Berlin at night is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. It is hard to describe but all the different lights reflecting of the glass of the new buildings, and how everyone is still up doing tourist things. We stayed out till 10:30 every night. Then for dinner that night we got Mexican Food, it was either that or American food. There is nothing I do not want to eat more than anything else is American Food. Who ever comes up with the crap doesn't have a sense of taste. The American Restaurant was called The Sixites. It was themed as a sixties diner, and it looked like Uncle Sam took a patriot dump all over the inside. I was surprised by the number of people that packed the restaurant every day. Cancun was the Mexican restaurant, and It is pretty good for Europe. I got a Burrito so life was good.
The Hotel was really nice. It was a little wierd tho because it was located in a neighborhood (Alt-Marienplatz). It was bigger than a bed n' breakfast but not huge. The first night Albert saw the candy of the snack bar in the room and that was all he cared about the whole time. Ever heard of Knik Knaks? Lucky you! They are deep fried peanuts and have to be the worst thing for you in Germany. I didn't like them.
The First day went to Alexander Platz, The TV Tower, and West Berlin. Alexander Platz is really cool for about 20 minutes and then I got sick of all the people in the cluster fuck that was the Oktoberfest, or it could of been the people that kept asking me if I wanted to take a bus tour. By the way, we did end up taking a bus tour that was really cool. Petra made sure to get one that did German and English for me, and I was surprised I understood the German better. The TV Tower was pretty cool. One of my favorite things about is that no matter where you are in Berlin, you can usually see it. We went up to the top to see the city and that was pretty cool. We made sure to get Berlin Doener because Daniel said it's the best in Germany. I can not decide which part of Berlin I like better. They are so different. West Berlin was pretty cool. There was this store like Macy's in Downtown, Chicago. On the top floor was a food mart, that had everything, even people there to cook your food for you. It was also my fist time seeing a dog in a grocery store. We got some bread and then at it on the pedestrian zone while we watched some break dancers. West Berlin is the Michigan Avenue of Berlin, and all I heard the whole day is how awesome Niketown is. So we went shopping. Fritz got some Nike sweatpants that he still hasn't taken off since. Who ever told me the Germans never leave their house in sweat pants is wrong.
On Day 2 we went to the Olympic Stadium, The Sony Center, and The Dome on the Capital. In Berlin the subway is FREE! I could not believe it because we went so many places on it and never paid a dime. It was also really clean, and they allowed dogs on the trains. The CTA needs to start using Berlin as an example. Every Subway station had a Dunkin Donuts and I was surprised I never got coffee once. The Olympic Stadium was really interesting. Daniel and I got the most from the trip. They showed us all of Hitler's clubrooms and places. I got to stand where stood to watch the games, I don't know if I should be proud of that. It was a little weird, but the view was great. Next we went to the Sony Center, one of Murphy/Jahn's greatest creations in my opinion. On the second or third day Petra and Daniel asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told them an Architect and that I wanted to work for Murphy/Jahn and that they designed the Sony Center and Dome on the capitol. Petra made sure we visited it. The Sony center is like the Hollywood of Berlin. The Capitol was interesting for anyone 16 and up because there was a guided tour through the spiral catwalk of the dome about the city. Albert and Fredreich were done in 20 minutes while the rest of us took an hour.
When we finished the tour Daniel realized that is wallet was missing and he thinks he left it when he was buying the kids food. Albert and Fritz never ate enough breakfast so the whole time we were walking around all we heard about was there hunger and Knik Knaks. After everything was taken care of, (all is good now, the cards were not used and he only had twenty dollars in the wallet.). We got some bread and cheese from the grocery store in the train station and ate it by the River Spree.
That night we went to Kreüzberg (HOI-st-berg). It is probably my favorite neighborhood in Berlin. Kreueberg was like Wicker Park but more diverse. There I found a small section of the wall that still stood, called the East Side Gallery. The buildings were all painted not only with graffiti but also artistically. It was combined with the freaks of Venice Beach, California. we decided to get Pakistani food for dinner. My vote was that or the Sudan food. Petra, Daniel, and I out voted Fritz who wanted Pizza. We got different types of curry and shared it. I got lamb, Albert got duck, and Petra for lentil. Lamb was my favorite, but the duck wasn't bad. Some of my favorite pictures came from Kreueberg.
And then the finally day we went to the Brandenburg Gate. This was the main thing I wanted to see out of the whole trip. The Sony Center was a pleasant surprise. The Gate, unfortunately, was closed do to the German Unity Family Carnival. We also say Check Point Charlie. That was interesting for about 5 minutes. As we were walking through the train station waiting to leave Daniel meet some friends from Altstaette, which is weird because Altstaette is only 2,000 people. Wolfsburg was a stop on the way home. It was not only a Nazi founded city but also the home to the VW factory and headquarters. That was cool to see. At the end of the day I took 614 photos of Berlin and my memory card was only have way filled! I love that city and want to go back so bad.
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