Berlin Bound!

2/13/15
Day 1: Jack and I got up on Friday morning and took our time having breakfast and actually packing, we figured since we live only a few hours away, we didn't have to rush.  Once we got our selves together and had our pup, Killian, ready; we headed out.

It was pretty cold out and while it was snowing lightly in Bavaria, once we got further north, the snow stopped but the frost on the trees increased.  It was really pretty but it did make me worry that it might be super cold to be doing sight seeing.  Luckily, it was much warmer in the city so we parked and went to check out our lovely hotel.  I always get an Airbnb place but Jack likes staying at hotels better.  He says he "roughs" it enough in the military so he enjoys a little comfort when we are away from home. :)

Entrance to the Crowne Plaza Berlin

Lobby of the hotel

My favorite pictures of Berlin on the walls of the Crowne Plaza

Our room at the Plaza

We put our luggage in the room and decided to go check out our surroundings, find some food, and have a few drinks.  We stayed in the Kurfürstendamm area which has lots of shopping and restaurants.  It was nice to be in a good location, especially since the big guy got us Hop On Hop Off tickets for our time there, which is a great way of seeing a city.  One of the stops was a short 5 min walk from our hotel, but that could wait until the next day!

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was right near our hotel and was pretty cool, although they were doing some renovations on it so one side was difficult to see.

The center sculpture at the large mall in Kurfürstendamm

A very cool liquid time clock in the middle of the Center Mall

A gaming store in the mall...there were no customers and one lonely worker...it was sad.

A very cool structure in Kurfürstendamm signifying the reunification of Berlin

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

We stopped at a neat little German restaurant to get some food, then went to an Irish Pub in the mall for a couple drinks before we went back to the hotel and stopped at the hotel bar for a nightcap then settled in to rest up for our city touring on day 2!

2/14/15
Day 2:
After a very comfy nights sleep, we went out looking for a good breakfast.  Unfortunately European places aren't concerned about opening early and pretty much nothing was open until around 8:00am.  We kept circling a Dunkin Donuts shop since they had deliciousness and really good coffee, but the lady refused to open the shop on time so we had to go to another little place that didn't have much to eat...at least they had amazing coffee!  On our way back to the hotel we swung by the Dunkin Donuts shop (about an hour later) and she still hadn't opened.  It must be nice to ignore opening hours just cause you feel like it!  Anyway, we went back to our hotel and got ready for the day.

Our first stop was the Berlin Wall.  The website for the Berlin Wall Memorial describes the location as: "The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site of German division, located in the middle of the capital. Situated at the historic site on Bernauer Strasse, it extends along 1.4 kilometers of the former border strip. The memorial contains the last piece of Berlin Wall with the preserved grounds behind it and is thus able to convey an impression of how the border fortifications developed until the end of the 1980s. The events that took place here together with the preserved historical remnants and traces of border obstacles on display help to make the history of Germany's division comprehensible to visitors. The central site is dedicated to the history of flight and emigration in divided Germany." Below are pictures of the actual wall.  It was almost completely brought down but in recent years, they have rebuilt a portion as a memorial.

The "Death Strip" or actual area that separated West and East Berlin

There were portions of the wall in different locations throughout the city

The Hop On, Hop Off bus in the winter has limited hours so we were actually on a bit tighter schedule than we had been anticipating so some of the places, we had to get off, take a picture, and get back on rather than explore as much as we were hoping. This being said, even from the street, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial was a stunner!

The Jewish Holocaust Memorial from the street

An aerial view of the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. (I got this pic off the web)

Next stop, Checkpoint Charlie!

Checkpoint Charlie

So for a little history of this location according to the website, "Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

GDR leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneuvered to get the Soviet Union's permission for the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration westward through the Soviet border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin to West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.

After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the building at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction. It is now located in the Allied Museum in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin."

Unfortunately they aren't kidding when they say it is now a tourist attraction.  It was one of the more touristy traps I've seen in Europe.  Jack and I walked in and walked out.  They wanted money for absolutely everything and the whole feel of the place had lost any connection to history... it's a shame that what this spot represents has lost it's impact and is buried under different ways to make money.

We moved on the Gendarmenmarkt.  

Deutscher Dom

Close up on the Deutscher Dom

Kozerthaus

Close up on the Kozerthaus

Französischer Dom

A panorama view of the Gendarmenmarkt (pic from the internet)

The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. In the centre of the square stands a monumental statue of Germany's renowned poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the Linden-Markt and reconstructed by Georg Christian Unger in 1773. The Gendarmenmarkt is named after the cuirassier regiment Gens d'Armes, which had their stables at the square until 1773.

During World War II, most of the buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Today all the buildings have been restored to their former state.

Next we found an amazing Thai restaurant called Cha Cha Clean Eating.  It was absolutely amazing and super fresh ingredients!

Once we were fueled up, we started back towards the Hop On, Hop Off bus but had to stop at a chocolate shop on our way.

A very cool chocolate high heel I wanted to buy for my friend Dani (it would have never made it though...Ha! Ha!) 

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in chocolate

Our next stop was the Potsdamer Platz.  The Potsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park. It is named after the city of Potsdam and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate. After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe, it was totally laid waste during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.

The thing that caught Jack's eye of course was the Lego Land...yep, that was his favorite thing.  :)

Jack & the Lego Land giraffe

Speaks for itself...

We didn't actually go in to Legoland though since the time was running out for the Hop On, Hop Off bus and I really wanted to see Museum Island still, along with the Brandenburg Gate.  

We got to the Brandenburg Gate and while we weren't hungry at all, we have hear a lot about Curry-wurst and there was a perfect little stand close by so I just had to try it.

Brandenburg Gate

Close up on the Brandenburg Gate

The Curry-wurst stand

Jack waiting for our food

Curry-wurst!

Ok so the Brandenburg Gate was impressive and the Reichstag Building was across the street but the curry-wurst was actually just sausage with ketchup sprinkled with curry.  Not a big whoop...not sure why people go crazy over it... :)  The beer was good though!  

The Reichstag Building (House of Parliament)  while we were there

The Reichstag Building in summer...it's pretty impressive

Our time kept ticking away and we still hadn't had a chance to see Museum Island, so off we went.

The Berlin Cathedral

Close up on the Berlin Cathedral

Even closer

Me & my Boo at the Berlin Cathedral

Museum Island

An aerial view of Museum Island (pic found on the internet)

I really wanted to go into a few of the museums but we just didn't have time so we got back on the bus and kept going.  Next stop, the Berlin Television Tower.

The Berlin Television Tower

The Fernsehturm is the television tower in central Berlin.  It was completed in 1969 by the administration of the German Democratic Republic.  It's an interesting building and much bigger than it looks.  

I was wishing we could go inside the Charlottenburg Palace too but our bus was just about to stop running so we got to take pictures and leave.

Charlottenburg Palace

Close up on Charlottenburg Palace

Of course I wanted to go in!  It's a palace!  :)  I will just have to go back and check it out another time.  When we were done with all that exploring, we went back to our hotel and hung out with the puppy until it was time for dinner.  We had a nice Valentines dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in the mall then went out for drinks.  It was a nice day over all and a great Valentines!

2/15/15

Day 3:

We considered doing more exploring on day three but decided to go ahead and go home since we felt we had seen enough and felt like we could really use some down time at home.  Berlin was fun but I think for historical value it feels as if it has moved too far away from why I wanted to travel there.  I would go back for the palace and the museums though!