In my last entrty I left off with arriving in Berlin on the night train. I quickly grabbed a pastry for breakfast and then checked my luggage at the left luggage station before heading out. Immediately I noticed that there was a light rain. As I walked across the river Spree I entered the government quarter home to the German Chancellor, the Reichstag and some office buildings. I noticed hardly a line at the Reichstag, so in I went. After having may bag thoroughly scanned thanks to all the electronics I had with me, I was eventually allow to get in the elevator to go to the top of the building. There one can enter the glass dome that sits on the top, go to a café, or just walk around outside. I headed straight for the dome and honestly it was a good intro to Berlin in a way. I could see where many sites were, but not as many as the TV-tower in the east you can go up. I spotted the Brandenburg Gate, the Soviet War Memorial in the Tiergarden, and Potsdamer Platz down the road. I tried taking pictures, but thanks to the rain tthey arent worth much.
Next I made my way to the Brandenburg gate which is essentially next door. On the way I noticed bricks in the road and sidewalks that said Berlin Mauer 1961-1989 and serves as the location where the wall once stood. I then arrived at the gate where I probably stood for a good bit taking pictures and being the usual tourist. It is interesting to be standing at the site so much of the past 60+ years history has taken place at. There was the end of WW2, the division of Germany and the gate winding up in the Soviet sector, to being next to the infamous wall, a place where US presidents made famous speeches and of course the place where the celebration of the end of communism was noted with individuals tearing down the wall.
From here I wasnt too sure what to do next, so I grabbed a bratwurst from a stand across the street and headed to the Soviet War Memorial just down the street in the Tiergarden. Following that I decided to walk around a bit, when someone tried to ask me for directions, but unfortunately I cant speak much in the way of German. As I continued to walk around, I noticed after I crossed a street that a Police office started directing traffic despite the lights all working. I kept of going down the sidewalk when I noticed a motorcade and on the first passenger car I noticed the flag of the German Chancellor, whom was in the car behind that one.
I headed back to the station and collected my luggage before heading to the hotel to check in. When I arrived it turns out my room was not ready, so I went to explore this part of the former East Berlin before heading back within the hour. It still wasnt ready, but was so in 15 minutes. In that time I got some more school work done. I walked up to my room on the top (sixth) floor and noticed how small it was. However, it was a fairly new hotel so the bed was still comfortable and it had a 24inch HDTV. After taking a nice hot shower, I headed back out this time to checkout Potsdamer Platz and the whole expansive development there. Its rather amazing, and it has free WiFi however it is very poor, so I gave up fairly quickly. I also managed to find one of the old guard towers from the wall, hidden down a side street.
More wandering was done, just generally exploring the city passing through the holocaust memorial for a bit and then back up towards my hotel. Thanks to the cold weather I was ready for another hot shower. By this time it was starting to get dark, so I stayed at the hotel for a little bit and relaxed before heading out again. I walked around Berlin at night, and headed back to the Reichstag this time with no backpack. The views up here at night are also very good, and again I tried to take pictures, but it was still raining, so they mainly are poor. I also headed back to the Brandenburg Gate to see it all lit up at night, which was also a site to see. From there I just walked around trying to find dinner. I finally settled on a place near my hotel. I got myself a good German meal of Potato Pancakes, Fried Sausage, Sauerkraut, and a small glass of a local beer even though I am not one to really drink at all. Overall it was a great meal, but thanks to me forgetting about the exchange rates (16.00 is not bad for a meal at all), it would up costing nearly $25. At least I got one nice meal, as I am primarily eating street food and cheap counter food. Afterwards it was back to the hotel where I crashed shortly after.