We started our morning with a delicious European breakfast in the hostel, and then we loaded into the bus for a tour of the city. On this driving tour, we viewed such sites as the Brandenburg Gate, the palace of Charlottenburg, Charlottenburg’s city hall, and several sections of the Berlin wall. We were also shown how, all over the city, in the places where the Berlin wall was removed, there is a double line of brick in the ground, whether it cross sidewalks, streets, or rivers. During our tour, we learned many interesting things, including how to become a famous Prussian queen: 1) Be very beautiful. 2) Give birth to the next king. 3) Die young.
Our driving tour continued on to take us past the old East German embassy in west Berlin, the Berlin Olympic Stadium, Potsdamer Square, the Airport of Templehof (a once-huge airport that was to be a masterful centrepiece of east Berlin and now lies empty in all its massive glory). Near this airport were some old Prussian barracks and a poorer area of Berlin, but a historically significant one, known as Kreuzberg. To those of you in SLO, this made me think of the coffee shop downtown and all of you! Our tour stopped at the O2 Stadium for some photo taking, as there is a large section of the Berlin wall across the street from the stadium.
During our drive, we saw long stretches of pink pipes along the streets of Berlin. These, we learned, are only in areas of construction. Berlin is built on top of a swamp, and these pipes serve to pump away water. We were given time for lunch in which I went and grabbed some Vietnamese noodles and chicken to go, which we ate in the massive Berlin train station.
After lunch, we went for a walking tour of the Jewish section of Berlin and learned about a lot of the associated history with the Jewish community in the city. By the time the walking tour was over, we all had very tired feet and were released to find dinner and relax. With some friends, we found this Bavarian restaurant arranged for, and celebrating, Oktoberfest. In the main dining room, all the seating was in long benches and tables. There was live, traditional music from southern Germany and the whole place was decorated very traditionally. It was a good time.
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