Sam, a couple of comments for you. First, I'm surprised that you've decided to go to Berlin in April instead of July. I figured that you'd be the one heading up the charge to hit the Loveparade with your boys. Oh well. Secondly, I think you should have gone to Munich instead of Berlin, but that's just my opinion. It's been a few years since I was last in Berlin, but obviously you need to visit the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin Wall and the Brandenburger Tor, but other than that, I'd concentrate on drinking heavily and picking up some schöne Frauen. In my view (and likely the view of most Germans, as well...) the beer in Munich is a lot better than in the north.
ha ha, whoops, the switch-up of the forum order claims another victim. Somebody please move this girl, bitte. texxx - I'm going to Munchen in the summer for a bachelor party I think.
i went to europe for the first time in december and spent about 5 days in berlin. it was the highlight of my trip (even better than amsterdam!) and is officially the coolest city ive ever been to (zacatecas, mexico and san francisco are 2nd and 3rd for me). its a huge city and similar to new york in that it is a collection of smaller cities that make up the whole of berlin. the public transportation system is the best ive ever experienced and it is pretty easy to go wherever you want - subways, s-bahn (trains), busses (i took my first double decker bus ride there). a day pass is about 6 bucks and it gets you on everything for a 24 hour period. most of the cool stuff to check out is in the center, just east of the tiergarten (their central park). the reichstag is right there - its free and you can go up on the roof and take a rotunda staircase up in the dome for a panoramic view of berlin. just south of the reichstag is the holocaust memorial, which is about a football field worth of giant stone blocks of different height. like a giant eerie maze. definately worth taking a walk thru. potzdamer platz is there too and that is a must see - the sony center is there and than the gemaldegalerie is just west - amazing art museum w/ everything from ancient greek to itallian masters like botachelli to the dutch impressionists like van gogh and rembrandt - so many famous paintings that i had seen pictures of - getting to see the real deals was a real treat. haus am checkpoint charlie is really neat too. some really interesting info on the history of the berlin wall and people's struggle to escape. unter den linden is the main blvd going from the brandenburg gate east. there is a bunch of museums off that one like the pergamon, which has the altar of zeus, the gates of babylon and lots of other amazing ancient artifacts. also, as you walk down unter den linden you can look at some of the older buildings and see thousands of bullet holes in them from when the russians came. the main thing i noticed was all the construction going on. the most i have ever seen anywhere. the architecture is really cool and there are alot of non-traditional type buildings comming up. the sony center in potzdamer platz is a good example and a must see. even though the wall came down 15 years ago, alot of the east section (which has most of the cool stuff) is still pretty delapataded/bombed out. but the amount of construction/rebuilding is amazing. its a great city though. the food rocks and not just the german, but they have some good indian, turkish, french, italian, you name it - im sure you will have a blast.
I was in Berlin about 10 years ago, so things may have changed a bit, but there was a bus, the 101 I believe, that went down Unter den Linden, under the Brandenburg Gate, and past many historic sites in both the old west and east Berlin. The comparison between the two was quite striking back then, but there was a lot of construction going on so it may not be as obvious now. It’s just an ordinary city bus but you can ride the full loop and see great deal, and you can get out and have a closer look wherever you like. There’s also a church that I’d say is close to a must see if you’re interested in history at all. It’s the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, (Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche), and it’s a preserved bombed out ruin from the war, with a very modern new church build beside it. The steeple of the old building has been lopped off by a bomb and the walls are riddled with bullet holes showing the intensity of the fighting that must have gone on around it on the ground. For someone who has grown up in Canada away from that kind of warfare I found it very shocking and moving to see. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche
i found the 101 pretty usefull too - basically, if i was walking down the street and saw it i jumped on b/c it hits many of the main points of interest. i stayed pretty close to that kaiser wilhelm church - they have a bunch of before and after pics of different parts of the city. to say it was totally bombed to hell and back is no exaggeration. i walked by plenty of buildings that were still damaged to this day.
I keep clicking on the "wrong" forum as well, whichever one it is. We'll get used to it, but it's damned confusing. I've managed never to visit Berlin, so I look forward to your photos, Sam. Don't disappoint us. And please, get some great shots of the local female beauties, of which Germany has an abundance. Munich's a gas. I've been there a few times. God, the beer is good. Keep D&D Civil.
That reminds me I should throw some more Asia photos up in the other forum, I dont' think I finished with the second half...oh, and I think it will be another 50 years before we can safely refer to anything in Germany as "a gas".....but at least it makes the thread D&D worthy!
My trip to Berlin is looking like it's going to be canceled due to work related reasons for both me and my friend. ANOTHER victory handed to the jihadists. Here's something to debate: Work f-cking sucks.
Oh, Sammity...you have much to learn, young esquire. Jetting off to wander the trails of Asia for 6 months is not the best way to get on the good assignments when you come back, young man.
