Yesterday, Karen and I walked around for a lot of the day on our own. The first thing we did was visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the museum next to one of the American checkpoints between East and West Berlin. Unfortunately, we didn't really like the museum. There was just too much information and it wasn't well-organized; there wasn't really a story to follow. I wasn't sure if the museum wanted to teach about the Cold War, the Wall, Berlin, or what. It was all mixed-up - plus the museum has been around since the 60s, so the exhibits from the 60s have become a part of the museum as well. It was just a bit of a mess - and it was incredibly crowded.
After the museum we walked around for awhile and ate lunch in the square by the two twin churches we had seen the evening before with Cathi. The weather was much nicer this time!
The back of the German church. I have no idea why it looks so crooked in this picture. Sometimes the lens of my camera does a fishbowl type of thing with my photos.
Siting in the square with other people!
We went inside the German church which is now a museum that is connected to the government, but it was all in German, so we mostly just walked around. We thought about going into the French church as well, but you had to pay and it was a museum about the Huguenots, so we decided to just walk around some more instead. We walked to a big park (an enormous park, really) and ended up lying in the grass for awhile and napping - it was lovely. The park is really pretty and full of people as well.
One of the many pathways through the park.
A little lake in the park.
We met up with Cathi after lying in the park for awhile, and she walked us around a bunch of places before we met up with some of her friends for dinner. We saw some more sights in West Berlin (which is where a lot of the sights are) and then also went to East Berlin. There is still a remarkable difference between East and West, mostly in the architecture. The Soviet-style architecture is definitely much more depressing and bleak. For example:
West Berlin on the left and East Berlin on the right.
West Berlin is definitely prettier, though we did see some okay parts of East Berlin as well. Of course there's no such thing as "West" and "East" Berlin anymore, though Cathi definitely made comments about "now we're in the eastern part" so it is definitely still called West and East Berlin, at least unofficially or to describe where things are located. Since it's only been about two decades since the wall came down, I guess that makes sense. Plus, as I said, the fact that there is a noticeable difference between the way the two areas look makes a distinction between the two halves. It's a bit crazy to think that the city was actually divided in two. While we didn't love the museum, we did learn about some crazy escape stories from people escaping from East Berlin into West Berlin; people hid in car trunks, under car hoods, and in suitcases. Some people built makeshift airplanes and two families even built a hot air balloon to fly out of East Germany. There were some pretty amazing stories - and a lot of them took place only thirty or forty years ago! To me, having grown up with Germany as one country - and as a strong and successful country - it really is difficult to fathom that.
Anyway, here are some other things Cathi walked us past yesterday evening:
A expensive/chic neighborhood in West Berlin. Very swanky.
Alexander Platz in East Berlin. A world clock is on the left and the big TV tower is on the left. Unsurprisingly, the TV tower can be seen from all over in Berlin. It's one of the big tourist attractions.
Town Hall. I couldn't get a great shot of it because there was a ton of construction in the plaza in front of the building.
Actually, there is construction everywhere in this city. Everywhere you look there are cranes and temporary walls and trucks and signs. All over the place. Apparently it's a bit of a joke in Berlin that there is always construction. But I've never seen a city with this much work going on.
An old square in the East Berlin area.
The major cathedral and some restaurants along the River Spree.
We ate dinner with Cathi's friends (who spoke English). They were a lot of fun, so that was a nice thing to do.
Today we walked around some more. We took it easy this morning and had a quiet morning at Cathi's house. She showed us around her neighborhood some and then we went downtown again to see some more of the sights that we hadn't seen yet. Like I said the other day, Berlin reminds me a lot of D.C. And Cathi's neighborhood (which is in Berlin but right on the edge) is almost like Arlington: it's family homes and there are lots of trees and it's quieter, but it's still only a subway ride away into the center of town. Maybe it's because I love D.C. and Arlington, but Berlin seems like it would be a nice place to live.
Cathi's street!
A cool church in Cathi's neighborhood. I just liked the shape and the style of it. The interior roof was made of wooden beams. It was a pretty old church.
We went and walked along a lake that is on the outskirts of Berlin. It was a pretty area with the lake, restaurants, pretty apartments, and small shops. There were people everywhere (it was a public holiday) even though the weather was bad.
One of the main streets in this neighborhood by the lake. As you can see, Berlin is a very green city.
We went into downtown Berlin again this afternoon and walked around the museum area of the city. There are five huge museums on an island in the river (it's known as "Museum Island") and they're all very pretty from the outside. We didn't go inside any of them, but they cover everything from music to ancient Egypt (they have that famous bust of Nefertiti in one of the museums). The exteriors of the museums are all very nice as well.
Cathi and Karen.
Cathi and me.
One of the museums on the right and a park and restaurants/bars on the left. There are lots of spots like this in Berlin. Also, note the crane in the photo. They're all over the place.
Another museum on this museum island.
And more museums! This was an area with a really pretty courtyard where we walked around for a bit. There was a girl playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons on the violin as well, so we stopped and listed to her for awhile, too.
The museums courtyard.
All in all, Berlin has been a nice city to visit. It isn't too hectic and is very pedestrian-friendly, so it's a great place to just wander about. It isn't as fascinating as other European cities I've visited, but part of that is because it doesn't feel so foreign. It doesn't feel American, but it's not as foreign and unique as, say, Rome or Prague or somewhere like that. But that doesn't mean that it's boring. We both liked the city and had a nice time exploring it. It was also nice to stay at Cathi's and have a German tour guide (a German girl + two American girls + Berlin = three girls speaking French, by the way) so we didn't have to worry about what to do/see/eat. We were able to relax and bit and recuperate before we move on to our next two cities (we leave for Stockholm tomorrow evening). It's been a nice few days!
To conclude Berlin, here's a photo of one of the city's unofficial symbols, Ampelmann. He's the dude who tells you it's okay to cross the street and he has become a symbol - he's all over the place and on all kinds of merchandise!
Ampelmann statue outside an Ampelmann store.
Time for bed! Next post will be from Stockholm. We don't arrive until the evening, so I might not post tomorrow (plus we'll be meeting up with both my friends Michelle and George) but we'll see! Goodnight!
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