Day 7: Berlin

Well, posting last night was a bit difficult as Brandon's overzealous use of the umlaut caused some formatting problems...such a negative first experience with the blog will put him on hiatus for a while, but maybe he'll be back blogging before the trip is over... he is pretty good at it ;)

This morning started bright and early at 7am. With the sun shining through our window, we arose and prepared for our first full day of Berlin. We had tickets to see the Bundestag Dome at 8:15am, so departure was set for about 7:40. We arrive just on time and were very officially escorted to the top of the dome for a guided audio tour. Spectacular views and fascinating history, this stop was well worth the early wake up call. Still a little chilly, we stopped by briefly by the Brandenburger Tor, an icon of Berlin, before we headed back to the hostel to get some extra layers. However, it appears that Berlin, for us, will be der Stadt des Schlafes (the city of sleep). We ended up taking a nap to recharge before heading out and tomorrow will be our first day without setting an alarm-- I think we are both looking forward to that. After our nap, we left to see the Stasi Prison outside of town. The metro trip went faster than we expected so we got to walk around the little town of Hohenschoenhausen, finding a supermarket (with Havana Club!) and a little cafe where we enjoyed a 1/2 a grilled chicken and bread. It was really delicious! The English Tour of the Stasi Prison started at 2:30 so we walked over to catch that, and what an experience it was. The place is huge and completely fenced/walled in. They did a great job of really letting you feel what it was like in the prison with completely accessible doors, beds, lights, etc. and a tour guide who gave us tons of information about what the isolating experience was like for a prisoner. I can't imagine being held there for any length of time.

After that, around 4:15, we went back into the city and walked around a market, which we found out was an African Festival, reminding me much of my time in South Africa last summer with the Women's Glee Club. We also found a bar at the festival that was selling Havana Club Rum, Brandon's favorite Rum from his Cuban tour with the Men's Glee Club. So in the middle of Berlin, we found an intersection of my trip to Africa, his trip to Cuba, and our trip together. That, and the Rum and Coke was great.

Then in a spur of the moment decision, we decided to ride the train out to the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens beat Hitler's best runners in the Olympics in the 1930s. So much history there to see. We rode the train back in to the middle of the city to what is supposedly the best Currywurst in Berlin, a turkish-german fusion dish found almost exclusively here in Berlin. As the sun set, we walked through the massive park which used to be the Kaiser's hunting grounds in the center of the city. It was incredibly beautiful; we got to see the sun set over the victory column and nightfall on the Brandenburger Tor. After walking for over 2 hours straight, we welcome our return to the hostel and even more so, our chance to sleep in tomorrow morning.