After our frantic efforts to get a new flight out of Amman we arrived in Berlin, a little tired but no worse for wear. Our friend Antje (we met her and her boyfriend Martin in Cuba last year) picked us up and took us back to their flat. We had a bit of breakfast and then Antje took us out to explore a bit of the city. We did some walking and she pointed out a number of things we could see while we were in Berlin. We took the S-Bahn (Berlin streetcar) back to their place and after Martin got home from work, they cooked us a wonderful Thai chicken curry. Because we were still a bit tired we ended up going to bed relatively early.
The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed out for the day. We walked to Alexanderplatz, which is one of the main squares in Berlin, and went to the DDR (or GDR, German Democratic Republic) Museum. This museum gave a very fascinating look into life in Eastern Germany, particularly East Berlin when the Berlin wall was up. It gave a glimpse into everyday life but didn't focus on the negative aspects of that time. It had tons of interactive displays and was probably one of the most interesting museums I've ever been to. After lunch we went up to the top of the Berlin TV Tower, which is the tallest in Germany and up on the list for tallest in the world. It gave a nice 360 degree view of the entire city. We walked home to Martin & Antje's and were treated to another wonderful, home cooked meal.
The next morning we slept in a bit, did some much needed laundry, and booked our tickets for our flight in Denmark. We headed out walking for the day again, stopped for a bratwurst from a street vendor then made our made way to Checkpoint Charlie. This was one of the main crossings between Soviet controlled East Berlin and the Allied controlled west. There was a huge outdoor display which outlined the history behind the building of the wall, details of many escape attempts (both successful and not), and the events leading up to the fall of the wall. It was very interesting and we got to walk along a section of the wall that remains standing. Afterwards we stopped and I had a currywurst then continued walking. We stopped at the Jewish Holocaust Memorial on our way to Brandenburg Gate. This gate was built as a monument in the 1700's and was used as a watchtower and boarder crossing when the wall was standing. We also went to the Reichstag which is the home of the German parliament but unfortunately we were unable to go up into the glass dome that tops the building.
The following morning we set off on our feet again and went to see the Kunathaus Tacheles. This is an old, eclectic building that is covered in graffiti, houses a number of galleries and has a beer garden in the back that reminded me of a scrapyard. We went out for a wonderful sushi lunch and then walked through a very trendy, higher end shopping area. We visited the Jewish museum which gave a look at their history in Germany, including, but not exclusively, the holocaust. The building is very modern but was built in such a way that it makes you feel uncomfortable (the floor is not flat and the walks are askew). We walked through a neighbourhood called Kreuzberg, which has a predominately Turkish population and continued on to the East Side Gallery. This is a long section of the wall along the river that has been preserved and has been painted by various artists. Alongside it, the new O2 arena which was built overlooking the river.
The next day we slept in and then went to breakfast at a small cafe. Because it was Saturday, there was a local market in the area and we wandered around there for a while. Martin and Antje drove us around and showed us some of the different areas of Berlin. We stopped at one of the malls and Jen bought a couple of Wustoff knives to go with the set she bought the last time we were in Germany. That night we went to a trendy but eclectic restaurant called White Trash for dinner. It was decorated with all kinds of weird art and most of the waiters and waitresses had tattoos. The food was really good and later in the evening they had a tranny DJ and a live band playing...it was a pretty cool place.
Sunday was our last day in Berlin and we drove out to see Sachenhausen, which was a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. It was a very somber and sobering experience, but something we wanted to go see. That afternoon we came back to Berlin and Martin took us to get some Kettwurst (something like Bratwurst), which was awesome and I ended up having 2. We walked to a huge park where everyone goes to hang out on the weekend. On Sunday afternoons they have live music and there is a guy who does karaoke in a big amphitheater. It was a really cool atmosphere and there had to about a thousand people there watching. As it was our last day in Berlin we spent some time talking about life in Germany. It was very interesting hearing about Antje and Martin's stories of growing up in East Berlin. We had a fantastic visit in Berlin walked many km's. We were sad to go but are hoping they will come visit us in Canada sometime soon.
The next morning Martin took us to the airport and we said goodbye to Berlin. The next stop is Denmark to go visit an old friend and his family. It has been almost six years since we saw them last so we are very excited for our visit.