Dem Deutschen Volke

Today we experienced so much of the highlights of Berlin such as the Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), the Holocaust Memorial or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Tiergarten, and the Siegessaule! Plus a tiny bit of Potsdamer Platz. This morning we got up fairly early because I had made us reservations to visit the Reichstag, I had emailed the government before our trip and so we were about to take a tour up to the dome! I'm so glad I took that extra time, it was brilliant. After passing through security you got to go up there and walk up the stairs of the Dom all while getting a tour through audio ear pieces that explained the history and sights. It was so great and I learned about the German parliament and significance of glass dome which represents the transparency of the democracy. The building also emphasized unity which is very important to Germany and had the great mix of modern and historic architecture ever-present in Berlin. It's so great to have that old feel around the city without losing modern conveniences and modern art as well. I've also noticed that ads mix in a bit of English sometimes! It's cool because with context clues I can sometimes understand it! I forgot to mention how funny today was because Ashley forgot to pack the tights I told her to bring in her small suitcase and so just wore shorts today. I wore black tights and a skirt. Apparently we've noticed that German girls always wear tights! This morning we got like three honks and everywhere we went people stared at us, well Ashley, finally we found an h&m store for her to buy some! It was crazy and I think Ashley felt scandalous. After the Reichstag, we took pictures in front of the Brandenburger Tor :) it's a great symbol like the Eiffel Tower is for France! Today there was some sort of political gathering out front at noon and there were so many police officers! We tried asking the guard outside the American embassy (which is right next to the gate and awesome!) why they were there but we didn't really understand him. Next we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and took it all in. I really feel like pictures don't do it justice because I guess I didn't realize how much the blocks varied in height. It makes such an impact. Ashley didn't really want to go underground because her feet hurt, but I went and viewed the very well done information part of the memorial. I think it's more important to see the pictures and read real accounts of what happened rather than only take photos of the cool blocks. I knew all the museum information already, but the memorial really showed the impact of the six million murdered Jews with photos and movies and rooms dedicated to different families and people from the different areas of Europe. There was this one room that had lit up postcards, letters, accounts on toliet paper basically an assortment of real stories. A twelve year old girl pretending to write to her mother who will never get the letter because she is afraid to die but knows she will. This part of the memorial is so important despite the fact most tourists don't want to read or walk down there and go through security, this part of history isn't as exciting I guess. Most people just listened to a tour up at the top and then left or sat like Ash did. I also liked that it didn't only focus on Auschwitz when describing the camps, but I understand why the sheer number of deaths in that camp make it significant and most talked about. After that intense and emotional experience we strolled down the lengthy Tiergarten on our way to the Victory Monument or Siegessaule. We took awesome jumping pictures off the main trail next to a pretty man made pond. But the Tiergarten park is so big and we barely saw any of it! By the time we got to the end even my feet were killing me. Thank goodness for the buses and S & U bahn! We avoided a lot of walking after that and laying on our beds right now feels so incredibly amazing. We stopped by the Potsdamer Platz shopping center for a late lunch but left after that cause we knew that to experience that requires being able to walk haha. Later we became super grumpy. Then we went out the latest we have, found my deutsche bank with free ATM withdrawals and went to cocktail lounge and had our typical experience of dining forever! They take their time here so waiters never come haha. Our newest roommates are girls from Sydney who have no plans for where they are going next..crazy! Apparently our other roomie is hot, Ashley briefly saw him but doesn't know what nationality he is. Tomorrow is our last full day in Berlin! Excited for Switzerland but sad to leave