Day in Berlin, Germany

Me in front of part of the Berlin Wall that is still standing.
see all photos »

I got up at 7:00am, showered, taped up my feet, checked out, put my bags in storage, and went to the close metro station. I got a day pass on the metro zones A and B for $6.10 Euro, which wasn't bad since the one way the night before cost $2.10 Euro. I started by going to the only big section of the Berlin Wall that was still standing and got some pictures. I was shocked at how thin the wall was, but I guess there were two walls with a corridor in the middle with guards and patrols that went down it. I then headed for the Alexander Platz, which is were alot of monuments and tourist things were like the Fernsehturm (large radio tower), St. Marien Kirche (big church), and the Rotes Rathaus (building with a large clock tower). There was also a public bus, the 100, which went passed alot of tourist attractions and ended at the Zoologischer Garten, which is a big garden with the Berlin Zoo inside it. I got on the 100 Bus and took it for a few stops and got out to get pictures of the Berliner Dom and Altes Musuem. I then just waited for the next bus, which was only about five minutes behind the first one I was on. I then went through an area with some construction and got off the bus again. I took pictures of the Brandenburger Tor, which was a building with large walls that looked like they use to be used as gates for the road or something and a huge chariot statues was one top. I walked across the street to the Reichstag that was a building with a huge dome in the middle with people walking around inside it. The line to get in was really long and didn't look like it was moving very fast. I caught the next bus near the front of the Reichstag and took it a couple of more blocks to the Haus de Kulturen der World or the House of World Culture that was a congress hall that was converted into a cultural building. I walked through a park next to the Spree River to the Schlob Bellevue which was just down the street. I then turned the corner and walked down another street to the Grober Stern, which was a huge tower in the center of a large round-about with a large golden statue on top of it. It looked like you could go inside it and up to the top, but I didn't really want to walk up all those stairs, so I just waited at the bus stop for the next bus. I then rode the bus the rest of the way to the stop just before the end where there was an old church that was damage in World War II and still that the top of the spire missing. It was called the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtnis Kirche and was in the middle of this open square. I walked over to the Zoologischer Garten and it was a zoo in itself outside the gates with children just running around and this huge line of adults waiting to get it. I just took a different bus, the 200, which went to the Potsdamer Platz. I it had some of the newer buildings with some cool architecture. Well, there were some cool looking buildings, an international cinema, and a shopping center. I got to see what some of the movies that had probably been released in the US a month ago. I had been out of the loop as far as any new movies in the US and anything that hasn't made international news. I have watched some CNN in a few of the hotels I have stayed in, because in some of them it is the only station that was in English. I was running out of time, but I wanted to go and see Check Point Charlie before I left. It was the American check point into East Berlin, where people could enter and leave with proper paperwork. It is now a cheesy tourist place to get pictures with people dressed like American soldiers with plastic American flags in front of some sandbags and a checkpoint booth. I only spent a few minutes to get some pictures, but there was a museum that was probably pretty interesting. There was also a replica Russia flag that hangs on the building where the original one use to be. I then headed back to the hostel, got my bags, and went to the main train station in Berlin. I caught the next train to Frankfurt, which was a little less than a five hour trip. I arrived in Frankfurt and the hotel I had booked was just five minute walk from the train station. I checked in and just relaxed. They did have a wireless Internet connection, so I updated my blog and checked my e-mail. I grabbed some dinner and went to sleep. I couldn't wait for the next day to get here, as Marcy was arriving tomorrow afternoon.

I was running out of time, but I wanted to go and see Check Point Charlie before I left.