Berlin, Germany: City of Construction (Days One and Two)

Wow! What an amazing weekend packed with plenty of sights and lots and lots and lots of walking. So, I may sound like a whiner, but seriously... once we got home, I used google maps to add up the amount of walking that we did. If, and this is a BIG if, we actually just walked from sight to sight the grand total of our walking was nearly 48 kilometers. That is almost thirty miles of walking from Thursday at 4 PM to Sunday at noon. Needless to say, my feet and ankles are still sore. I love being able to come home to Prague and relax to help recuperate from the weekend.

Word to those reading: Warning! Next weekend, we are going to Krakow and Auschwitz with our school group. Not a trip that we have much control over, so apologies for a boring post.

Now, back to the regularly scheduled blog: Berlin.

Around 4 in the afternoon, we disembarked from the train at the station Berlin Sudkreuz. Two minutes later, we realized we were at the wrong stop. Luckily, we caught the next train going from the Sudkreuz station to Berlin Hauptbanhof (Main Station) which was about a six minute ride.

From the station, we headed through the north east part of the city toward our Hostel: Heart of Gold. We checked in and threw stuff down in the room and headed back out to explore before it got too dark. Taking a path by the river, we strolled past Museums Island toward Alexanderplatz and its remarkable TV Tower. I was shocked by how scenic and beautiful everything was after having imagined a desolate country ruined by war and communist control. As we walked through the square, we stumbled upon Marx-Engels square as we walked to take some pictures of the Rotes Rathaus (still not sure what it is used for). Distracted by spires in the distance, our next stop was the church of Nikolai. The church was nothing remarkable, though it did give an interesting look to the neighborhood. From the church, we walked through construction zone after construction zone before walking in front of the Altes Stadthaus (Old Statehouse) and ending up back in Alexanderplatz for photos of the TV Tower, Marienkirche, and Neptunbrunnen (Fountain of Neptune). Hungry for dinner, we stopped in Happy Noodles, a fast food chinese place that served food out of the carton. Ordering the food consisted of a lot of pointing and nodding before we finally settled on teriyaki chicken and rice, some chow mein, an order of spring rolls, and some miso soup for less than $15.

Stuffed and happy, we headed out ready to explore some more. We walked aimlessly, ending up at the Hackescher Markt talking about art and looking for ice cream for dessert (despite being about 40 degrees). Our walk led us past the New Synagogue and back to our hostel. Even though we had only been in the city, we had already walked over 7 kilometers.

Friday morning we woke up still tired because one of our suite mates was snoring so loud I thought there was a helicopter outside our building. Then the day of walking began. Trekking back toward Alexanderplatz, we crossed the river near Museums Island to the main drag Unter den Linden (old carriage boulevard to take the Emperor (Hohenzollern Family (Holy Roman Empire)) to his hunting grounds (now the Tiergarden)). The street was lined with Linden trees (replaced by Hitler with swastika clad lampposts, only to be replaced) and holds some of the more historic buildings in Berlin.

First stop was the Neue Wache. The New Guardhouse, in English, is now a converted Memorial to the victims of war and tyranny with a lonely statue in the center. A modern pieta, Mother and her Dead Son, is a reflection of the hard times that had fallen on Berlin. From the guardhouse, we crossed the street via major construction. On the other side, we found the Stadtsoper (the state opera house) under construction. This was such a distraction that we missed seeing the Bebelplatz and focused instead on the famous Humboldt University (where Einstein studied) and the Cathedral of St. Hedwig. Signs on the street pointed us toward Gendarmenmarkt. The market is constructed of a German Church, a French Church, and the the Berlin Konzerthaus. Unsure of where to head, we walked to Friedrichstrasse and back to Unter den Linden. On the corner, we found the Automobil Forum. Instantly, I reverted to my middle school years of visiting the Atlanta auto show. Snapping pictures and spouting names of cars, I was in awe of the Hermes designed Bugatti Veyron Bfg (Sold for over one million dollars), the Bentley Continental GT, and the Bentely Mulsanne. Thoroughly pleased with the auto selection, it was time to head to the Brandenburg Gate.

The Gate was as impressive as pictured. But that is about it. Stock full of tourists, Pariser Platz was a madhouse with American companies aplenty. We grabbed a box of six Dunkin Donuts and some Starbucks as we parked it to rest for a while. Taking in the scene, we loved watching the gorilla talk with German soldiers (people in costumes). Though the gate was cool, I feel like it was way over talked. Much like the Mona Lisa, I had seen so much of it before seeing it myself that I was not overly impressed. From the gate, we walked (completely unaware of the fact that we were walking over the old line of the Berlin Wall) to the Reichstag. Not missing the Memorial to the Politicians who opposed Hitler, we headed south back past the gate to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The area was a block covered with large stones looking like graves at different heights. The ground under the stones were waves and some of the stones were taller than me. A little known fact is that in the northeast corner of the block is the old position of Hermann Goebbels bunker.

As we crossed the street, we found the Monument to the Murdered Homosexuals of Europe. A single block in the ground with a small screen playing a film inside. From the monument, we walked the scenic paths of the Tiergarten and stumbled upon some picturesque settings including the Global Stones- A project for peace. Crossing the Strasse de 17. Juni, we saw the monument to Russian soldiers (over 2000 Russian soldiers are buried there). After the monument, we walked down the strasse away from Unter den Linden and the Gate to the Victory Column of Berlin. It was moved to its current location under Hitler (originally placed in front of the Reichstag). The walk to get to the column was long and boring until we got to the traffic circle where it is situated. Underground tunnels lead you to the center of the circle. Along the walls are motion activated screens with stars. We had some fun dancing in front of the sensors for a while. The column itself was neat, but not worth the 6 Euro charge to climb to the top (so we didn't do it).

Unsure of where to go, we headed in the general direction of our hostel, though its address was still a mystery. After trying a few streets that sounded familiar without luck, we finally got some internet on my iPhone and plugged in the address to find the hostel pretty close. We checked in to our 12 man room at the Amstel House Hostel. After ditching our bags, we decided to explore the area. Quickly, we found the Arminiusmarkthalle. A quaint indoor market with lots of little shops and produce. I loved the feel of the market and got an orange to eat as we walked (to help with a stuffy nose). After walking for a good hour, we decided it was time to grab some food. With a lot of discussion and attempts at menu reading, we ended up at Dolce Pizza, an outdoor stand selling pizza by the slice. When we walked up, the stand was empty, so we got an appetizer of a slice each. I got spicy salami and loved it. Famished, we devoured the food, deciding to get dessert next door at a gelato stand. My vanilla gelato tasted like my favorite cake batter ice cream from back home. Deciding we were still hungry, we snagged another three slices (to split) at the pizza place before going back to the hostel.

Exhausted, having walked over 17 kilometers, we ate our pizza quickly and headed to the room to read up on our adventures for the next day. Our feet hurt, and my back was sore from carrying the backpack, but we were excited to see what else there was to see in Berlin.

Days Three and Four to come...