Berlin is a great city, thoroughly destroyed by WWII, separated by a huge wall, and now more progressive than Frankfurt in almost every way. For instance, speaking on the train, speaking English, being non-white: nicht verboten! The Berlin Zoo and Aquarium did not disappoint. We waited outside the gate at opening time and made a dash for Knut and Gianna, two famous polar bears. About a dozen people were already there trying to get pictures of the bear antics. Gianna (the person) really liked all the animals at the zoo and the aquarium. She got to pet fish and see some animals she had only seen in picture books, like the panda.
Using the efficient U/S Bahn system, we were able to take in a lot of other sites in West and East Berlin including the Brandenburg Gate, Jewish Holocaust Memorial, Homosexual Holocaust Memorial, Tiergarten, Checkpoint Charlie, and a bunch of other museums and old buildings. We took a boat tour of the city on Sunday (while it was raining) and drank copious amounts of Dunkin Donuts coffee the entire weekend. No, they did not have pumpkin spice. I was disappointed, but settled for my year-round flavor, caramel. It felt great to slam down a few Boston Creams and Munchkins.
Take a look at the photos here, but one word of warning, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial was loads of fun. I don't think anyone meant disrespect to the millions of Jews that lost their lives, but the undulating concrete slabs form an irresistible hedge maze to run up and down and ample platforms to pose for photos. The one security guy had his hands full chasing people off the slabs.
Looks like you had a great time in spite of the rain. I'm glad you got your Dunkin Donut fix.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, I should have bought a bag or two of Dunkin coffee to make at home. We saw people carrying huge boxes of Dunkin Donuts onto the long distance train. We just don't plan ahead!!
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