Guten Tag!
We arrived in Berlin after a morning train from Prague. Once in the city, our couchsurfing host (Oli) met us at the train station. We headed to his place to drop our bags and then went to explore the city.
Oli came with us and became our tour guide for the day. We walked around Berlin's tallest structure, Fernsehturm. Here you can go to the top to the restaurant, bar, and observation deck to see the best view of the city. We then went to the Jewish Museum and Museum Island, which is a group of five museums.
We continued to walk towards Berlin's most iconic monument, the Brandenburg Gate. The gate was the main exit to the West side of Berlin. The hotel next to the gate was also the balcony where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the edge.
Just a few blocks away we went to the Holocaust Memorial, which consists of 2,711 blocks of concrete placed over 19,000 square feet. Apparently the memorial is quite controversial because the same company that the concrete was made for actually supplied the gas for the gas chambers in WWII.
Just walking a few more blocks we walked to Potsdamer Platz, the site where Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. Today the area is huge, brand new buildings. Actually when we went to see the area we walked right into a movie premier for Cowboys and Aliens. We watched Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and other actors/actresses we didn't know walk down the red carpet! Brian actually got interviewed while trying to take pictures!
From there we walked through the city's biggest park, Tiergarten, on our way to Reichstag, the parliament building. Later we headed to the East Side Gallery, slogans and murals painted along the remaining part of the Berlin Wall.
After our sightseeing, Oli took us for the best kept secret on the west side of Berlin, a burger stop, under the train station out of a restroom.
The next morning, we took a guided tour to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial. It hard to understand the magnitude of what happened, until you see the grounds and hear the stories.
We ended the day strolling around Alexanderplatz, a square full of entertainers, food stands, and fun!
We ended our time in Berlin with BBQ with Oli and his friends. We really enjoyed Berlin! It was nice to get showed around by a local, who grew up with all the history around him. The city is full of history with great energy! As the mayor said, "Berlin is poor, but sexy."
Tschuss!
R & B