With such a great hotel room we woke up refreshed and ready for another great day in Berlin. Oh I forgot to put in my last post that as we walked to the chocolate café the previous evening that we happened upon a memorial! I recognized a building as one of WWII construction, and sure enough it was the old Luftwaffe Headquarters that now houses the Minister of Finances. This is the only WWII era building (built by Albert Speer) that remains in Berlin. So this was a great find but on the small courtyard next to it was another memorial – to the June 17, 1953 uprising in East Berlin. This was a crowd of angry East Germans who attempted an uprising against the new East German (DDR) government but failed. There is a small wading pool with water and of course great signs with the history. But even more remarkably we were here on the day after the anniversary! So again like so many places we visited, it had flower commemorations placed along it including single stem red roses laying all along the edge. Very moving and so simple.
After the Reichstag we attempted to catch one of the hop-on/hop-off tour buses, well…our luck would not be so good today. There was a street fair on part of the Unter den Linden near the Brandenburg Gate and then on the other end of the Tiergarten area there was a demonstration/parade! So the tour buses were altering their routes or stopping altogether for a few hours. Very frustrating. We decided to choose one that was a little less expensive – bad choice. First they told us the next bus was delayed and would not leave for about 40 minutes, so we went to do a little souvenir shopping nearby, but when we returned in only 30 minutes – the bus was already gone! Thankfully the next bus pulled up in just a few minutes and off we went, however, it began a journey through an area we had been told would not be covered with the altered route. I was actually glad as would take me by the German Victory Memorial in the middle of the Tiergarten, except again not good luck…the memorial is being refurbished and so is completely covered!! Yikes this was one I had really wanted to see as it commemorates the military victories that allowed for the unification of Germany in the 1800s. Oh well. We then headed to down to the area near where we were told the protest was occurring; the guide on the bus told everyone we would stop for 15 minutes, but then the bus tour manager informed us that all buses would stop until 4:30pm and it was only around 2!
Well I had wanted to see this area anyway as it had the famous Kaiser Wilhelm church that was bombed out during WWII and was left with only one tower standing but the gorgeous golden mosaics intact. This church is very much photographed and shown as a way to illustrate some of the destruction from the war. The ruins are striking as they sit among the modern buildings of the city and the large Mercedes-Benz headquarters looms just down the street. What is even more remarkable is what is inside – the stunning golden mosaics on the ceiling! This is all that remains of a once beautiful church used by the Hohenzollern royalty of the German empire.
They have a great presentation inside showing photographs and drawings of the original church as well as a mock up of the whole street as it appeared in 1904 and now.
The church of Coventry England that was also bombed out donated a cross to the Kaiser Wilhelm church and it is displayed. They have also built a completely new tower and church right next door and it has a stunning wall of small blue stained glass and a very contemporary statue of Jesus.
Without a bus for transport, we decided to try the Berlin subway (U-bahnhof) and had no problems. As always it ran efficiently and on time and the directions were easy to follow. We came up above ground near our destination – the famous Checkpoint Charlie that signaled the end of the American sector during the days of a divided Berlin. Of course this is a major stop for tourist groups as well. They have the great information signs so you can read about the Checkpoint as well as historical photographs.
Now what was funny and distracting were folks trying to make money here off of the tourists and really being silly (stupid). There was a Frenchman (heavy accent) wearing a British army uniform, carrying a Union Jack sign, in front of the US Army checkpoint and wanting people to pay to have picture with him. Was an annoyance but oh well. Funny that area now beyond the checkpoint is full of fast food places with McDonalds overlooking the site LOL!
We then headed to see the magnificent Berliner Dom or cathedral at the end of the Unter den Linden and on a small island in the Spree river near famous art museums.
. The Dom is quite a site especially inside with magnificent paintings and a gorgeous dome.
We then hiked all the way up the cupola for more great views of the city. And then back down into the crypt of the Hohenzollern rulers of Prussia – again great for a German historian. And I found the memorial inside to the Germans who served in WWI.
There is also a view of dome of the Jewish synagogue the only part of the building that was rebuilt after the war. It was been burned down during Kristallnacht. We now decided to walk back to the posh area of Berlin (the Gendarmenmarkt) where we had had our chocolate the night before. I was in the mood for a good dinner of Wiener Schnitzel. Along our trek, we were able to see the great equestrian statue of Frederick the Great as well as some fabulous architecture and some of the old 1950s era Soviet style apartments. We found a great little place to eat that even had a salad bar and then decided to head back to the great chocolate café and store for another dessert and fabulously rich hot chocolate.
We had seen so much of this fascinating city that is working hard to present all of its history and which brims with people and life and stays open fairly late! Now I must say all the Germans we encountered were happy and friendly (unlike some of the other places we had been) and this may be due in part to their good economy. The city was lively and busy and again Germans seemed happy to have English speaking visitors and always insisted in talking to us in English and found it great that we were from Texas. And again so many bicyclists! We returned to our nice hotel full and I was still marveling at all that I had seen of this city.
