I arrived in Berlin on friday night at the new central train station. It looks like a shopping mall, and it actually is. There are three huge floors of posh stores and in the basement is one set of tracks. The other set of tracks runs on the 5th floor with massive columns holding them up. It is by far the most impressive structure I've seen. Also, while waiting for the train on the way home there was a Bomb scare because some luggage was left unattended. About a half year ago a person put a luggage bomb on a train and the only reason that it didn't blowup was because they didn't make it correctly - Now everyone is paranoid, but the trains are empty, Bonus for me.
The Brandenberg Gate, A symbol of Berlin since 1791 on Pariser Platz (Paris square). It sat right behind the Berlin wall for 28 years and Paris square was essentially dead. Something that you would never think of, but is quite interesting: The subway lines across the wall were closed and guarded during the cold war. Apparently it only took hours to reestablish the old routes when the restrictions ended. This is where I crossed the wall for the first time. Double-wide bricks mark the path of the wall, which is mostly gone. The bricks cross gardens, streets, sidewalks, and run through some buildings that were built on sites where the wall existed. 
The Reichstag, now the German Parliament. It was the last stand at the end of WW2 in Europe. 2000 Germans delayed the end of the war by two days here. Where in Canada would be the last stand if we were invaded? the Parliament in Ottawa? probably not. I bet it would be the Labatt Brewery or something like that, or maybe the Hockey hall of fame. Please comment (at the bottom of the post) with suggestions.
The Dome on the Reichstag was destroyed and they replaced it with a Super-modern looking glass dome which has ramps that twist their way to the top. Also the huge glass column in the middle is adjustable to reflect natural light into the building. You can look down the shirts of the politicians through the window too. That big Shield in the background also rotates to block out light if needed. The Reichstag was free too, although the line was large, and they came just short of a cavity search on the way in, Tight security.
I bought a Museum pass, Museums are usually around 8 euro each to get into and I never spend very long in them ( I have a short attention span) but it was raining a lot all weekend, so I thought of it more as a shelter pass than a museum pass. I got a sweet student discount too. I think I visited 6 or 7 museums. Above is the Pergamon alter. I also saw the bust of Nefertiti in the museum next door. I'm a fan of museums that offer half hour "highlights" tours or audio guides.
The Berlin Cathedral and construction. This was the most outrageously priced church I've ever seen. I couldn't swindle my way down from 5 euro entrance fee so I didn't go in. It looked really nice from the outside, so I was ok with that. The women on the horse to the left is also fighting some kind of war with out a shirt on. Just thought I'd point that out. The crane in this picture was one of probably 50 that are visible on the skyline. Berlin is building like crazy and they have been building like this since the early 90s. My favorite construction site is the new American embassy where American tax payers are paying for a street to be moved 50ft so that they can have more security. 
Potsdamer Platz is the new center of Berlin. before and after every war Berlin has had a different "cool place" to open stores and sell stuff. This means that the "city center" has shifted about 6 times in the past century. During the Wall years, east and west Berlin also competed by building shopping areas with bigger and better stores to show that their economic system was more prosperous. Potsdamer Platz was cut by the wall so it was a huge open area for 28 years with guard towers and such. After reunification it was a perfect place to build tons of huge buildings. The result is in the next picture. Potsdamer Platz: also the site where the first piece of the wall fell in that famous video.
Yeah, I almost messed myself when I saw it too, And yes that huge tent-like roof is standing on a pole, and yes that pole is hanging from the surrounding buildings. The Sony center just off Potsdamer platz is where many huge companies moved in after the wall fell. Its weird because Berlin itself is very cheap, food, hostels, everything: Yet all the buildings are amazing and I'm sure super expensive. I assume this is all Corporate money and probably a lot of Government funding. Munich and Stuttgart are considered to be "richer" cities than Berlin.
Now, If you were Prussia and you just received a bunch of money in war reparations from France after you beat Napoleon, what would you do with it? .... "Hey lets build a big monument to celebrate our victory!" The Victory Column, or Siegessaule was paid for with French Francs to rub it in their faces. I thought that this was Hilarious, you should too.
For 28 years the cold war raged, sort of. Berlin was possibly one of the most tense places, and Checkpoint Charlie (at the border between the American sector and the Russian Sector) was probably the tensest. It was the only place where East Berliners were allowed to enter West Berlin. There is a whole museum devoted to the wall which mostly focuses on the ways that people escaped from West Berlin. Some pretty interesting stories.
