Day 3: Berlin, Lunch and beyond

Have it Your Way... Right Away...

Yeah, Burger King... Pathetic right? But this is where Kate and I decided to have lunch. It was delicious too, so I think we have no regrets. Anyway I think eating at an American Chain restaurant in a foreign country is really a necessary experience. Of all of the places we went, this was the first that actually let us attempt to communicate with them in German. Of course it is easy when the menu is numbered. I of course had a Whopper, and Kate one of those fried chicken sandwiches.

It was pretty nice outside so we sat on sidewalk cafe tables. The birds were very feisty and were constantly looking for handouts. I decided to feed one a french fry so I could attempt to take a picture of it. Unfortunately all of my snapshots came out a bit blurry, this being the best of the lot. We had one french fry left which neither Kate or I would eat. It looked like it was from the "eye" of the potato, and it was a little burnt and shriveled too. I put it out, convinced the bird would eat it. The bird came over, looked at the piece of french fry, and apparently like us, decided against eating it. Go figure.

After lunch we got on the U-bahn and went to go see Schloss Charlottenburg, located in the Charlottenburg (of course) section of Berlin. The inside of this palace was unbelievably beautiful. The ceilings adorned with various cherub carvings and frescoes that had an attention to detail in the craftsmanship that is unmatched compared to anything I've seen here in the United States. We were given translating headsets just like the Pergamon Museum. The tour went into a lot of detail about the Queen "Charlotte" that really helped humanize the experience. Her interests (the arts, music, science) helped us understand what she desired her living space (the palace) to be like.

The wikipedia link above actually was quite good, providing some information that we did not learn in the palace's main hall tour.

If people aren't amazed by the interior, surely the elaborate grounds will take their breath away. The lush, beautifully manicured yard is an expansive park that locals as well as tourists use.

Next we headed back to the center of Berlin to explore the Tiergarten, a large public park which also contains an extensive zoo. We just walked around the perimeter of the zoo. The Buffalo statue inspired me to strike a pose. I have a past experience where I almost walked into a real Buffalo. We decided to walk to the Victory column or Seigessaule and climb up to get a view of the city. Because we were in a rush (it was around 5:00 PM) to climb it before it closed I didn't manage to snap a picture of the tower from its base. Check out the wikipedia link for a photo.

The tower is situated in the center of a busy rotary in the middle of the Tiergarten. After searching we found tunnels leading under the traffic. The insides of these tunnels were covered with graffiti. The woman operating the desk at the tower told us we had to get up and down the tower in twenty minutes. We nodded our heads at her, paid 2.50 euros and she gave us the evil eye as we set off on our way. The hike to the top traverses an extensive circular staircase that makes Bunker Hill in Charlestown seem tiny. Kate and I pretty much ran up the thing, even avoiding to stop long at the first overlook which is midway up. The stairs at the top are too narrow for more than one person to pass through. We needed to frequently stop at landings to let people down. Once at the top we enjoyed several minutes of rest and photo snapping.

At the top of the tower we decided to head back towards the city center. We looked for the Reichstag dome and chose a park path that traveled in that direction. On the ground the path seemed much longer than it appeared high up on the tower. As we walked, there were many people having family picnics and barbecuing in various picnic grounds scattered through the park.

When we made it back to civilization we walked by the Soviet War Memorial which is apparently constructed from the remnants of a former Nazi building. A tank was on display as part of the memorial. I snapped a couple photos as this, however we didn't dedicate any time to really exploring it.

We decided to walk down Unter der Linden towards East Berlin. Kate suggested that we look at Nikolaiviertel, an area of East Berlin that was said to contain a lot of restored buildings. The copper plated statue seen in a picture below was in a small garden located next to The Nikolaikirche or "St. Nicholas Church". This was a nice area, but since it was Sunday night the streets and squares were pretty vacant. Kate and I located the German equivalent of an Applebees or Chili's which was called "Maredo". I think it was supposed to have a Tex-Mex flare. I had some pork tenderloins, and Kate (If I recall correctly) had a chicken dish. I washed my meal down with 0.5 L of Beck's Pilsner, which was the only brand of beer that this particular classy establishment carried.

