More adventures in Berlin

After the first night I knew I was in love with Berlin.  Nothing could top the craziness of the first night so I was hoping to learn more about the city itself. 

The next morning we woke up early for a bus tour of Berlin.  We rode our bus around town taking in the sights.  It was a nice introduction to the sightseeing opportunities available. 

After the tour we were at Zoo Station on the other side of town so Chris and I went off on our own to the Botanical Gardens.  It was a good time.  I was really tired from the night before but the walking around outside was fun.  Being from the desert the lush greenery was nice.  The place was very iddylic and it looked like it was a favorite place of the locals.  It was mostly Berliners out for an afternoon walk.

Back at the hotel afterward I took a nap.  I wasn't so much jetlagged as I was exhausted from lack of sleep.  For most of the trip we were out late nights, up by 8 am and then taking a nap around 3 or 4 pm. 

That night was an event organized by the tour to go barhopping.  Our guide for the night was a 21 year old australian woman (it was her b-day).  Her goal was to get us to drink a lot.  I don't really drink much but I had a good time.  We went to three different bars.  Each was empty except for us (our group was about 30 or so). It was fun mingling with everyone.  We ended the night at dance club.  It really didn't compare to the place we went the night before.  It was pretty pedastrian.  Very well lit, american rock and pop music, and they played the beach boys.  It wasn't quite what I was hoping for. 

Eventually we left to explore on our own.  But somehow we all ended up back at the hotel at the 24 Hour Kabab place around the corner.  Falafel is good after a night of drinking.

The next morning we were up early again.  This time for a three hour walking tour of Berlin. By now I was getting comfortable with the subway and walking everywhere.  My feet had been okay but this day they took a lot of abuse.  It was nine hours of straight walking.

The tour was lead by an american that everyone later nicknamed Matt Damon because of the resemblence.  I liked him a lot, he reminded me of friends in Boston.  He told us alot of the history of Berlin.  The city is over 800 years old so lots has happened.

A few things that stood out... The Nazi Book Burning Memorial was simple and powerful.  Its pane of glass in the ground that looks into a room full of empty book cases.  The Nazi's burned 20,000 books in that square.  The plaque has a quote from an 18th century writer that said "Where books are burned, people will be burned".  The quote refers to the Spanish Inquisition.  Its haunting to think about.

The Brandenburg Gate was huge and iconic.  The story of the Berlin Wall surrounding the city and basically trapping east berliners really hit me when we were at the gate.  During the 28 years the wall stood the Brandenburg Gate was in the middle of two walls.  It was in No Man's Land.  So during all that time no one was able to walk through the gate.  The act of walking through the gate had real significance to me.

After the walking tour I went with Natalie to the Antiquities Museum.  We had lunch at this cool Pizzaria.  It was this huge hall and it had a timelessness to it.  Though I doubt it was much older than WWII, I could imagine people gathering for meals in the same place hundreds of years earlier. 

The museum was a blur we didn't have time to look around, we just went for the Egyptian exhibit.  We saw the bust of Nefertiti. She really was a beautiful woman.  It reminded me of old movie stars. 

Then we walked some more to catch the subway to Zoo Station.  Natalie and I met up with Chris.  We then walked down to visit our coworker Oliver.  It was a pleasant visit.  I'd met him once before but didn't know if him hardly at all.  It was also a chance to see how a Berliner lived.  He was a great host and has a wonderful family.  We joked about me coming to work with him in the Berlin offices. 

Being our last night in Berlin we spent it trying to squeeze in a few more sights.  I knew we would run out of time and there would be things we'd miss.  We'd wanted to go to the top of the Reichstag but couldn't get there in time. 

I cherish the time I spent in Berlin and hope to return in the not so distant future.  Being in Berlin was like drinking a fine wine, with complexity and depth.  The sights and history definitely interest me.  But there's also the nightlife and the energy of a bustling metropolis.  Things were fast paced and hectic, or wild and crazy. ;-). Another crazy night in Berlin could have left me needing another vacation.