BERLIN!

I realized that I haven't done nearly enough justice to the city or the sites that Erik and I have seen in the past few days. I don't really know where to start, as I'm sure most people would agree when on the topic of Berlin. This city is so many things- beautiful, a historic mecca of some of the most atrocious, inhumane, sad, interesting, and in some endings uplifting times in our recent past, as well as a dynamic hub of young engery.

So, when you want to start talking about Berlin, where do you start? Pre WWI? Post WWI? The iron curtain? WWII? Hitler and the third Reich? These were all questions Erik and I had when coming to Berlin.

We sifted through it by taking a walking tour. This tour was AMAZING. We had an incredibly knowledgable tour guide, who was enthusiastic and talkative the entire time. Being a former tour guide (UWEC) I know exactly how hard it is to speak to a large group of people for an extended period of time, hoping that everyone can follow your transitions, jokes, historical facts etc. ANYWAY, the things we saw on this tour have made our experience here.. kind of surreal. It's almost as if this history you read about in story books can't be real, and then, just like that- it is. We were able to see the Berlin wall (the very small portion left), we were able to stand where Hitler's body was burned, as well as above the Bunker he shot himself in- which they have turned into a parking lot.( *The tour guide also interjected that on April 20 (the anniversary of his death) most Berliner's like to take their dog to this parking lot and let it poo. ) We were seeing some of the most important historic spots of the last century. So filled with sadness, what does one do?.. I mean, we were literally standing on the VERY spot of Hitler's demise. Do you take a picture? Of course not, you just do your best to imprint the memory. But that's what the whole tour felt like. We also saw beautiful buildings that seemed like tricks. They were beautiful RECONSTRUCTIONS of the orginials, many of which were bombed to the ground in WWII. So we'd be looking at the Opera House- under renovation, we'd be looking at the different cathedrals- under renovation. We went to the Humboldt University square, where they had a book burning of all Jewish authors.

In the end this tour guide did a fantastic job of taking a city that is still changing and new in the current moment, and explain it in a way that was easy to follow. Of course the tour included :

"HOTEL ADLON. The most famous, plush hotel in all of Berlin. They have a president's suite for 12,500 Euro a night. And get this! We've even had royalty stay there. Yes, the KING OF POP, MICHAEL JACKSON and family stayed here. Do you see that window? The third story, third from the left? That's the window Michael Jackson hung his baby out of."

No tour of Berlin is complete without that last factoid. Everyone laughed and snapped pictures. I guess it really did happen somewhere.



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Tomorrow we'll go back and take a better look at the wall. I think we'd both like more than 30 seconds worth of pictures. We also had an interesting time at the Monument to Murdered European Jews, which has large concrete gravestones/ pillars in a massive square.

Today we went to the Museum of Natural History. I don't want to get sappy on anyone, but this museum was probably my favorite. It boasts dinasours, a solar system exhibit, a CHARLES DARWIN exhibit-- FASCINATING, FASCINATING, FASCINATING!!.. and, here's where I could get sappy (but don't worry, it will be proactive later) they had a national geographic photography exhibition going on.. of the best photos of the words most endangered animals. Only followed by an exhibition by national geographic about plastics and garbage in the oceans.





There is still so much we haven't seen too. They have flea markets, and night life, great cafes, a free parliment building (with an incredible panorama) and so much more. I would HIGHLY recommend Berlin to anyone who has a zest for history, social awareness, and or a good time! I don't think Erik or I can get enough!