After our meal we headed back through Alexanderplatz and stopped at "Janny's Eis" for some ice cream. I had some tiramisu ice cream on a sugar cone. Small cones were only 0.70 euros, which was nice.

And so then we headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep, for the next day we would be getting up to board the Inter City Express trains to Nurnberg. Although at this point we were seasoned Deutch Bahn travelers, so it would be old-hat ;).

Day 3: Berlin, Morning at the Pergamon Museum

The Pergamon Museum

A big accomplishment of mine when visiting the Pergamon was figuring out how to use my camera without the flash on. After crouching in the corner and taking pictures of some heating vent I was able to accomplish this feat.

This museum was definitely one of the most fascinating museums I've ever been to. Everyone was given a headset which explained number coded exhibits. You could request headsets in your native tongue, provided that you don't speak Swahili.

The exhibits were awe inspiring in their size. I've seen antiquities at the Smithsonian, and at the NYC Museum of Natural History, but up until the Pergamon, I never saw anything of this magnitude. The museum is named for its central exhibit, the Pergamon altar. The altar depicts Roman mythology and dates from the 2nd century BC... far out, right?
The large blue archway pictured here is a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate. It was one of the 8 gates of the city of Babylon. One can only imagine how mind-boggling it must have been for nomads and people of the countryside to have laid eyes upon something like this. I suspect it would be even more awe inspiring than today's high rises can be to a child from the country side.

The ornate wall above is called the Mushatta Wall and was taken from a palace in Jordan dating to 800 AD.

The building in the last photo was hidden away in a courtyard (to give an idea of the size of the other building's and museums) It is the national Art Gallery of Germany. You can see cranes behind the building. There was a lot of renovation and construction going on around "Museum Island" where the Pergamon is located. The Pergamon itself is getting a large expansion.

Michelle Malkin: Idiot

Malkin, blogger and conservative darling, appears to be joining the ranks of Ann Coulter and Pat Robertson. On a recent blog post she lends support to an idea that Rachel Ray supports terrorists because she wore a black & white scarf on a Dunkin Donuts commercial. To me, such an assertion negates anything Malkin has to say. For someone whose livelihood is politics, she should have a better grasp of the world and realize that Ray, was just trying to sell donuts and doing what her stylist (bad stylist....) said. Saying someone is a terrorist because they wear a black & white scarf which doesn't even look like the headdresses that Yasser Arafat used to wear... well Malkin should be a lot more careful about who she calls clueless. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Even if Ray was wearing a keffiyeh, which she wasn't... it would probably be an insult to the terrorist wackos. They might even riot over such a thing.

Dunkin' Donuts Kills Rachael Ray Ad

DD's statement: In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot," Margie Myers, senior VP-communications for Dunkin' Brands, said in a statement. "Absolutely no symbolism was intended."

You would think someone who is a successful commentator would take the time to research a bit before she supports such an idiotic movement. Keffiyehs are typically made of heaven cotton or wool, Ray's scarf was silk. The Fatah Keffiyeh has a black and white spider-web like pattern, not paisleys. The Paisley pattern owes it's prominence to the East India Company. The design was from India (not Islamic) and was first mass produced in Paisley, Scotland. Of all things the design was believed to ward off evil spirits... well I'm not sure it worked for Rachel Ray.

This is just like McCarthyism, with the exception that it makes even less sense......

A lot of seemingly smart people have been saying stupid things... how about Sharon Stone's latest foot in mouth? (Stone is supposedly a MENSA member, you need to have a 140 IQ, or be a "genius")

Stone: "I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else," Stone said. "And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"

Yeah Stone... sure the Chinese are individually responsible for Tibet, because they get to play such an active role in the actions of their government..... sheeeesh. Last I heard it was still an oppressive communist nation, rife with human rights violations. That logic sounds a lot like Pat Robertson blaming hurricanes on homosexuals (CRAZY!!!!!).

