berlin

Gack, my computer and connection are so slow... finally, here come a few more pictures from our weekend trip to Berlin. It was interesting, comparing our Berlin trip to that of the undergrads we've met -- we remember life before the Wall came down, whereas they really don't. Bruce and I soaked up the Wall museums -- most very powerful and meaningful. Great city, too! Berlin was the first place on this trip where I got off the train and thought, "Ahh, now, THIS is a real city!"

After an overnight train, we arrived in Berlin at 6am Friday morning. Here was our first view out of the big window of the Central Station.












Not too long after our arrival, we took a walking tour of the
city. Here is a church near the Museum Island (we think
it's the Berliner Dom?)... the brownish piece in front
bearing the cross is the top of the church, currently being refurbished.














The Altes Museum (Old Museum), on Museum Island, where a lot of Berlin's museums are conveniently located. We didn't actually go into this museum, but it looks cool. It holds the Classical Antiquities and the Greek Collection.








the Neue Wach, or New Watch -- a monument to women who have lost their sons in any of the wars or battles. Note that above the actual sculpture is an intentional opening to the sky -- during inclement weather, rain and snow will fall on the sculpture of the mother holding her deceased son.







Brandenburg Gate by (overcast, rainy) day. (you will see an evening picture later.)












The Holocaust Memorial -- which is better expressed in a 3D photograph, if I could. This is a corner property filled with a grouping of blocks of various heights, ranging from a few feet tall to, I would guess, 20 feet tall. There is an uneven walkway in between all of the blocks. It is supposed to denote confusion as you walk through.













A local chocolatier creates sculptures of Berlin landmarks out of chocolate. This is the Kaiser Wilhelm church, near where we stayed. Note the detail! :)















A section of the Wall and the "death strip" has been preserved. (Unfortunately, as the Wall Monument will be changed over the coming years, the sandy desolation of the strip will be turned into a park. Sad, as it COMPLETELY destroys the effect of what it must've felt like.)






The death strip as seen through a hole in the wall.












An evening (nearly 10pm) picture of Brandenburg Gate. The sky looked fabulous, despite the on-and-off rain.













And yet another view of the gate. This time, you're seeing it from the Reichstag (the national government bldg). One of the very touristy things to do in Berlin is to climb up to the top of the dome -- we were part of the last group they allowed in that night.










Here, we were on top of the Reichstag building, and looking over at the glass dome that we had climbed up into (via a series of ramps). Look at the people for a sense of scale...










The real Kaiser Wilhelm church (not the one made out of chocolate). Our first non-rainy day in Berlin!! The spire itself got bombed out in 1943, and the modern-looking spire to the right is currently used.















A reflection in the church window... there's a Mercedes building nearby.















This picture exemplifies a lot of what we like about Berlin -- variety of buildings, and balcony gardens! There are no rooftop gardens in this picture, but Berlin also has its share. (This is in comparison to Copenhagen, where the majority of buildings are either very touristy-pastel such as Nyhavn, or post-Cold War look such as where we live...)








Sunset on the Danish countryside, as we took the train back to Copenhagen.