 2013

Weekend in Berlin


Germany's capital has so much historical significance, we really wanted to check it out.  At the start of August, we caught a cheap flight to Leipzig and took a train up to Berlin.


On our walk from the Hauptbahnhof to our hotel, we passed the Reichstag (Parliament), which the Nazis likely burnt to stoke German fear in 1933.  The reconstructed glass dome adds a unique modern touch.


We also walked through the iconic Brandenburg Gate.  The Berlin Wall ran right behind it, and President Reagan stood in that location and implored Mr. Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!"


Our hotel was close to the TV tower and the Berlin Cathedral.


The cathedral is an amazing sight by night or day.


Across the street from the cathedral is construction work on a recreation of the Prussian-era palace (which is a controversial money-pit in a heavily indebted city).


We wanted to hit the main sites in the sprawling city, and on a friend's suggestion, we opted to try Fat Tire Bike Tours, which took us on a 6 mile, 4.5 hour loop around many attractions.  Our tour guide was a guy from New York who was getting his masters degree in Berlin.  This is our group in the infamous Bebelplatz, where the massive book burnings took place in 1933.


Here's Em, grinning at the site of a 20th century atrocity.


Here's a stop in Gendarmenmarkt, with the Huguenot church on the right.


Berlin seems to be a very post-modern city with a lot of outlandish artwork.


Here's another stop within the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  The memorial is thousands of different-sized cement blocks on wavy ground and no placards - it was an interesting site in which to contemplate the persecution.


The bike tour sped us past Checkpoint Charlie, the intersection of the sectors during the Cold War.  Note the golden arches - you're welcome, Germany!  Would you like fries with that?


The famed TV tower was near our final stop.  It's pretty ironic that the Communist monument was built by Swedish engineers who were smuggled in because of the East German brain drain.


Jason Bourne fans will remember the trams running through Alexanderplatz in The Bourne Supremacy.


 Our big meal for the day was at Zur Letzten Instanz, the oldest restaurant in Berlin.  Napoleon, Beethoven, and even Angela Merkel (haha) have supped there.  My grilled pork knuckles were great.


In an effort to work off some of the beer and hearty fare we had enjoyed, we got up on Sunday and ran down to the East Side Gallery, where the wall was used for powerful works of art.


Under "The Kiss", the German reads, "My God, help me survive this deadly love."  This kiss shared by commies went the 1979-version of viral.  On the right, I'm posing with my favorite piece.


After washing up, we went to the famed Pergamon museum, which houses a recreation of the Ishtar Gate in Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar's reign.


Lions, bulls, and Chimera (right) guarded the city.


The beer in Berlin can't match our Bavarian favorites, so we found time to hit Bayern-style beer halls that served the good stuff.


Our final stop before the flight out was the Naturkundemuseum (Natural History Museum), which is home to the world's largest complete dinosaur skeleton - I really enjoyed it, but 6 year-old me would have freaked out.


The museum also displays its Archeopteryx, the most famous and widely-cited link between birds and dinosaurs.  I also enjoyed the thousands of specimens in formaldehyde, like the sharks on the right...

All in all, Berlin did not disappoint.  It's cheap as big cities go, and there's tons to see and do (especially if you only have a few days).  There are still parts that are very rundown due to the difficulties of East Berlin, but it was really fun to check out.