Berlin Boutique Hostel

... to tell us what the memorial was for before we got there and then once we were there, he made us guess. Of course, nobody guessed. It’s a large gray concrete wall - very modern and apparently very controversial in its location because it was initially going to be included with the holocaust memorial, as it is made of the same material. On one side is a small square opening where you can look inside to a television, which plays a constant feed of two men kissing ...

... wanted to walk through the Parliament Building, a giant glass dome sits on top of it that provides great views of the City (it is meant for the public to use and the politicians working below can look up and see who they are really working for "the people"- very impressive design. The line however was 45 minutes long and we didnt have that much time to spare. We headed back to the bus station- but not before seeing a ...

... that were inside already, looked around at the beautiful scenery for a couple more minutes, and then we all left. Anna's lover used to work at a bar that was not too far away, so we figured that since he knew people that worked there, that we would all be able to get in without a problem. To be on the safe side, we had each guy go in with a female, or in some cases, a male went in with two females. Luckily, we did not have any problems getting into this bar, which ...

... printer at the subway station was SUPER slow too, just fyi. We found a great burrito place called Delores which served great chips and fat burritos. Just nice to get some "mexican" food or at least a good substitute. We liked it so much one day that we went back the next day for more! Bus transportation in Germany is used mostly by pensioners....seriously, 85% of the people getting on buses were way past retirement. We knew right away that we had chosen the CHEAPEST way to travel! Ha!!

... the war but some parts have been restored to perfection. We see the restored New Wing, and even just this takes up a major part of our time. By the time we finish it is time for lunch. Jump across the street to a micro brewery restaurant. Kim has the grilled turkey salad and Keith tries out the German classic gourmet bratwurst... let's see how it stands up against the garbage we have been eating. Not bad, one of the better meals we have had in Germany so far. After ...

... why Germans are so pushy in line -- the metro systems here (S-Bahn and U-Bahn) for some reason tend to keep their doors open at stops for a very short amount of time! I figure that doesn't lend itself to queueing up politely. Last night I went on the Berlin Pub Crawl, hosted by the same people who did the free walking tour that I attended last Sunday. This was not free, and it was basically a mistake -- we went into about a ...

... 60's concert that was hilarious so we danced around making total idiots of ourselves in front of the Germans. We then went to a local sports bar before finding an 80's rock concert. We had a blast. We danced to bon jovi, queen. Michael Jackson, pink floyd, and ACDC. It was so much fun. We definitely were the loudest in the crowd and we did Americans everywhere proud. After that we headed back across the bridge to the ...

... head-offices. Strange also that the Brit's R.A.F. HQ wasn't destroyed in London's bombings... hmmmm, Professional Courtesy? Accident? or... Conspiracy?! Next, we walked to Check Point Charlie, and the Spy area of Berlin. I took a picture of the famous "Cafe Adler." Upward and onward to the sister churches of Berlin, the Catholic Church in the center of town, Humboldt University, and the site of the world's largest book burning called Babelplatz. After all this, we left the tour early ...

My first trip to Berlin was in conjunction with the Humboldt Foundation's annual conference. Here are some photos from a morning reception hosted by German President Horst Köhler in the gardens of Chateau Bellevue (where much fun was had with the complimentary champagne) and our subsequent cruise on the Wannsee, a lake just west of the city.

... it is pricey. The city's architecture also follows the physical characteristic of Amber; it's usually any shade of brown, or on the other hand it's any shade of grey like the 2nd most popular jewelry-silver. Gold isn't too big, and is usually closely priced to silver you see on display in the windows. Also, you have to remember that until the Berlin wall came down in the late 1980's the city in general was flat broke, so everything was a bit cheaper and equally valued ...