The longest day...
Our first stop today is to catch the Sandeman's Tour at the Brandenburger Tor's square.
We crossed Reichstag - Germany's Parliament grounds. The larger than life buildings casted a domineering shadow over the tiny humans (like us).
This is Germany's parliament house. The spiral walk encircling the dome enables visitors to view Berlin through its transparent dome. We are skipping the parliament house first and come back after the Sandeman's tour.
We crossed Reichstag - Germany's Parliament grounds. The larger than life buildings casted a domineering shadow over the tiny humans (like us).
These large buildings signifies power and to instill a sense of authority
From the distance, the Berlin Tower. That's where we are heading later by FOOT!
This place gave a strange feel. Big buildings, perfect garden and NO ONE around.
This is Germany's parliament house. The spiral walk encircling the dome enables visitors to view Berlin through its transparent dome. We are skipping the parliament house first and come back after the Sandeman's tour.
Here we are. A stone throw away and we reached Brandenburger Tor. I bet this looks familiar to you. Top of the gate lies a chariot driven by Victoria (Roman Goddess of victory). This gate watched all the war and glory of Germany. Through thick and thin, this gate survived and still stand tall to reflect the political role it has played in Germany.
In front of Starbucks, groups of eager tourists like us are gathering up. We took our numbers and got Natasha as our tour guide. I still remember her as she has this accent where she pronounced "Person" as "Pear-son". "Perfect" as "Pear-fect".
The good thing about Berlin is you'll be able to reach one attraction to another easily as it's located closely together. If you walk really fast, you will reach the Holocaust.
Holocaust. This bizarre looking structure is open for you to ponder. Some says it looks like tomb stones. Some says it's an artistic genius. Some criticized and dislike it. Others have nightmares looking at it. This, my friend is the memorial for the murdered Jews in Europe during the wars.
A design competition was held. The 2,711 of differing size of blocks were constructed after this design outwitted other design proposals. It gave an eerie feeling as you walk into the maze of uneven blocks. It created blind spots as all you can see is people kept popping in and out of the slabs.
To me, I feel it's an artistic memorial where it successfully delivered the message that it's supposed to. It is vague without any sign mentioning it's a memorial. Thus, giving a chance for visitors to ponder in a solemn atmosphere this memorial exudes.
We continued our walks and came to the first sight of a remaining Berlin wall.
The wall was so beaten up and one can only imagine how many people were killed during their attempt to cross over the wall back then.
At the beginning, I imagined Berlin Wall as a long straight wall separating the East and West Berlin. Well, of course that's wrong! The wall was built encircling West Berlin from East Berlin. Stone strips where the wall once was, were now seen almost everywhere as we walked around Berlin. Some strips zig zag across roads, some around parks and some went across parking lots where cards are parked on it. It gave an impression that the German's had moved on but the history of it will be forever engraved in their soul.
We continued our way to Checkpoint Charlie. According to Natasha, this is the first successful cars in Germany. It sells like hot cakes and parents even ordered the car as soon as the child was born so that the car will be completed in time when the child is old enough to drive!
Finally, we're at Charlie's checkpoint. It is a symbol representing the separation of the West & East Berlin.
Btw, that guy is NOT Charlie.
We heard many stories of people attempting daring and desparate escape across the wall. Imagine a person being separated from his/her family & loved ones because of that wall! Some even tried to cross the border by hiding under the car seat which was later sewn up. OK, I am not even mentioning those gruesome traps set within the wall yet.
Here we are at Gendarmenmarkt. This is one of the most beautiful platz where the French and German cathedrals faced each other. They are almost mirror like. You can see our guide Natasha enthusiastically telling us more stories.
We made our way to Bebelplatz that houses the National Opera Theatre. Notice that it looks new. Well, Berlin suffered a lot of damages during the World War. Most of the buildings were re uilt or at least refurbished.
Bebelplatz witnessed another event that went to the history books. 10th May 1933, Nazi students gathered and burnt 20,000 books by Jewish writers and socialists. What was left today was a memorial in the middle of Bebelplatz. If you peer through the glass top, you will see what appears to be a library of books. Picture by Sandeman's.
Look up to the other end of Bebelplatz and you will see the Humboldt University. The oldest university in Berlin (1810) boasted students such as Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Otto Von Bismark, Hertz family (coined the term Hertz in physics), the Grimm's brother (yes, author of Grimms fairy tale) & the list goes on. Famous philosophers, ideologists, poets, socialists, writers, physicist were born. Students at those time were different. Unlike us getting headache of exams, students at those time were running away from the war torn country. Books were burnt. Teachers and students were killed in wars. The university was closed, reopened, transformed into Nazi education system etc. The university has 29 Nobel prizes under its belt.