It just goes to show, intelligence doesn't always equate to common sense.... or there are many different types of intelligence, and IQ tests don't necessarily capture this.

Germany Trip Part I: Berlin, Day 2

5/17

We began the morning with a trip to the Reichstag which is the German Parliament building. The glass dome which you can barely see in the picture below is accessible to the public. You can climb up the dome at no cost and get great views of the city. However even at 10:30 in the morning there was a significant line to get in so Kate and I decided against checking it out. This building was damaged by a fire in 1933 and then air raids in WWII. It wasn't until 1999 that it regained it's former status as the seat of the German Parliament.

In the Next photo you see me squinting in front of Brandenburg gate which is one of the most historic landmarks of Berlin. It was built in the late 1700s to stand as a sign of peace. It withstood many changes in Berlin, including a period where access was limited by the Berlin wall. For additional information check out the wikipedia link. The 10 cent euro coin below has the gate engraved one one side.


After seeing the Reichstag we walked through Pariser Platz and down Unter Den Linden (Under the Linden trees), one of the more famous streets in Berlin. After a few blocks I felt we may be potentially missing some sights that were a couple of blocks off of the main road. I suggested that we head down Friedrichstrasse towards a church that we could see. The church which is pictured to the left is Franzosischer Dom. It makes up part of the Gendarmenmarkt which is a very picturesque square. Central to the square is Das Konzerthaus (concert hall) and then another Deutscher Dom almost appears as a mirror image of Franzosischer Dom. There were some sidewalk tables set up in the Gendarmenmarkt making a make-shift beer garden. A musician performed some traditional music and a handful of tourists stopped to listen.

The photo below is the view across the Gendarmenmarkt towards Deutscher Dom.

The next photo shows the Concert hall from a direct vantage point. The hall can also be seen in the left hand side of the prior photo.

We continued on turning left on Franzosische Strasse so that we were parallel to Unter den linden. We headed back towards the main road after a block and came to Bebelplatz. The next picture is of Humbolt University which is across the street (Unter den Linden) from Bebelplatz. To the left was the Altes Palais which was undergoing renovations. A few of the buildings in this area seemed to be going under repair work. I took a picture of one such building (St. Hedwig's Cathedral) to show how they created a "covering" that still attempted to reflect what the building looks like.

On the right side of Bebelplatz is the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera). We could hear a male opera singer practicing inside through open windows. His vibrato echoed through the plaza and really added something the experience.

After seeing Bebelplatz we headed to St Hedwigs Kathedrale which is a Catholic church. The outside, as I mentioned previously was covered up due to renovations. The inside of the church is very modern looking due to heavy damage it sustained during the last world war.

Next we visited the Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, a Gothic church which has been converted into a museum dedicated to early 19th century sculpture. At the time I was having difficulties operating my camera without the flash. Since the flash was prohibited inside I was limited to taking a picture of the entry way which is comprised of two doors divided by an angel holding a crucifix.

The next building pictured is an awe inspiring structure called Berliner Dom. It apparently had been heavily damaged in the war. We did not go inside this church because tours cost 8 euros, and the guide claimed due to the reconstruction it was not as ornate as other churches. The massive structure still appears as though it is stained by the fires and explosions of the war.

Below the picture of Berliner Dom you can see me standing in front of the Altes Museum. At night there is actually a large red neon sign on the front of this very historic appearing structure. Such a clash of modern technology with old architecture would be heresy in the United States, and preservationists would be furious.

I snapped the picture of the mosaic at the Berliner Dom where it adorns one of the entrances of the church.

Next are Kate and I posing at a public fountain called "The Neptune Fountain". I'm trying to strike a pose with the statue. Take a minute to notice where the statue I'm looking at is not tarnished but worn. There are just so many philistines out there!

Next you can see Kate with the Fernsehturm (TV tower) behind her. It is the tallest structure in Berlin and for a fee you can ride an elevator to the top. (Again we skipped out on this.)

