Berlin

Above are crosses remembering some of the people who died trying to cross from East to West Germany

TV tower

Brandenburg Gate


Jewish memorial

Above is more parts of the wall and below is a shopping center right next to the wall
Below is where the wall had been and this is how it is marked throughout the city...



The Berlin Wall below and an older building above with some obvious destruction done to it considering the statue



And the more modern buildings around it...
The old train station


Our hostel...by far the best one we stayed in




Checkpoint Charlie


Kyle's flag of the Netherlands

Our cabin on the overnight train

Amsterdam was definitely a nice break after we had completely worn ourselves out in Paris. We had time to relax and regain our energy before setting off on an overnight train to Berlin on Saturday night. In Amsterdam on Saturday we bought cheese and crackers for dinner to eat on the train and then departed at 7 pm for Berlin. The overnight train was just us for the majority of the evening, and since we arrived in Berlin around 4 am we decided to go to bed early. Well, not even an hour or so into our sleep two more people joined our cabin to make a full six people sleeping three on either side like bunk-beds. Sleeping is not the easiest thing to do on a train especially with limited space, but we managed to sleep at least a few hours during the night total before arriving in Berlin. Since we got to Berlin so early we tried going straight to the hostel in hope that they would let us store our bags and hang out until our room was ready. We were quite lucky and they actually made us all coffee and use the computers in the lounge until around 8am and museums started to open. We ate breakfast at the hostel and then left to sight-see for a bit while they prepared our room. The first thing we went to was Check-point Charlie. We didn't actually go into the museum, but we did get to see where the US had their checkpoint dividing East and West Germany. After Check-Point Charlie we headed for the Jewish museum. The museum was much different than I expected. It was very symbolical and didn't have as many artifacts from the war as I thought it might. However, it did discuss many of the families and individuals that were killed during the Holocaust and the building itself was divided and supposed to represent different stages of that period. Overall it was a nice museum and definitely worth going to. Exhausted and in need of sleep we went back to the hostel since it was about 1 pm and officially checked in and took naps until 4pm. After the naps we were much rested and set out for Brandenburg Gate. On our way we saw an old building or what the only part left of it which was one wall. Not sure exactly what it was there was a sign next to it saying that it had been the entrance to one of the train stations that the Jews were sent to before boarding the trains to the various concentration camps, Auschwitz included. The building had been bombed and destroyed during the war with only one wall remaining. Also, on the way to the gate we saw various parts of the last remaining parts of the Berlin Wall. Although, there is really little left of the wall standing it was certainly easy to see where the wall had been. When looking at the road you can still see the lines where it used to run and divide the city. We stopped right before reaching the gate to eat dinner at a small restaurant and ordered the very popular and traditional currywurst. It was just as good as expected! The Jewish memorial was near both the gate and restaurant as well. We didn't actually go down into the museum which accompanied the memorial because it was closed, but we did see the memorial itself. Finally, we arrived at the Brandenburg Gate which was huge and pretty great to see. On our way back to the hostel I grabbed some Starbucks coffee, souvenirs and then we headed in for the night.

We only spent one day in Berlin due to shortage of time. Although I would have liked to stay and see more I think we definitely made the most out of the day. Our hostel was within walking distance to all of the sights we saw which were also the primary sights that we wanted to see. The city as a whole is very modern which surprised me a lot. I didn't realize how destroyed it really was during the war and of course the effects that the Cold War really had on Berlin. The city is filled with so much history though that it was a great stop even if only for a day. It is by far the one place that I would like to go back to because I feel like there was so much more to see. Also, we were there on a Sunday which was definitely a slow day for the city. Besides for tourists and tourists sights there was not much open or many people out. However, it was still a great day in Germany!