Okay as we set out on this our second day in Berlin, the weather had turned considerably colder! The cool front that had been following us from France had arrived and the cold, damp wind had picked up. We went to the Reichstag in order to climb the crystal dome on top for great views of the city. Well there was a considerable line and we had to wait for about an hour as they control the number of people who are inside at any one time. At least it did not rain on us although it threatened to do so and we had a few sprinkles. The dome is really remarkable as it allows for natural light to flood into the Bundesrat (the legislative chamber of government) – there really is not “Reichstag” anymore as that is an empirical term. 
. Also it has a large ocular hole at the top of the dome that allows in water as well, and this is collected in a large cone. The entire structure is extremely eco-friendly and creates energy from the sun as well as the water. The ramp up inside is also very disability friendly. The views around the city were great! Hard to believe standing in such an historic spot! 
After the Reichstag we attempted to catch one of the hop-on/hop-off tour buses, well…our luck would not be so good today. There was a street fair on part of the Unter den Linden near the Brandenburg Gate and then on the other end of the Tiergarten area there was a demonstration/parade! So the tour buses were altering their routes or stopping altogether for a few hours. Very frustrating. We decided to choose one that was a little less expensive – bad choice. First they told us the next bus was delayed and would not leave for about 40 minutes, so we went to do a little souvenir shopping nearby, but when we returned in only 30 minutes – the bus was already gone! Thankfully the next bus pulled up in just a few minutes and off we went, however, it began a journey through an area we had been told would not be covered with the altered route. I was actually glad as would take me by the German Victory Memorial in the middle of the Tiergarten, except again not good luck…the memorial is being refurbished and so is completely covered!! Yikes this was one I had really wanted to see as it commemorates the military victories that allowed for the unification of Germany in the 1800s. Oh well. We then headed to down to the area near where we were told the protest was occurring; the guide on the bus told everyone we would stop for 15 minutes, but then the bus tour manager informed us that all buses would stop until 4:30pm and it was only around 2! 
Well I had wanted to see this area anyway as it had the famous Kaiser Wilhelm church that was bombed out during WWII and was left with only one tower standing but the gorgeous golden mosaics intact. This church is very much photographed and shown as a way to illustrate some of the destruction from the war. The ruins are striking as they sit among the modern buildings of the city and the large Mercedes-Benz headquarters looms just down the street. What is even more remarkable is what is inside – the stunning golden mosaics on the ceiling! This is all that remains of a once beautiful church used by the Hohenzollern royalty of the German empire. 
They have a great presentation inside showing photographs and drawings of the original church as well as a mock up of the whole street as it appeared in 1904 and now. 
The church of Coventry England that was also bombed out donated a cross to the Kaiser Wilhelm church and it is displayed. They have also built a completely new tower and church right next door and it has a stunning wall of small blue stained glass and a very contemporary statue of Jesus. 
Without a bus for transport, we decided to try the Berlin subway (U-bahnhof) and had no problems. As always it ran efficiently and on time and the directions were easy to follow. We came up above ground near our destination – the famous Checkpoint Charlie that signaled the end of the American sector during the days of a divided Berlin. Of course this is a major stop for tourist groups as well. They have the great information signs so you can read about the Checkpoint as well as historical photographs. 
Now what was funny and distracting were folks trying to make money here off of the tourists and really being silly (stupid). There was a Frenchman (heavy accent) wearing a British army uniform, carrying a Union Jack sign, in front of the US Army checkpoint and wanting people to pay to have picture with him. Was an annoyance but oh well. Funny that area now beyond the checkpoint is full of fast food places with McDonalds overlooking the site LOL! 
We then headed to see the magnificent Berliner Dom or cathedral at the end of the Unter den Linden and on a small island in the Spree river near famous art museums. 
. The Dom is quite a site especially inside with magnificent paintings and a gorgeous dome. 
We then hiked all the way up the cupola for more great views of the city. And then back down into the crypt of the Hohenzollern rulers of Prussia – again great for a German historian. And I found the memorial inside to the Germans who served in WWI. 
There is also a view of dome of the Jewish synagogue the only part of the building that was rebuilt after the war. It was been burned down during Kristallnacht. We now decided to walk back to the posh area of Berlin (the Gendarmenmarkt) where we had had our chocolate the night before. I was in the mood for a good dinner of Wiener Schnitzel. Along our trek, we were able to see the great equestrian statue of Frederick the Great as well as some fabulous architecture and some of the old 1950s era Soviet style apartments. We found a great little place to eat that even had a salad bar and then decided to head back to the great chocolate café and store for another dessert and fabulously rich hot chocolate. 
We had seen so much of this fascinating city that is working hard to present all of its history and which brims with people and life and stays open fairly late! Now I must say all the Germans we encountered were happy and friendly (unlike some of the other places we had been) and this may be due in part to their good economy. The city was lively and busy and again Germans seemed happy to have English speaking visitors and always insisted in talking to us in English and found it great that we were from Texas. And again so many bicyclists! We returned to our nice hotel full and I was still marveling at all that I had seen of this city. 
