However, many games of Egyptian Ratscrew and El Presidente were played.
We finally arrived in Berlin during the late afternoon. My German phrasebook mentions the regional specialties for each region of Germany. In the Brandenburg region, currywurst is worth trying. Hmm... use of curry... I was reminded of the England. Highly skeptical but we were hungry so we all got it from a fast food place in the Berlin train station (Hauptbahnhof).
Honestly, currywurst tasted like a Cumberland sausage with some brown sauce and curry powder poured on top. Since it was just curry powder (and not curry sauce), the curry flavor was insignificant. It tasted OK. I'm not sure how the generic-fast-food-version-in-a-transportation-center really measures up though.
Looking for the hostel was exciting. It was located in the Mitte district of Berlin (u-bahn stop: Jannowitzbrücke), in a neighborhood that reminded me of Brooklyn for some reason. In other words, it was away from the main action in Berlin but at least things were affordable (there were 3 really cheap grocery stores nearby). It took a while to find it and we ended up asking people for help. People here somewhat understood English, but not really. Eventually we relied on a couple boys about our age to lead us to the hostel because they understood English (hooray!). Our hostel was very kickass -- we stayed in a 6 person room even though there were only 4 of us, and we pretty much had a bathroom made to accomodate 12 ish people to ourselves (since the other rooms were vacant). Of course, a legitimate computer cluster with free internet was just icing on the cake!
Anyway.
After settling down, we did some exploring. Here's the town hall (Rathaus) in Alexanderplatz.
Marienkirche and the TV Tower. People like to call this view "Old and New Berlin." Makes sense.
The following morning, we decided to "splurge" and pay for a walking tour. Very affordable and totally worth it. The tour guide (a particularly young and attractive Canadian) knew a lot of interesting tidbits and history about Berlin. Definitely did his homework...The Berliner Dom. Largest Protestant cathedral in Berlin. Pretty epic-looking. Ironically located in the Pleasure Garden (Lustgarten).
Further down the street, the largest Catholic church in Berlin. The roof is quite turquois. Also in this square that the church is facing is a monument in memory of the Nazi book burnings which occured on this site.
Really delicious pizza. Salmon and gorgonzola in the background, spinach and prawns in the foreground. So began my love affair with gorgonzola cheese...
Checkpoint Charlie. One of the checkpoints for traveling between the different zones of Berlin (recall, Berlin was divided amongst the British, French, Soviets, and Americans during WWII). Here's the border between the US and Soviet zones...
A section of the Berlin Wall that's still standing. In the places where it has been destroyed, a cobblestone line is laid in its place, as seen here...
Graffiti on the Berlin Wall. For the most part, the section still standing had very little graffiti, which was uninteresting. Also, note the chain fence walling the Wall. ha.. ha... This is to prevent people/tourists from taking chunks off of the Wall.
The bear is the official animal of Berlin/Germany, I think. Pretty sweet, since bears are pretty much my favorite animal.
Building that was the Nazi headquarters. Nazi architecture was purely functional and lacked frills. Looks a lot like a prison actually.
Some propaganda from back in the day. Happy!
The entire mural of happiness in the background, while a photo memorial in the foreground provides a grim reminder of what really went on...
China in Berlin! No, we didn't eat there.
Controversial information board stating that Hitler's bunker is underground somewhere in this apartment complex. Controversial because some independent group placed this overnight right before a major international sporting event (I believe it was a football championship) in Berlin, drawing lots of attention obviously. Today it is quite helpful to the tour guides.
Another controversial monument -- the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The name has been changed a couple times, but clearly it is still not the greatest. Why just the Jews? people have asked. And why just Europe? people continue to ask. Another smidgen of controversy, but mostly irony, is the brand of preservation sealant coated on these blocks -- it's made by the same company that made Zyklon-B (the gas that was used in the concentration camps during WWII). Anyway, the memorial is a bunch of rectangular prism blocks of varying height planted on an uneven, slight undulating, surface. Walking amongst the blocks is like walking through a maze. The inconsistency in the block heights and ground surface is meant to create a disorientating feeling mixed with paranoia and fear -- meant to simulate emotions that the Jews felt during the Holocaust.
Brandenburg Gate in Pariser Platz. Michael Jackson dangled a baby from a balcony of the hotel located in this square. Yes, this is the most interesting thing I remembered from the tour, as the tour guide had predicted for everyone.
Side of the Reichstag. Stuff in West Berlin was slightly nicer.
One way to tell if a building is new is to look at how much glass it uses. Berlin believes in using as much glass as possible in its new projects.
For dinner in Berlin on our 2nd (and last) night we went to a German restaurant (gasthof) and ordered Berliner Weiße, the fruity-looking drink the background. It was the French's response to bitter German beer at the turn of the century, when a lot of French people immigrated to Germany. The French added a fruity wine or syrup to the beer. Berliner Weiße come in either green or red; our tour guide said the green one tastes like shit so we ordered red. It tasted like beer mixed with a fruity syrup. I ordered a German meatloaf (regrettably, I don't recall its name). German portions were very hearty, which I loved. The meatloaf itself is buried under the mass of scalloped potatoes, which is under a sunny side up egg. Also, a generous helping of steamed carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower. I really loved this! And it was only €10 too!
After dinner, we headed back to the hostel and drank our German beers (we each bought a bottle from the gas station). Beers sampled: Bitburger, Kostriker, Berliner Pilsner, and I can't remember the other pilsner. German beer is rumored to be better in the southern part of the country, which we were not in. Thus, the beers (since we picked local-y ones) tasted unremarkable and very bitter. Kostriker was the best.
I really enjoyed Berlin a lot, mostly because it has such an interesting history, albeit a relatively short one compared to most other European cities. This city definitely required more than just 2 nights, and I'm a bit sad that this was the only city we went to in Germany. I quite liked the language and the food. Oh well. Next time!
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