Berlin - Full Days of History and Discovery

Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Berlin were full days. Saturday it rained all day, but we persisted through it. We walked for hours in the late morning early afternoon, venturing all the way through Tiergarten park, seeing the important monuments, and then into what was once East Berlin. We got to Checkpoint Charlie's in the afternoon, and spent about 5 hours inside the museum. Room after room, the museum was loaded with pictures, paintings, text, and lots of releveant objects. As required, we checked our bags into a locker, so at least we didn't have to lug those around. We each did the audio guides, and those were quite informative. There was so much information, and we both felt interested, motivated and obligated to try and read everything, which was absolutely impossible. When we finally left, we felt much more knowledgable about the significance and history of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, and the enormous impact tearing down the wall had on Berlin, Germany, the rest of Eastern Europe and the world as a whole. We left around 8pm or so, in the dark, feeling very fulfilled, and very tired. We went to a little quick-mart near the hotel and got some munchies and drinks and finished up the night relaxing in our hotel.

Sunday, we spent a bit of time at an internet cafe in the morning to make hotel reservations for another night in Berlin, and for two nights in Copenhagen. Then we took the metro to the big TV tower and waited in line forever for an opportunity to take the elevator up to the top. We shared an audio tour handset and walked around the large disk at the top, and had some coffees at the bar to rest our legs. It was a beautiful day so after we were through looking at the 360 degree views of the city, we did some more walking and eventually made our way back to the hotel in the evening. I had read about a pub near the hotel that served over 100 beers, so we went there hoping for a reasonable meal and a long night of beer experimentation. But, they refused to serve us anything for dinner because the cooks were swamped with a large party that had just ordered their meals. So we left, and ended up at a much livlier spot just a few blocks away. Our meals were fantastic, and the tiramisu we had for dessert was huge and delicious! We had a fantastic time, and left totally with our bellies totally stuffed. I had a skillet of pork and vegetables, and Vee had a tasty chicken dish.

Monday, the 1st of May, was Labor Day all over the world except in the U.S. After our third and final delicious breakfast at the Hotel Castille, we checked out, left our bags there, and headed over to the Story of Berlin museum, where we spent the rest of the day. This multimedia, interactive, extremely informative and entertaining museum was fantastic. It gave us a much better understanding of the long history of Berlin, and also of Germany as a whole. We did not leave until late in the afternoon, mentally exhausted, got our bags from the hotel and took the metro over to our new hotel. This hotel, although location-wise, not as good as the first one, was a much nicer, more contemporary hotel, and ALOT cheaper! In fact, it is the cheapest one we've stayed at yet. The walk from the metro to the hotel was an interesting one as there was a street fair/carnival going on and the neighborhood itself, was, well, not like the one where we stayed the previous 3 nights. Once in the super modern hotel room, with a water view, and half the price, we got comfy, then headed out to find some snacks and drinks, then back to the carnival so I could find a more satisfying bite to eat. I ate a delicious bratwurst, and then Vee and I shared coffees and people-watched. Back at the hotel, we relaxed and called it an early night.