Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009
It’s exciting to arrive in Berlin! It’s a huge city – their train station is the size of St. Louis’s airport, then, take your pick of public transportation – SBahn, UBahn, trams, buses, taxis – I always prefer my feet but this city is too big – I will have to figure out the bus schedules! SBahn to the hotel was easy as can be but the hotel desk person, tells me Bus 100 and 200 is for the tourists. : ) Guess my English gave me away. I did take the Hop on Hoff off Tour Bus to try and get my bearings – there is a lot to see!. I walked to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. After it was bombed in WWII, they left the ruins standing as a reminder. It’s full of photos of the destruction and also photos of the services they held in the ruins that Christmas. Then I walked down to Berlin’s largest and most expensive department store (for fun) Kaufhaus des Western, KaDeWe for short. It’s only real rival is Harrad’s for sure. It’s so large I easily got lost, just on one floor even!. (They have 7 floors.) Once I found my way out, I headed back for the hotel and stopped at the discount store to buy another fleece and another pair of gloves. No rain in Berlin, but its COLD and WINDY. Thought I’d add another layer to the 5 I already had on today. I know as soon as I buy a real coat, it’ll warm up. Ok, that’s it for my arrival day – stay tuned for the 2 full days to come.
Church before the war
There are bears everywhere.
Ampelmannchen Stop Light
Communist Building and Propaganda Mural
left over from the Cold War Days
Jeannie's Travel Addiction 