Berlin pt 2

Sorry for taking so long to write this, but I am finally done with school and have more time now. So we left Prague at 7:30 and got to Berlin around 1. We got to the hotel before check in time so they let us keep our bags behind the front desk and we went downtown to one of the main shopping streets. We went to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory and read about how they made the chocolates and then of course bought some as well. Then we just walked around the shopping street and went into some stores. For dinner I had falafel and Akeem and Lauren had shawarma. The next day we planned to do a bike tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours, which our friend Begga had done when she went to Berlin. We met at the TV tower and split into two groups, I think there was probably 20 or so people in our group (which I felt was too big, not only did we have to avoid pedestrians but had to watch out for other people on our bike tour). Our tour guide was from California, I think almost all of the tour guides were non-Germans. We started at Museum Island and our guide told us how most of Berlin was destroyed in WWII so even if the buildings look old chances are they aren't. Our next stop was Bebelplatz which is in front of the main building and library of Germany's most prestigious university, Humbolt University. It is the site of Nazi book burning on May 10, 1933 and now there is a memorial of empty bookshelves.

Next on the tour was Gendarmenmarkt, the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The French Cathedral was built first and the Germans were jealous so they basically built the same thing. Our guide told us that many of the statues were sunk in the rivers and lakes during Nazi Germany, they later removed the statues from the water and now you can see many algae stained statues on the buildings in Berlin.

Our next stop was Checkpoint Charlie, the famous border crossing between East Berlin and West Berlin for Allied forces and foreigners. Onward we went to the Berlin Wall and the former headquarters building of the Nazi Luftwaffe Ministry which is now the main building of Germany's Finance Ministry. Next we had a lunch stop and explored the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We had delicious Doner Kebap, Berlin's "traditional German food." It's actually Turkish but because Berlin has so many Turkish immigrants this has become their famous cuisine. Other famous/ traditional food in Berlin is currywurst. There is an information center under the memorial but we didn't have time for that so we walked around the memorial. It consists of 2711 blocks of various heights that sit in undulating ground. I really liked this memorial and it was easy to get lost in, physically and mentally. 

The next stop was the Branderburg Gate which is "arguably Germany's most famous monument, the Brandenburg Gate served as a backdrop for many of Berlin's most important events: Napoleon's march into Berlin, the division of Berlin during the Cold War, famous speeches (Reagan) and concerts (Hasselhof), and much more." The Kennedy Museum and the hotel that Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of are also in the square. Then we went to the Reichstag, Germany's famous parliament building. You can go inside for free but you have to register 2-3 days beforehand. Our last stop on the tour was back to Museum Island, home to five of Berlin's most famous museums, notably the Pergamon Museum and the Egyptian Museum. Although we didn't go inside any of the buildings.
After this tour we were pretty exhausted and Lauren wasn't feeling well. We took naps and then Akeem and I went out to dinner for currywurst and walked around the area by our hotel for a while.

The next day Lauren was still feeling sick so Akeem and I went off by ourselves for the day. We walked around for a while and walked through a Christmas market that wasn't open yet, but at least we got an idea of what it would be like. We went back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and went to the information center. It is a really nice center and we spent a couple hours there. There is a room with a timeline, another with diary/journal entries, one room with different families stories, a room that details the places Jews were killed, and then a room with videos. It was sad, powerful, and very informative. We then went back to the Brandenburg Gate to get a closer look and then walked through the Tiergarten, which is about 3km long, to the Victory Column--"This massive symbol of victory by the Prussian army over the Danes, Austrians, and French was relocated along the massive East-West Axis in accordance to Hitler's infamous redesign of Berln." We then took the S-Bahn back home where Lauren was feeling better and eager to eat dinner. We went to a traditional German restaurant and for most of the time were the only ones there. I got bratwurst and sauerkraut. The next day we walked around for about an hour by the hotel until we had to leave to go to the airport.