The Berlin wall is really only 13 ft tall, the reason that it was so hard to cross: guards shooting at you while you try to climb it. The most successful methods of crossing the wall: Swimming the river at night or becoming a guard and making a break for it.
Whoa, that is it. This post was really long, but Berlin was really amazing. Go there.
The Reichstag, now the German Parliament. It was the last stand at the end of WW2 in Europe. 2000 Germans delayed the end of the war by two days here. Where in Canada would be the last stand if we were invaded? the Parliament in Ottawa? probably not. I bet it would be the Labatt Brewery or something like that, or maybe the Hockey hall of fame. Please comment (at the bottom of the post) with suggestions.
The Dome on the Reichstag was destroyed and they replaced it with a Super-modern looking glass dome which has ramps that twist their way to the top. Also the huge glass column in the middle is adjustable to reflect natural light into the building. You can look down the shirts of the politicians through the window too. That big Shield in the background also rotates to block out light if needed. The Reichstag was free too, although the line was large, and they came just short of a cavity search on the way in, Tight security.I bought a Museum pass, Museums are usually around 8 euro each to get into and I never spend very long in them ( I have a short attention span) but it was raining a lot all weekend, so I thought of it more as a shelter pass than a museum pass. I got a sweet student discount too. I think I visited 6 or 7 museums. Above is the Pergamon alter. I also saw the bust of Nefertiti in the museum next door. I'm a fan of museums that offer half hour "highlights" tours or audio guides.
The Berlin Cathedral and construction. This was the most outrageously priced church I've ever seen. I couldn't swindle my way down from 5 euro entrance fee so I didn't go in. It looked really nice from the outside, so I was ok with that. The women on the horse to the left is also fighting some kind of war with out a shirt on. Just thought I'd point that out. The crane in this picture was one of probably 50 that are visible on the skyline. Berlin is building like crazy and they have been building like this since the early 90s. My favorite construction site is the new American embassy where American tax payers are paying for a street to be moved 50ft so that they can have more security. Potsdamer Platz is the new center of Berlin. before and after every war Berlin has had a different "cool place" to open stores and sell stuff. This means that the "city center" has shifted about 6 times in the past century. During the Wall years, east and west Berlin also competed by building shopping areas with bigger and better stores to show that their economic system was more prosperous. Potsdamer Platz was cut by the wall so it was a huge open area for 28 years with guard towers and such. After reunification it was a perfect place to build tons of huge buildings. The result is in the next picture. Potsdamer Platz: also the site where the first piece of the wall fell in that famous video.Yeah, I almost messed myself when I saw it too, And yes that huge tent-like roof is standing on a pole, and yes that pole is hanging from the surrounding buildings. The Sony center just off Potsdamer platz is where many huge companies moved in after the wall fell. Its weird because Berlin itself is very cheap, food, hostels, everything: Yet all the buildings are amazing and I'm sure super expensive. I assume this is all Corporate money and probably a lot of Government funding. Munich and Stuttgart are considered to be "richer" cities than Berlin.Now, If you were Prussia and you just received a bunch of money in war reparations from France after you beat Napoleon, what would you do with it? .... "Hey lets build a big monument to celebrate our victory!" The Victory Column, or Siegessaule was paid for with French Francs to rub it in their faces. I thought that this was Hilarious, you should too.For 28 years the cold war raged, sort of. Berlin was possibly one of the most tense places, and Checkpoint Charlie (at the border between the American sector and the Russian Sector) was probably the tensest. It was the only place where East Berliners were allowed to enter West Berlin. There is a whole museum devoted to the wall which mostly focuses on the ways that people escaped from West Berlin. Some pretty interesting stories.The Berlin wall is really only 13 ft tall, the reason that it was so hard to cross: guards shooting at you while you try to climb it. The most successful methods of crossing the wall: Swimming the river at night or becoming a guard and making a break for it.Whoa, that is it. This post was really long, but Berlin was really amazing. Go there.
This weekend I went to Heidelberg with my roommate Garrit. He lives in a small town called HaBloch (the B is actually a beta symbol and is pronounced like a double s) which is near Mannheim, which is also near Heidelberg. We went to his parents house on Saturday for lunch (actually more like a feast than a lunch) which was very nice. His parents don't speak english very well, but I think they were happy that I was there. They asked me to say my best german sentance and then laughed when I said "Austig Im Factrichtung Links" which means "Exit the train on the left side in the direction of travel." Yeah, I guess I've taken a lot of trains.
