A City With So Much History

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As is typical with all other trips I have ever taken, I did not sleep very well on my first night. I woke up extremely tired and just wanted to stay in bed all morning. But we are in Berlin for only 2 full days and didn't have any time to waste. After a slow yet delicious breakfast in the hotel's cafe we were off for a full day's exploration of the city. We walked over to the subway over in Rosenthaler Platz and rode it to the exit at the Brandenburg Gate. One of Berlin's iconic landmark's, the Brandenburg Gate is a symbol of the struggles of the Cold War. After snapping our obligatory photos, we sat around and watched all the touts in their Cold War communist era garb trying to squeeze as many euros from the many tourists in the area. From here, we wandered over to the nearby Reichstag which is another iconic Berlin landmark. It famously caught fire during Hitler's rise to power and was restored as the center of German government after reunification in 1989. Again, we took our obligatory photos and checked out the Visitor's Center. I pondered getting us all tickets to ascend the glass dome of Reichstag which gives great views of the surrounding cityscape as well as a view of the action in Parliament below. However, the available times were not until 2:00pm and we just didn't have much time as there was so much more to see in the city. From the Reichstag, we walked through a leafy corner of the Tiergarten Park and discovered the Monument to the Sinti and Roma People of Europe Murdered In National Socialism. Often referred to as Gypsies, and estimated 200-500 thousand Sinti and Roma people were killed during the Nazi's racial purge of Europe. We walked around the monument which included a Memorial Pool and some information boards chronicling the genocide of the Sinti and Roma people of Europe. The memorial was a very touching tribute offering important information on an often forgotten group that was targeted by the Nazis. From here we weren't very far from another imporant monument to people murdered under the Nazis, The Monument to The Murdered Jews of Europe. Just around the corner from the Brandenburg Gate, the monument consisted of over 2,000 concrete pillars of varying heights. I was a bit unsure of exactly what the concrete pillars were supposed to represent but as I walked around the concrete pillars, it was hard not to take a moment to think about the tragedy of the millions of Jews and others that were killed during the Holocaust. In the middle of the monument was an information center. Similar to other Holocaust memorials I have visited, there was strong security and exhibits were presented in a way that humanized the victims. Most memorable for me was a large map of Europe which pinpointed hundreds of genocide sites throughtout Europe. I don't think I had ever seen a map that displayed the distribution of concentration camps and other sites used to murder people. It was this spatial distribution that brought home to me the far reaching impact of the Nazis systematic murder of innocent people.

By now, the lack of sleep and the somber tone of some of the sites were visited were started to take a toll on my energy level. There was a point where everyone was reading the information at the exhibits where I was disinterested and just wanted to sit down and rest. We left the memorial, walked by the American Embassy, and went back through the Brandenburg Gate to walk down Unter Den Linden. Near Pariser Platz, I was in desperate need of a pick me up so I stood in the outrageously long line at Starbucks just to get a coffee. With coffee in hand and feeling somewhat rejeuvenated, I was ready to continue our exploration. We checked out a famous sculpture by Frank Geahry inside the atrium of the nearby DZ Bank that Vita had recommended we take the time to visit. As we walked down Unter Den Linden, we stopped in a few cheesy tourist shops and picked up some tacky souvenirs. We approached Humboldt University and a few of us were in dire need of using the restrooms. With no restaurants nearby, we decided to walk into the university in search of their restrooms. We got a few strange looks from students and faculty members as we walked down rows of offices, classrooms, and lecture halls trying to locate the restrooms. After relieving ourselves, we walked across the street to the Bebelplatz to check out a memorial to the infamous Nazi bookburnings of 1933. The memorial was a glass plate set amongst the cobblestones with a view of empty bookcases below. We crossed over into Museum Island and finally arrived at the Berliner Dom. By now, we were all a bit tired and weary of all the exploration we had done, so we all just crashed on the expansive lawn and just admired the view of the beautiful cathedral in front of our eyes. Tired of sitting, Vita and Churro decided they wanted to climb to the top of the dome while we all continued to just rest on the lawn. After a huge ordeal trying to find a certain restaurant for dinner, we settled on a place called Brauhaus Mitte. Tonight, Churro, Vita, my sister, and I wanted to go out and find a club to dance at. Churro read of an area of town that was popular with the nightclubbing crowd. We were at the metro station talking to a few young people and one of them had recommended a place called Mein Haus am See, a small bar popular with local hipsters and tourists staying at a nearby hostel. It was a crowded yet intimate place with good looking waitors and interesting bleacher style seating in the back. Afterwards, we were a bit tipsy after a few drinks so we had a very delicous late night snack of doner kebabs at a small nearby food stall before heading back to the hotel for the night.

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Photos

Memorial Pool
At the Monument to the Sinti and Roma people of Europe murdered in National Socialism

The Reichstag
Vita's New Friends