Germany: Berlin, May 15

After Weird Wednesday, we drove back to Brandon's house for a night of mid-week rest. We also thought it would be funny to eat at the "American" restaurant near his house, so we chomped down some huge, nasty burgers and french fries. It was definitely amazing.

On Thursday, we loaded the hot, sweaty car for our last road trip, and headed off to Berlin. We arrived in time for a four-hour afternoon tour, led by a young woman from Lock Haven, PA. No joke, I spotted her accent immediately, and she was quite humored by the fact that Brandon and I were part of her tour. It's a small world, afterall.

Touring Berlin is an overwhelming experience because it has such a unique history and is filled with so many important historical pieces of information. Obviously, I can't remember everything I learned - Brandon probably does since he loves history and found all of this information extremely fascinating. Again, I was overwhelmed. We basically spent a good 10 hours either on tour, in a museum, or exploring on our own, and there was just so much to see. I will try to list the main points of interest:

1. Dunkin Donuts by the train station (hahaha. dead serious)

2. Telespargel or TV Station - largest tower in the city (spargel means asparagus)

3. Berliner Dom, or Protestant Cathedral

4. River Spree

5. Art Museums (we only looked at the exterior to see bullet holes from WW2)

6. Zeughaus, pink building that housed artillery (yes, pink)

7. Book burning memorial (across from Humbolt University)

8. Alexanderplatz (historic core of old Berlin)

9. Unter der Linden (once a famous mall, site of French and Russian Embassy)

10. Brandenburger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate (symbol of Germany's division and symbol of Nazi Germany)

11. Museum The Kennedys (JFK spent less than a day in Berlin, but gave a famous speech - "We are all Berliners")

12. New US Embassy on Pariser Platz (near The Gate and Kennedy Museum)

13. Reichstag, or the Parliament Building

14. Holocaust Memorial for Jewish victims (abstract in design)

15. Spot where Hitler committed suicide (now a parking lot at apartment complex)

16. June 17 1953 Memorial (in front of only standing Nazi building)

17. Berlin Wall

18. Checkpoint Charlie

19. Potsdamer Platz (where we saw two Memphis student-athletes by complete randomness)

Like I said, lots to see. Lots to do. Lots to learn. All fascinating, all insightful, all historical.