Next to the university were several museums. This was another famous memorial. A woman was seen weeping on her dying child. Directly on top of them was an opening where the woman and child are exposed to sun, rain and snow - creating a somber and touching sight.
Our final stop is at Berliner Dom (cathedral). One of the less affected building during the WWII.
Museum Island. This museum is just next to the Berliner Dom. It was a hot and sunny day. While we are always hiding from the sun, Berliners are happily frolicking under the sun.
We tipped & waved goodbye to our awesome Sandeman's tour. Now, it's up to us to decide where to go. We decided to retrace the route back to enjoy the sights at our own pace this time. We walked around Berliner Dom and saw a terrace of restaurants & shops. Also, don't expect to see these naked statues back at home.
No? Go back to my previous post.
This is the traffic light's "Stop" and "Go" man - Ampelmann. How brilliant! The traffic light man can become a franchise. The Ampelmann store has everything you can imagine with the traffic light man on it - cups, towels, shirts, umbrella...bla bla bla
This hotel has a larger than life aquarium extending all the way to the top of the hotel. Look at the tiny humans below. A sight not to be missed.
This strange looking cube is Berlin's Art Exhibition. It's closed though when we were there.
This is the nearest I could get to capture the Berlin's TV tower. Look closer and you can see people posting love messages around the tower's pillar. We had lunch at McD. The elevated location had us face to face with the Berlin Tower while having our lunch.
We went back to Checkpoint Charlie. Reading the history boards. I don't know if it's me but there's something really "wrong" with the picture if you look closely.
We were resting our feet on a bus stop and I looked behind. It's the Berlin Story store! (bookstore holding a massive collection of Berlin story books). This store is the first stop if you follow the Berlin Story path. What a good stumbling.
Has the exhaustion got into our brains? Suddenly, we went bear crazy and tracked down all the mascot bears in Berlin.
We came to Potsdamer Platz. The area where it looked like we have been transported to the future. Just look at the architecture.
As you can see, it's getting dark. We passed by the Holocaust again and managed to capture the sight at night. The surrounding breathes a sense of eeriness.
We thought about making our final stop at the Parliament house but it's already 10PM and the last batch of visitors just went in.
Haha! How ambitious of us when our feet doesn't feel like feet anymore. We actually covered 3/4 of Berlin twice as we backtracked all the places.
In front of Starbucks, groups of eager tourists like us are gathering up. We took our numbers and got Natasha as our tour guide. I still remember her as she has this accent where she pronounced "Person" as "Pear-son". "Perfect" as "Pear-fect".
The good thing about Berlin is you'll be able to reach one attraction to another easily as it's located closely together. If you walk really fast, you will reach the Holocaust.
Holocaust. This bizarre looking structure is open for you to ponder. Some says it looks like tomb stones. Some says it's an artistic genius. Some criticized and dislike it. Others have nightmares looking at it. This, my friend is the memorial for the murdered Jews in Europe during the wars.
A design competition was held. The 2,711 of differing size of blocks were constructed after this design outwitted other design proposals. It gave an eerie feeling as you walk into the maze of uneven blocks. It created blind spots as all you can see is people kept popping in and out of the slabs.
To me, I feel it's an artistic memorial where it successfully delivered the message that it's supposed to. It is vague without any sign mentioning it's a memorial. Thus, giving a chance for visitors to ponder in a solemn atmosphere this memorial exudes.
We continued our walks and came to the first sight of a remaining Berlin wall.
The wall was so beaten up and one can only imagine how many people were killed during their attempt to cross over the wall back then.
At the beginning, I imagined Berlin Wall as a long straight wall separating the East and West Berlin. Well, of course that's wrong! The wall was built encircling West Berlin from East Berlin. Stone strips where the wall once was, were now seen almost everywhere as we walked around Berlin. Some strips zig zag across roads, some around parks and some went across parking lots where cards are parked on it. It gave an impression that the German's had moved on but the history of it will be forever engraved in their soul.
We continued our way to Checkpoint Charlie. According to Natasha, this is the first successful cars in Germany. It sells like hot cakes and parents even ordered the car as soon as the child was born so that the car will be completed in time when the child is old enough to drive!
