Berlin

Today, Clara and I took a day trip to Berlin.  It’s my third time visiting Germany, but I had yet to see the capital (and considering I spent a lot of the summer in Paris, it seems only fair, of course).  We took the 6am train, which was horrible at the time, but great because it got us to the city (into Europe’s biggest train station) by 9am.  The nine hours we had in the city were packed with activity.  We explored the center of the city, where most of the tourist attractions are, entirely by foot.  One of the first stops was the Brandenburg Gte, the city’s most famous icon.  From here, we saw the Holocaust Memorial, which only opened four years ago, and is very unusual, with 2711 stone slabs of differing heights, which are blank and can be walked through like a maze.  The memorial is supposedly without symbolism, which seemed to me a little strange, but I suppose this leaves it free to be interpreted individually.

in front of the Brandenburg Gate

in front of the Brandenburg Gate

Berlin’s history continued to unfold as we went to see the remnants of the Berlin wall, which is still standing and preserved in a few small sections.  The most touristed wall site is of course Checkpoint Charlie, the old checkpoint between the Soviet and American sectors of the city, which today has an open air exhibition on the wall’s history, actors playing Allied soldiers who pose for pictures (for one euro), and loads of vendors selling East German passport stamps, Soviet helmets, and bits of the wall.  Today Berlin seems, at least to an outsider, so united, modern, and stable.  It made me wonder, seeing the recent history so quickly turned tourist attraction, if someday my generation’s grandkids would be touring through a stable Iran, reading plaques about how bad things once were, or something else that is unthinkable today.

old sign at Checkpoint Charlie

old sign at Checkpoint Charlie

We had lunch in the Sony Center, a large modern complex with theaters, shopping, and more.  In the afternoon, we took a tour of the Reichstag, or German parliament building, which was free (refreshing, coming from always expensive Paris).  The domed top is made of glass, and our super-intelligent audioguides prompted us to stop at certain points in the ramp to the top to see particular interesting features on the skyline (including the whimsical-looking Swiss embassy, which has cutout cows on the roof).

Reichstag building, home to the German Parliament

Reichstag building, home to the German Parliament

After the tour, we walked down Unter den Linden, a famous street, which led us past some of the old city churches and the Fernsehturm television tower, which is the tallest building in the EU, and looks like it was a giant disco ball in a past life.  Strange sight on the ground level: an old man walking a giant rat on a leash on the footsteps of an old church.  On the way back toward the station, we strolled along the river Spree.  Berlin seemed much more modern and calm than Paris, and slightly less crowded,  although it isn’t quite fair to draw too many conclusions after spending only several hours in the city.  Still, despite the fact that I know there is so much more to see, I feel like I left with a good first taste of Berlin.  More photos coming soon on the Shutterfly site, so check back over the weekend.

This entry was posted in Berlin, Germany, Think and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.