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Published: August 5th 2008
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Siegessaule
Place where Obama gave his speech to Berlin Today Joscha, Janni and I made our way to the center of Berlin to see some sights. This is the first day I was able to take some pictures in Germany despite my Camera's LCD screen being totally cracked.
On the bus, we passed a church that was bombed out by the allies during World War Two. The church is totally bombed out on the inside but some of the outside structure still remains. This is why many Berliners call this church the Hollowtooth. Adjourning the church a memorial was built to honor the dead of WW2.
The first thing we got off the bus to see was the the Siegessaule which is this Giant column with a golden angel atop built to commemorate a Prussian war victory in the Danish-Prussian War. This was also the place where Obama gave his speech a last week sometime in Berlin. Joscha tells me that the place was totally packed with people. Close to 250,000 people packed the area near the column all the way back to the Brandenburg gate (which is a couple miles away)
We next walked towards Belleview which means "Nice view" this is where the German President
lives. He is the one that controls the Chancellor, runs the senate, and is the most powerful position in the German government. I don't think I got a picture of this place due to me camera, but lets just say it's a pretty nice shack 😊
We next walked towards the place where the Chancellor of Germany conducted her daily business. This place is called the Chancellery and I must admire the architectural ingenuity that went into this building. You can't really see from my pictures, but this place is one of the largest federal buildings in the world and is of a very modern design.
The Rechistag was next and visiting it reminded me of the famous soviet photo of the two men planting the soviet flag atop the building following the battle of Berlin. The building is absolutly huge, and looking at a postcard that I sent home to my friend brad I can see how much damage the allies did to this building near the end of the war.
Much of the Reichstag has been rebuilt and the dome atop of it has been completely redesigned and allows people inside the dome
a 360 degree view of the city of Berlin. Additonally the dome provides natural sunlight for the people below and has a protective sunshield that uses a computer to monitor where the sun is in the sky and shield the night from blinding anyone below. Pretty high tech stuff if you ask me.
We saw the Brandenburg gate and I took some pictures, but I am really not the type of tourist to linger and look at something for an extended period of time. I am getting to see the sights in the places I am staying, but I am interacting more with the people of this place by speaking, listening, and observing. That is what excites me most about my travels this summer. I see all of these things and read about them in depth later. To me there is no use is wasting my time.
After we had seen all of these sights, Joscha, Janni, and I decided that we would go to the Sony Center to watch a movie. Hancock Jani told us was still playing and it was a great movie. So we decided on Hancock in English 😊.
The movie I would
say was pretty good and made me laugh a whole lot. It was nice to hear more than an hour of pure uninterrupted English language being spoken.
The craisest thing about the movie though was during the preview. During the preview for the movie, there was an advertisement for a Specific brand of Ice Cream. Magnum bars! I had been told when I came to Europe last summer that Magnum bars were the best ice cream. I was not surprised when an advertisements came up on screen. What I was not prepared for however was the screen to go black, the lights turning back on and a cute German girl in a uniform trotted out with an ice cream basket asking the crowd if they wanted any.
Now I am told that America is the most capitalistic nation on earth, but that single actions is leading me to believe that Germany is learning how to give us a run for our money 😊
After we had see all of these sights and bought some postcards we prepared to ride the S Bahn home. Joscha lives within 10 minutes walking distance to the S-Bahn which is the train
Berliners use to get around in the city. He lives right on the main line, so getting anywhere inside the city can be done within about 30-45 on a train. Most of the time we were on it for less than 10 min.
I must also take the time to comment how efficient both the rail and bus systems are. I don't think I ever had to wait more than 5 min for a train or bus. Thats amazing to me where in Louisville the standard wait is 20 min.
Joshca's mom made an awesome dinner of sausages, cauliflower and rice and we all went to bed playing Battlefield 2. I love my kinda of traveling 😊
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