At times like this, I wished I am on one of those scooter instead.
Artistically bizarre stuff like this are easily spotted in Berlin. Love it!
Finally, we're at Charlie's checkpoint. It is a symbol representing the separation of the West & East Berlin.
Btw, that guy is NOT Charlie.
We heard many stories of people attempting daring and desparate escape across the wall. Imagine a person being separated from his/her family & loved ones because of that wall! Some even tried to cross the border by hiding under the car seat which was later sewn up. OK, I am not even mentioning those gruesome traps set within the wall yet.
Here we are at Gendarmenmarkt. This is one of the most beautiful platz where the French and German cathedrals faced each other. They are almost mirror like. You can see our guide Natasha enthusiastically telling us more stories.
We made our way to Bebelplatz that houses the National Opera Theatre. Notice that it looks new. Well, Berlin suffered a lot of damages during the World War. Most of the buildings were re uilt or at least refurbished.
Bebelplatz witnessed another event that went to the history books. 10th May 1933, Nazi students gathered and burnt 20,000 books by Jewish writers and socialists. What was left today was a memorial in the middle of Bebelplatz. If you peer through the glass top, you will see what appears to be a library of books. Picture by Sandeman's.
Look up to the other end of Bebelplatz and you will see the Humboldt University. The oldest university in Berlin (1810) boasted students such as Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Otto Von Bismark, Hertz family (coined the term Hertz in physics), the Grimm's brother (yes, author of Grimms fairy tale) & the list goes on. Famous philosophers, ideologists, poets, socialists, writers, physicist were born. Students at those time were different. Unlike us getting headache of exams, students at those time were running away from the war torn country. Books were burnt. Teachers and students were killed in wars. The university was closed, reopened, transformed into Nazi education system etc. The university has 29 Nobel prizes under its belt.
Next to the university were several museums. This was another famous memorial. A woman was seen weeping on her dying child. Directly on top of them was an opening where the woman and child are exposed to sun, rain and snow - creating a somber and touching sight.
Our final stop is at Berliner Dom (cathedral). One of the less affected building during the WWII.
Museum Island. This museum is just next to the Berliner Dom. It was a hot and sunny day. While we are always hiding from the sun, Berliners are happily frolicking under the sun.
We tipped & waved goodbye to our awesome Sandeman's tour. Now, it's up to us to decide where to go. We decided to retrace the route back to enjoy the sights at our own pace this time. We walked around Berliner Dom and saw a terrace of restaurants & shops. Also, don't expect to see these naked statues back at home.
Remember this?
No? Go back to my previous post.
This is the traffic light's "Stop" and "Go" man - Ampelmann. How brilliant! The traffic light man can become a franchise. The Ampelmann store has everything you can imagine with the traffic light man on it - cups, towels, shirts, umbrella...bla bla bla
This hotel has a larger than life aquarium extending all the way to the top of the hotel. Look at the tiny humans below. A sight not to be missed.
The red building. Well, the name is really the red building.
This strange looking cube is Berlin's Art Exhibition. It's closed though when we were there.
This is the nearest I could get to capture the Berlin's TV tower. Look closer and you can see people posting love messages around the tower's pillar. We had lunch at McD. The elevated location had us face to face with the Berlin Tower while having our lunch.
I know it's kiddy but I loved the chocolate straw!
We went back to Checkpoint Charlie. Reading the history boards. I don't know if it's me but there's something really "wrong" with the picture if you look closely.
A closer look of the Berlin wall.
Where are we now?
I don't mind getting lost with such sights.
The Bugatti
Bugatti Veyron. Once the fastest car in the world.
Instead of hanging it on the wall. Why not just give it to me??
We were resting our feet on a bus stop and I looked behind. It's the Berlin Story store! (bookstore holding a massive collection of Berlin story books). This store is the first stop if you follow the Berlin Story path. What a good stumbling.
Has the exhaustion got into our brains? Suddenly, we went bear crazy and tracked down all the mascot bears in Berlin.
We came to Potsdamer Platz. The area where it looked like we have been transported to the future. Just look at the architecture.
As you can see, it's getting dark. We passed by the Holocaust again and managed to capture the sight at night. The surrounding breathes a sense of eeriness.
We thought about making our final stop at the Parliament house but it's already 10PM and the last batch of visitors just went in.
Haha! How ambitious of us when our feet doesn't feel like feet anymore. We actually covered 3/4 of Berlin twice as we backtracked all the places.
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