Taylor MacEwen

This morning we got up and went out to see the city.

First stop was parliament... that is only after we figured out how to use the public transit system. It is soooo complicated!! There are the S and the U line which are ran by different companies, then there's the train and all the buses. Oh god. It's a nightmare looking at the map.

Parliament was such a beautiful building and as you can imagine, tons of police around.

Next stop was the Brandenburg gate. It is the only remaining gate through which people used to enter Berlin. It was built between 1788 and 1791. It was used as entrance into East Berlin in the Cold War. When the Nazis came to power, they used the Gate as their symbol. The Gate was damaged but not destroyed during World War II. The governments of East Berlin and West Berlin restored it but it was closed when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The gate was in the middle of the death strip. Unfortunately we couldn't get super up close to see it because there was an international gymnastics competition going on (they were everywhere).

Next stop: Victory Tower Column. It was built in 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, by the time it was inaugurated on 2 September 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria and its German allies in the Austro-Prussian War and France in the Franco-Prussian War, giving the statue a new purpose. Different from the original plans, these later victories in the so-called unification wars inspired the addition of the bronze sculpture of Victoria, 8.3 metres (27 ft) high and weighing 35 tonnes.

Next stop: Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was Berlin's best known crossing point between West and East Berlin near by the inner Berlin sector boundary between 1961 and 1989. When we got there, I was a little insulted. They had 2 fake US army soldiers standing outside... not only were they smoking but they were standing there and posing with people for pictures for money. What happened in the Cold War was absolutely horrible. I found seeing that completely disgraceful. We took pictures from behind without them in it.

Next stop: Alexanderplatz. It is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. The Fernsehturm was intended as both a symbol of communist power and of Berlin. It remains the latter today, as it is easily visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. (The pointy tower that looks incredibly similar to the CN tower)

Next stop: Berlin Cathedral. We didn't go in but the outside was spectacular. (Picture of me in front of the water fountain with the cathedral in the back)

Next stop: Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip"). During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. In the metro systems, they sealed off tunnels so that east Berliners couldn't get across to the west. Contrary to popular belief the Wall's actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. (It was super emotional to be there and actually touch the wall or what's left of it). They have photos of those who lost their lives trying to escape at the official site of the Berlin Wall. All throughout the city they have markings on the ground where the wall used to run. The part of the Berlin Wall that we were at was a cemetery. Victims of world war 2 were buried there. They were drug up when they built the Berlin Wall. There are crosses on site commemorate those victims. All in all, it makes me realize how great of a life I have and how fortune I am. It makes all my problems seem inexistant. (This is why i love to travel. Eye openers like this)

So after all this and walking about 16km we headed back to the hostel (also cause it was raining). We sat in the room for a little until we decided to go downstairs and have a beer..... or a couple. We played some drinking games then decided to take on pool. Turns out, I'm really horrible. I hit one of the balls right off the table and across the whole bar. Hehe oops.

Life lesson still not achieved: DONT DRINK AND PACKRead more