Fall Break: Berlin

After a full day in Amsterdam, we hoped on a 7pm night train to Berlin and this is when the eurail started to get tricky. Though we slept on the train, it arrived in Berlin at 4 am, and we couldn't really do anything until 9 am, when the first walking tour was scheduled to start. We hung out in the train station for awhile and I FOUND A DUNKIN DONUTS. Yea yea I'm in other countries I should experience their culture and foods; well it was 4 am and I needed a big American iced coffee to get me through the day. Anyway back to the train station; it was super modern, as is the case with most post-communist countries. However, Germany has the added benefit of being completely decimated 3 times in the past century so they really know how to make good stuff, and the train station was no different.

After doing basically nothing for awhile, we went in search of a hostel. We had a plan for Berlin, a walking tour, but other than that, we left it very open in terms of how long we would like to stay, and if we would need a hostel. We decided we did need a hostel, mostly because we couldn't sit in a train station for 4 hours, and we wanted to nap. We found one that turned our to be close to the beginning of the walking tour, and even after my huge coffee, I fell right asleep.

Finally, the walking tour began, and it was one of the best of the trip. We ended up taking a tour a bit later than 9 am, and it lasted most of the afternoon. Our first stop was the Brandenburg gate, one of the main symbols of Berlin and the last remaining gate of 18 original gates used to enter the city.

The gate was pretty neat, but we also saw the Reichstag Building, which houses the German parliament, portions of the Berlin wall, the Holocaust memorial, and even the place where Hitler supposedly killed himself. It was a full day.

My favorite site was the Holocaust memorial; favorite may be an odd choice of words, but it is definitely an interesting and very moving site to behold. The memorial is right in the center of the city, and takes up a such a huge area of space, that those walking by can't help but see it, enter it, and walk around. It is very simply, just an area large cement blocks and no names, pictures, or anything that really resembles a "memorial." The blocks become larger as you walk through toward the center of the monument, giving you a strange sense of confinement. There is much debate about what the architect intended to convey, but you can check it out for yourself:

The whole vibe of Berlin is that they are very, very sorry for the Nazi's and they want to make sure everyone knows it, hence the memorial being extremely prominent. In addition, at the spot where hitler killed himself, there is nothing but a regular old parking lot. No memorial or even recognition that he even had a bunker on that spot. They are clearly, really, really, sorry, and it shows.

After a loooooong, and at some points, rainy day of sightseeing, we settled on an authentic German restaurant for dinner. Most of us got wiener schnitzel, but I settled on something else that I can't remember; I should have gotten the schnitzel. Anyway, Berlin was a really fun city overall. The tour was excellent, and I learned a huge amount about the history and culture of Germany and Berlin. It was interesting to hear how Germany has been effected by communism and the Nazi party over the years, but is still a very wealthy and productive nation today. That's all for Berlin, onto Prague!