City Sights ala Germany

We awoke to see it snowing again! Yay! At first it was coming down in large clumps but then petered out into sprinkles every now and again. We finally got out and about to see some famous Berliner sights. The first stop was the Jewish Museum. Okay, so the building was a bit weird - an architect made the walls at odd angles and occasionally we found doors leading to cold, empty rooms. Apparently this was to symbolise the absence of the Jews from Germany. The building was also a bit difficult to actually enter. First there was the metal detector. Which we were fine with - having been to numerous airports. But then we worked out that we needed audio commentaries. So we queued up and then discovered we needed ID (ie - my license) as assurance of us returning the ipods. We tried to enter the museum but were told to place our bags and jackets in the cloakroom. So we queued up at the cloakroom. Finally we were allowed in. There were some very sad, depressing stories about broken families, kidnapping, murders and deportation of the Jews.

^^ This one was dedicated to the lives lost in the war, and is called '10 thousand faces'.

We missed our next stop (Berlin Wall) but managed to see some markets outside a Prussian building (which is now a concert hall or in German, Konzerthaus). The hot chocolate was fantastico! I was coerced into having my photo taken with a charming man in costume (he was ticket collector for the markets) and also with another costumed soldier (American) which was worth the two euros he charged us :). [he was very friendly]


Next on the list was Berlin Wall aka Checkpoint Charlie. They had a wall set up with maps and pictures in chronological order depicting the history of the wall. Very interesting. We had to dodge the man selling Russian hats on the corner. Some of the wall was remaining - which we later passed on the bus - but only the concrete facade displaying murals from many international artists.

Also worth mentioning is the stunning German/Prussian buildings of palaces and tall, pointy objects (for Riana), and even train stations. The scenery was incredible especially with the snow, the icy river, the warm glow from the Narnia-esque lamposts and quaint bridges.


We finished evening with a filling German Snitchel from an authentic Deutschland restaurant. Belle had the pork (Schweinesnitchel) and I had the veal (weinersnitchel). We weren't allowed desert because it was quite ritzy. By the way, the complimentary starter the waiter brought out was slightly offputting when he introduced it as goose fat pate. The bread was lovely. Belle liked the pate and I did too but it was hard to get the head around the idea.


Belle has been practising her French in readiness for Paris tomorrow. In fact, she even had a mini conversation with a French lady on the bus! Tres bien Belle!


Love,

Bek and Belle

P.s. Embarrassing moment of the day: Our first stop at the Jewish museum was a little embarrassing. We were a bit excited hopping off the bus and through the snow towards the museum. Some would call it frolicking, but I thought it was more exaggerated stepping. As it turns out, we earnt some disapproving stares from a nearby policeman and bystanders.