We needed to grab some lunch and found a small mall adjacent to Alexanderplatz. We looked through a Rossman's while there which is essentially like a CVS, albeit without the pharmacy. Pharmacies in Germany are called Apothecaries and seem less prevalent than they are in the states, and they sell medicine almost exclusively. Additionally you apparently need to buy even aspirin directly from the pharmacist. But I digress... we enjoyed looking at the various candies, soda, and bath products and comparing them to what we have available at home.

After walking around a bit we decided to get something light at a small inexpensive chain fast food place called Flammengrill. I had currywurst which is a Berlin favorite. It essentially is a sausage covered in a curry flavored ketchup, and it was a lot better than it sounds. Kate had a nice looking salami sandwich. These sandwiches appeared to be a staple at German fast food eateries.

After eating we walked around Alexanderplatz which used to be part of East Berlin. A couple of photos show the significant difference from the other parts of the city we previously visited. Alexanderplatz seemed a little less tourist oriented. It appeared to be the central shopping district for Berlin. There was an enormous mall adjacent to the plaza. Inside the mall it was very difficult to distinguish that we were in another country. Many of the stores are the same, people wear a lot of the same fashions, and American music is piped in.

Alexanderplatz was one of the most busy places we visited in Berlin, and it had a sort of edgy undercurrent to it that the rest of the city did not.

We continued walking through blocks of East Berlin. Down a side street we even found Germany's equivalent of a "Dollar store". The neighborhoods in East Berlin consist of large apartment high rises usually white or grey with pastel accents. In many ways the buildings aren't all that different from projects in U.S. cities, with the exception that the grounds tended to be nice parks and there was no feeling of unease. I'm sure things are much better now than they were twenty years ago.

Notice the picture with the "Karl Marx Allee" street sign. This particular area is famous for Soviet inspired architecture. Much of it to me seemed similar to Art-Deco architecture, albeit it gives of a more imposing, if not slightly somber presence.

Next are some photos of Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point between east and west Berlin. Pictured below are a warning sign, guard house, and Kate sitting on a fragment of the Berlin wall.

Next we went to Kruezberg and an adjacent area (Kate can you help me with the name?) which contained a few blocks spared from WWII bombing. It started to rain as we arrived (see picture) so we sat on a park bench under a tree, umbrella deployed. Soon we were on our way again, but not before Kate was distracted by a ice cream shop. I snapped several photos of the neighborhoods which were very attractive. The main streets were filled with cafes and shops, and the side areas were quiet and picturesque. It looked like a nice place to live, a sanctuary within the busy city.

I snapped the picture of the swinger club because it amused me. I thought I would have something witty to say about it, but right now I'm drawing a blank.

Next we headed to the longest remaining piece of the Berlin wall and we walked alongside it, admiring the murals and graffiti. This piece of the wall is now known as the "East Side Gallery". It is on the edge of a down and out neighborhood in East Berlin called Friedrichshain.

Following this we were getting hungry and we thought we'd be able to find something in Prenzlauer Berg which is a "hipster" student and youth oriented neighborhood in Berlin. The last street shot on this page provides a glimpse of this area. Unfortunately much like the rest of Berlin the neighborhood seemed to be in sleep mode for the weekend, and nothing really got our appetites going.

We had some bad luck this night because we were caught in the rain when we returned to the city center. We were looking for a Pizza place called Apostle XII, but the location that we intended to go to appeared to have become a different restaurant. Frustrated, wet, and hungry, we regrouped. Kate located an Italian restaurant in Charlottenburg. At this point it was around 9:00 pm (21:00 if you are German). The restaurant turned out to be a real good find. We sat outside on the sidewalk. The atmosphere couldn't have been better, the food was good, and we were starved. I had lasagna, Kate had spaghetti.

When we made it back to our hotel's neighborhood we picked up some candy and soda at the shops located in the S-bahn station. Thus ends our second night.

Ideally I'd have like to go into more detail, edit this better, perhaps break it up a bit, but there is just too much to cover and too little time.