On Sunday we stopped at "Das Fest" in Karlsruhe on the way home. It was basically a big outdoor music festival. We heard that it might be fun because there were 20 000 people expected. We got their mid afternoon and saw a crazy band from Spain who reminded me of Sublime. They had a trombone player who was thoroghly entertaining and acted like a backup dancer when he wasn't playing. He would go nuts and play air guitar on the trombone during the heavy parts of the song and then disassemble his trombone and wave it around while he danced.
In Belgium I stayed in a town called Brugges (pronounced kinda like Bruise, but a "g" instead of s) It was an hour train ride west of Brussels and about 20mins from the beach. Brugges is actually a town that was founded in the 12th century. Now it has a mix between historical buildings and touristy shopping streets. Brugge claims to be the Venice of the north because of its elaborate canal system which is actually pretty cute, but the smell is horrible.
Brugges has a few other claims to fame: In one of the churches there is a cylinder of blood that was carried on the crusades way back in the day because it is said to be from Jesus. This church was coincidentally named the "church of the holy blood." The Cylinder is paraded around town once a year in a big festival. I fortunately missed this day, I was grossed out by the story and really didn't want to see the cylinder. I did go to see the most famous thing in Brugge though. The "Madonna and child" by Michelangelo is displayed in one of the Churches. It is one of the few Michelangelo sculptures that isn't in Italy. I was purchased by two Brugge merchants in the 1500s and amazingly was returned to the church twice after being looted by french revolutionaries and the Nazis.
In the early afternoon on Saturday I grew tired of the Brugge tourist scene and went to the beach. I went to Oostende, a popular little port/beach town on the North sea. About 25-60 years ago, when my mom was in Belgium this is where an old man came up and thanked her for Canada's help in the Second world war. Although I did not swim (it was kinda windy and cold) I did have a nice day at the beach. 
On Sunday I spend the day in Brussels, One of the great cities of the world and home of the European Union. My navigational skills were really tested, but I definitely got my 4 euro worth out of my daily transit pass. Brussels is a really cool city and I wish I could have spent more time there. Full of palaces, statues, and sites where extraordinary historical events took place. Like Waterloo, where Napoleon met his Waterloo (haha) about 20k south of Brussels. Or one of the current high schools which was once a conference center where Einstein, Bohr and other Nobel prize laureates met to discuss the "new" quantum theory in the 1920s. The above picture is of the Cinquantenaire on the east side of the city. This Huge gate is in the middle of a beautiful urban park. All made possible by the highway bypass that runs under the city, and directly under the gates. (eat your heart out Boston, it didn't even cost 4 billion dollars)
The National Basilica of Belgium, the largest Church I've ever been in. It wasn't the fanciest and it was under renovation so all of the relics were covered, but the size of it is astounding. It took almost 70years to build (delayed by two world wars) and is the 5th largest church in the world. I couldn't find out how many people it holds, but I would estimate about 20 - 25 000 if you include the 2nd deck. Truly impressive.
Originally build only for the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, The Atonium exhibit had to be permanently extended because it was so popular. The 103m tall structure is complete with observation deck, museum, restaurant, and sleeping quarters for school groups. It is a truly unique part of the Brussels skyline and possibly the most out-of-place thing I've seen so far. Its actually modeled after an Iron Molecule (magnified 165 billion times), pretty sweet, in a nerdy kinda way. 
Heidi: "I was looking at your facebook pictures, are you in Stuttgart?"
Austria was once one of the strongest empires in the Europe, but that all ended at the start of WWI when Franz Ferdinand (a hapsburg emperor) was assassinated. The Grand Opera in Vienna, built by the emperor to entertain guests which I unfortunately could not attend. Opera and the Waltz are still "IN" in Austria, which is still holding on to its culture despite devastation in WWI and Literally not existing during WWII. 
The party also extended into several of the surrounding buildings. One building had a disco, one had a band playing. I think that Germans are Obsessed with Johnny Cash. Its all that these guys played the whole night I think. Notice the out of place cowboy hat. also the Guitar player on the right didn't smile the whole time.
