Alright folks, here’s the Day 12 recap: Lots of traveling today as I went from Amsterdam to Berlin, which is in the northeast part of Germany. It was a 6 hour train ride, and while I am getting much more efficient at navigating all of the public transportation hurdles that each city throws at me, it was still close to 3 pm or so before I was able to go out. I had modest goals today in Berlin. I’m only here for a day and a half, and since I added this stop on the fly, I'm looking at everything I get to do here as a bonus.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Day 12 - Guttentag Deutschland!!!
What I wanted to do today was go to the Tiergarten and see the Victory Column, and then head to Potsdamer Platz for some food. First stop was the Tiergarten, which is essentially Berlin’s Central Park.
At this park, I went to go see a famous monument called the Berlin Victory Column that commemorates the major victories of Germany during the time of power of Otto van Bismark. Bismark was the main political force during the unification of the German Emipire in the late 19th centruy (realize Germany has only been a country since around the 1870’s or so). To commemorate this, they built this monument with cannons taken from the three losers of these various wars as part of the structure and used the war reparations that the French paid to finance it (one of those who got the short end of the stick). Here’s some shots of it:
Here's a close up of Lady Victory.
Ran into this monument on the way to the Berlin Victory Column. What is it? Great question. There's a big hammer and sickle stamped in the middle of this bad boy and the alphabet is Cyrillic, so I feel pretty confident in saying it's a Soviet monument and that the Germans didn't put it there.
Since it was written in Russian, I can't tell you anything about it except I'm guessing it was a WWII monument because 1941-1945 was prominently displayed (Let's be honest here: If it was written in German I couldn't tell you what it was either). UPDATE: This is the Soviet War Memorial Monument and apparently everyone is cool with it being there. Go figure.
After that I headed toward Potsdamer Plazt to see the former “Time Square” of Europe. I’m sorry to keep using all of these American analogies but I figured this is the best way to describe it. Before WWII this place was where you wanted to be in Germany on a Saturday night, but after the country split into East and West Germany , the Berlin Wall went right through it and turned it into the famed “Death Strip” between the two sides.
It pains me to realize this is now necessary, but for some of our younger readers, there used to be these little things called the Cold War and Communism and “Get under your desk because that will protect you from the nuclear bomb that just went off next to your school” drills. Ask your folks or (sigh) someone my age to explain.
The square has been rebuilt and this building, called the Sony Center, is the center piece. I hear it’s not a local favorite, but the structure is really cool. Very modern and very pretty with some great places to grub. Check it out:
Here's a shot of the buildings leading up to the canopy.
I decided to eat at one of the restaurants here. Which brings us to the food. I went to this place called Lindenbrau Beer Haus. While a new institution, it seems this is a very German kind of place They have a microbrewery in the restaurant and serve traditional German food. Here’s what I got:
I can’t speak for the outer rings of town, but central Berlin has this real modern, even slightly futuristic feel to it. This would make sense since 80% of the town was leveled at the end of WWII, but everything is really new. Roads are big, buildings have a clean, crisp feel to them, and in stereotypical German fashion, everything seems to be in its proper place and doing its proper function (with the exception of a graffiti problem for some reason)..
The great thing to me though, is that while it has a completely different feel than a Paris for instance, it doesn’t come off as sterile to me. This is the first city on the trip that I wouldn’t mind living in. I would use the word “slick” to describe it in the very best sense of the word.
Turns out I like sauerkraut (Who knew). Anyway, I am planning on eating no less than 10 or so meals that have basically the same caloric breakdown as this plate in the next few weeks, so it should be good news for people with stock in Tums.
And for all the funny guys out there who will make a comment, the answer is yes, that is a beer right behind the plate. I am not one to drink very often, but Oktoberfest is coming up and I will have to participate at least a little, so this is my Spring Training of sorts. For all the minors out there: Don't drink till your legal. Mrs. Sisak's (my cousin) class, ask your teacher. I didn't even have a Shirley Temple till I was like 25. Square people are cool. . .No seriously.
I can’t speak for the outer rings of town, but central Berlin has this real modern, even slightly futuristic feel to it. This would make sense since 80% of the town was leveled at the end of WWII, but everything is really new. Roads are big, buildings have a clean, crisp feel to them, and in stereotypical German fashion, everything seems to be in its proper place and doing its proper function (with the exception of a graffiti problem for some reason)..
The great thing to me though, is that while it has a completely different feel than a Paris for instance, it doesn’t come off as sterile to me. This is the first city on the trip that I wouldn’t mind living in. I would use the word “slick” to describe it in the very best sense of the word.
Here’s a couple of pictures to illustrate my point:
I loved Paris as a city, but if the rest of Germany is like this, it will be a no brainer on which country is my favorite. Big fan of everything here so far.
Kenny,
ReplyDeleteYour Mom and Dad came to the house for dinner tonight. It was good to see them. they told us about your blog---I have had a great time reading about your travels. I have never laughed so much!
glad you are having such a great time. Germany may never be the same after the 'Homann Boys' visit. Make sure you take in the Ludwig castles--they are amazing. Have fun, Maggie &Jim Smith
I think that one glass of beer is more than you've had in your lifetime Kenny. They have milk beer in Germany?
ReplyDeleteWell cousin i'm so proud to see you having a beer while in Germany! Wish I could have joined up with you. Later,
ReplyDelete