Back to Berlin. I woke bright an early and was out of my hotel at 8:30 and on a tram to East Berlin, specifically Hackescher Markt. I had a lovely little breakfast of chocolate croissant and tea while watching people setup fruit and vegetable stalls. Then it was off to hardcore sightseeing.
First stop was the Nikolai District, the center of Medieval Berlin. The picture on the right is the Marien Church from 1270 and in the background the TV Tower. The juxtoposition of modern and medieval just screamed for a picture.
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Nikolai District |
These two reliefs are from the 2nd century BC Pergamon Altar.
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Close up of the lions on the gate |
And knowing how much my mother likes mosaics, this one is for her:
After this museum I also had a chance to see the famous bust of Nefertiti. We could not take any pictures in that room, but I can assure you it was as amazing and breathtaking in person as you might expect.
At that point I left the museums and scarfed down a Currywurst, and then headed over to the Berliner Dome on left. If you are of an athletic temperment you can have the distinct honor of climbing all 270 steps to the top of the dome where you have another amazing view of Berlin. Yes, I hiked all the way up there, and that is where I saw this on the street below....
I knew that there was an anti-atomic energy protest planned in Berlin that day, but I had not realized that I was currently on the planned demonstration route. These are just a few of the many, many police officers that were lining the surrounding streets of Berlin. I decided that I should go somewhere else in the city now.
I wandered the streets of Berlin. I saw Checkpoint Charlie and here on the left is the remnants of the Berlin wall. Below it where all the people are standing is a history of Berlin from the beginning of the Nazi regime until the fall of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany. Incidentally, the 20th anniversary of the reunification of Germany is on Saturday! And I will be in Prague. I'm really not very good at planning my vacations.
Anyway, after hiking through here and past the ultra-modern Sony Center, I decided that I needed to stop and get some caffeine into my system before I keeled over. I was desperately searching for some cute little European cafe, but seemed to be unable to find anything other than a Dunkin Donuts. Yes, they have DD in Berlin. This was actually worth mentioning because the racks of donuts in Germany appear as if a day-glo rainbow had exploded on them. I mean, there were colors there that would have been painful on clothing but were deeply disturbing on food. Also at the DD were the remains of the atomic energy protestors.
As you can see in the photo they came armed with banners and vuvuzelas. Oh, the humanity!!
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And one last photo to prove that I was actually in Berlin!
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