Berlin: Day 1

The first day in Berlin! I was tired after a five-hour train ride, but excited to see the city. We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof relatively early in the morning and took a rather roundabout bus route to the hotel, Hotel Ludwig van Beethoven.

I was very surprised, though perhaps I shouldn't have been,  at how lovely the former  East Berlin is. In fact, it's actually nicer than West Berlin in many places! I attribute this to the extremely low value of property in the former East after the fall of the Wall and the eager advance of entrepreneurs from the West. Go capitalism!

The first sight of our five-day whirlwind tour of the city, the Fernsehturm. We arrived here straight out of the train station at Alexander-Platz and went up to the observation deck. First, though, we toured the vast plaza.

View of the old church on Alexander-Platz.

The Deutscher Dom looms in the distance. It would have been an excellent shot were it not for the salt crystals on my camera lens (they're responsible for the top-right blur that occurs in many of my photos).

If you ever have a sudden desire to see as many fountains as possible, go to Germany. Die sind überall.

As the skies cleared, the pictures improved. Compare this to the above shot of the same building.

The base of the tower usually has an impressive stairway leading directly to the second level of the entrance building, but it's being renovated.

I was surprised to see Poseidon in the middle of Berlin, but it's still a nice fountain.

Two sights on Alexander-Platz: the fountain of Poseidon and the tower of the Rote Rathaus, whose name is as simple (and as fitting) as Nürnberg's Schöne Brunnen.

A monument to the men ultimately responsible for the existence of an East Germany. We took a group photo there, where I found it oddly difficult to smile. I managed, but I still don't look quite comfortable. I wonder why...

View from the observation deck of the Fernsehturm.

The Reichstag, viewed from the tower.

More of Berlin. There's a reason so much is green: during World War II, Berlin was pretty much leveled. Instead of rebuilding on all the ruins, they planted trees and made the entire Alte-Innenstadt into a giant park. I find the story symbolic of man's extraordinary ability to rise from the ashes of destruction...and of the fact that without man's mind, all there would be here is trees.

Ah, yes, Tacheles. The only time in the whole stay in Berlin where I actually felt the anxiety of being in the bad part of town at night. Maybe you know the feeling: a combination of fear of what might be lurking behind each corner, paranoia of what every person might have designs to do, and complete insecurity in one's own ability to defend oneself from any danger that might rear its ugly head. That's how I felt here, in an artist squat made from a bombed-out building that smells like the Great Old Ones and sounds like a prison...but with death metal. I was very glad to leave and checked my pockets many times over afterward.

Oh, yeah, I saw Darth Vader. No big deal.

The largest Synagogue in Berlin. It was destroyed on Kristallnachttt and wasn't rebuilt until after the War. I assume its proximity to Tacheles is responsible for the two policemen constantly on watch out front.

One of three big universities in Berlin, Humboldt-Universität was the only one I can specifically remember learning about. Correct me if I'm wrong, Herr Anderson, but didn't Onkel Karl's daughter study here?

#1 photo of the day, showing the silhouette of a bronze of a mounted Kaiser against a satiny blue twilight.

I really don't understand this one. Many of the  pedestrian crossing lights in Berlin bear this oddly-proportioned figure, known as Ampelmann ("traffic light man"). Berliners (the people, not the doughnuts, with apologies for using two parentheticals in a single line and for that awful joke) love this guy and seem to have made a merchandising industry around him. In every souvenir shop here, one finds Ampelmann pens, mugs, T-shirts, hard liquor (!), and gummies. I don't understand the attraction.

The Brandenburg Gate is well-lit at night.  We're approaching from the East side.

Detail of the Roman chariot above the gate. Hail, Caesar!

The most famous--and most expensive--hotel in Berlin, costing over €10 000,- per night. For perspective, that's about $14,000.

I felt the need to record my symbolic walk through the gate. It's not perfect, but I actually like the shakiness. It gives the feeling of walking by my side.

German Word of the Day / Deutsches Wort des Tages
der Tor :: gate
Herr Gorbachew, öffnen Sie diesen Tor!
Mister Gorbachev, open this gate!