Berlin, Day 1

Berlin, Day 1

Holy cow! I don't know where to start with today's madness. Being overwhelmed in a new city, making new friends, trying new food, and being bombarded with yet another mouthful of interesting history, this place is a monster! I have no idea where to begin.

We took a "free tour" that started right behind, or in front of, depending which way you look at it, the Brandenburg Gate. The morning was nice and there were a lot of people around. When our tour was to begin, there were quite a few lined up and ready to go. They split the massive group into a few subgroups to make things more manageable. Our leader, Barry, is from Ireland with red face and bright blonde hair. He was chuckling as he brought our group together after the initial madness. We then headed out to the Brandenburg Gate and we listened to him go on about the history. From there we saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the top of Hitler's Bunker, the Holocaust Memorial, the Nazi Book Burning Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdamer Platz, Luftwaffe HQ, the Berlin Wall and the TV tower. One cool thing was the Reichstag, or the Parliament Building. It has a glass dome around it with a spiral staircase that tourists and locals walk up. The reasoning behind the architecture is that government should be transperant after what happened with the Nazis. The elected officials can always look up and see who they are serving, and the the people can keep an eye on their politicians. It was added recently and has been met with great approval. The view of the city is spectacular and requires reservations to get in line. Sorry, but we did not make it up there to see.

Barry, the guide, reminded us a lot of Scott the dive guys from Varna, Bulgaria. Barry is Irish and Scott is Scottish, but the two had similar demeanors. Barry would take the comedic approach to talk about the city, and even thought the history is not that funny, his humor kept you intrigued. We ended the tour behind the Berliner Dom with Barry going on a 10 minute rant on the the bringing down of the Berlin Wall. In the little park, people heard him and came to see what the commotion was. I was up front and when I looked around, I saw that people had heard Barry and came to listen. He ended his story with a great applause. The group was thankful for the epic tour of the city and graciously tipped him. From there, we followed him to the DDR Museum restaurant for a Currywurst and a "green" and "red" beer. Rumor has it that when the French arrived with Napoleon, they wanted to be served "some of the very best Berlin had to offer." When beer came to their table, they were appalled, because they wanted wine. So, they put some syrup into the beer to make it "better." Now the tradition has gone on to serve this weird beverage the French liked. Or, this is what Barry has told us. I should go search the Internet to get the real answer.

We made a Chinese friend along the tour and spent some time walking with him in the rain. It's started pouring as soon as we left the restaurant. The morning forecast did not mention rain at all, so there was no rain gear in my bag, just an umbrella. Katherine and Andrew walked back in the pouring rain and I held the umbrella over the bag to protect all the electronics and passports.

Later, we just chilled at the hostel in the huge room on the first floor. There were people coming by in hoards to check in and get a room. This place is really busy and the guests seem to be from all around the world.

Tomorrow, we will try to check out a few museums if we are lucky. I hear the crowds get a little crazy this time of year.