Welcome to Berlin!!

6+ hours later... We finally made it to Berlin!! It was a long ride on the bus and we were happy to arrive.

After checking in to the hotel we took a ride into the city center to see a few things. The first thing we saw was a war memorial to the Soviets. (Picture 1). The Soviet War Memorial is a memorial to the 5000 Soviet soldiers killed at the Battle of Berlin. After that we walked down to the Brandenburg Gate. Besides being pretty cool to look at... The Brandenburg Gate is a symbol of a unified Germany and is inspired after the Acropolis in Athens. (What type of columns do you see?!). My friend Jenn also met a few "soldiers" there, too! (2nd to Last picture.)

We also saw a piece of the Berlin Wall- the wall that used to separate east and West Berlin. (Picture 3). Guess what else they have in Berlin... DUNKIN DONUTS!!!! (Picture 4). We also saw the Holocaust Memorial. Pictures 6-9. As I mentioned in class it took 17 years to decide on how to commemorate the Holocaust here. The memorial didn't open until May of 2005 when it was dedicated. The area is the size of a football field and there are 2711 of the rectangular boxes. You can walk between them, and the size changes, as well as the ground level. It was very moving.

Then we took a 20 minute walk to go to the DDR Museum. The DDR museum is an interactive museum the explains east and West Berlin- I didn't know much about this and I learned a lot.

Finally, we ended the night at a really great restaurant. (Last picture). The place is called Zur Letzten Instanz and was so yummy. The restaurant opened in 1621 and has served people like Napoleon and Beethoven!!! We liked it so much we are considering going there again tomorrow night.

Tomorrow some of us are getting up early to do a few things before our official tour at the Jewish Museum. There is A TON to do in Berlin so we want to squeeze in as much as possible. I wasn't sure if I was going to like Berlin because of how much I LOVED Nuremberg... But so far I'm liking it!!

No gelato today... So that means I have to make up for it tomorrow and have TWO!!!! Two more full days and I'll be on my way home. I can't believe vacation is already half over.

:-) <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">

Brandenburg Gate

A piece of the Berlin Wall