Berlin!

In addition to the marathon we were able to spend a couple days sight-seeing in Berlin.  Really enjoyed Berlin.  It wasn't spectacular, but the public transportation was great, it wasn't overwhelmingly large, and it was interesting to see the city again since the wall has come down (the last time I was there was 1985 or 86!)

Here is the TV tower (Fernsehenturm)

Berlins is known for its graffiti artists, which I think started with the wall.  Murals like this are all over the city.  This one was outside our hotel window.

Our first stop was the Gedaechtniskirche - a bombed out shell of a cathedral which the Berliners left as it was to remind people of the horrors of war.  Unfortunately, it was wrapped in scaffolding!  (What looks like a white building in teh pic below is actually scaffolding.)

Surrounding the platz are some of the symbols of capitalism common in this area of West Berlin.

The other tower and shorter building are a bell tower and church built in 1961, notable for their architecture, are rather irreverently known to the Berliners as the "lipstick and compact."

Here is what eth shell looks like without the scaffolding!

After giving up on this we explored the Kurfuerstendamm...

We found the Apple store... it has been threatening to open for two years or something like that...

Luna made a charm from a 2 cent piece.

Then we found the lego store...

We had to tear Luna away...

And then we hit the KaDeWe (short for Kaufhaus des Westens) a famous, old department store.

Their 6th floor is particularly famous for its grand deli and produce counters.

Very classy place to buy groceries!

In teh American section we found some instant oatmeal.

It cost 15 Euros...

The famous "Ampelmann" of East Germany...

After lunch we went to Charlottenburg Palace to enjoy the sunshine in the gardens.

"Ugh, Mom, no more posing!"

The next day we hit Checkpoint Charlie.  Used to be the only spot where you could cross into East Berlin from the Western side.  Now it is just a normal intersection.  Well, a normal intersection crawling with photo snapping tourists.

They have kept the old guard house as a tourist attraction.

I remember how when the wall was there, these restaurants and places of business stood out when compared with what you could see of the Eastern side, which looked desolate.

What it looks like when you stand at the checkpoint and look east, now.  Some of the buildings were there before, but many of them are new.

Typical new architecture on the eastern side.

In the spirit of "breaking down the wall" Luna decided to disassemble the sidewalk...  guess it wasn't very 5 year old proof.

In some of the memorial info laid out at the checkpoint they had this photo of the subway station at Potsdamer Platz.  Since they couldn't disassemble the subway system when they divided the city, some stops in East Berlin just went unused.  The trains would still go through, but not stop.  East German guards patrolled those stops.  

A shot showing the Brandenberg Gate and what it looked like after the war.

Along the street where the wall used to stand, on the Eastern side was this Trabant memorial. :)

Another "capitalist" amusement attraction along the way...

Then we visited an old section of the wall that was left standing a couple blocks from Checkpoint Charlie.

The Berlin "Baer" standing on the Eastern side.

After the wall we headed over to Potsdamer Platz, now completely rebuilt.  This building on the Western side was a great example of some of the post-modern architecture you can find all over the city.

Ther eis so much construction going on that they have to re-route the water pipes above ground.  They are painted pink on Potsdamer Platz.

Still carbloading we gorged on Dunkin Donuts for lunch.

Then spent a couple minutes playing with legos outside the Legoland entrance.

The roof of the Sony Center.

An old guard tower.

Bas trying to explain it all to Luna...

There is still a TON of development going on all over the Eastern side.

Luna straddling East and West.

An example of one of the socialist propaganda murals was left up on one of the government buildings.

Ironically it is the Federal Ministry of Finance. :)

Then we ran into this old Bulgarian Embassy.  Apparently abandoned.

More of the typical, new, East German architecture.

Shots from Museum Insel.

A fun, life-sized map of Berlin.

Luna watching some street dancers.

At the Hackescher Markt we visited these Jugendstil apartment buildings, with many intertwining courtyards, lined with public spaces, shops and places to eat.

Then we went back to the Hackescher Markt for Tapas on our last night in Berlin!

Stay tuned for pictures from Potsdam!