BBBBBBBB EEEEERRRRRR LLLLIIINNNNN

Berlin was a ball of fun. I met some really cool people and saw some even cooler things. 

My first day was just me wandering around. I was originally going to go on a walking tour, but I got lost and distracted. Yes, this happens more often than not, but still, how could you not be distracted by things like a polar bear army with a polar bear bellowing "Bow Down to Me!" You hear that too, right?

And how could you not be distracted by the junk tree? I mean look at it! I seriously stared at this thing for a good ten minutes or so. It is just so random!!!! Just look at it! There is a teddy bear and old records and hangers and stuff! Who thinks up this stuff?

After awkwardly staring at the junk tree, I moved on to the garden, well more specifically, the Grosser Tiergarten. It is HUGE!!!! I wandered around it for a huge chunk of time. At one point it actually started snowing! It was so nice! Here is a photo of some of the garden.

Do you see the red thing on the tree? It is a sad, lost, little mitten. All alone in the world :( Poor little mitten!

Here is a nice little statue with the temporary ferris wheel.

And another part of the garden. I told you I spent a lot of time in the garden! I like that there are trees in the middle of the path and the contrast of the people with the grass and trees.

After my meander through the garden, I discovered the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. It was moving and beautiful. I then went into the museum. I think the quote below is something we should think about. So maybe take a second or a minute or an hour or a year or however long you need to process it.

Here is the beautiful Brandenburg Gate surrounded by fences and plastic, which is not so pretty, but I couldn't convince the guys to move it for my picture.

Here is the Berlin Victory Column.

The next day, I went on a walking tour. I tried to get on an early tour, but they were full up, so I went and waited at a restaurant. I got a delicious second breakfast. It was yummy and was helpful in killing some time. The tour was great. I met some cool Canadians that were interested in meeting up the next evening.  During the tour, we saw part of the Berlin Wall.

We also saw quite a few other historic buildings. Here is the Deutscher Dome.

And the Berliner Dom.

After the tour, I went home to get food and explore my area more. As you can see, there are no pictures of my area. I didn't find anything interesting.

The next day, I went to see the TV tower. OOOOOO COOL! I wanted to go up, but it was expensive and there was a long line.

Here is a cool building. It had so many pretty colors! Look at them! There are so many color panels!

Here is another photo of the Berliner Dom.

Look at the cool door that was on the Berliner Dom. It is so intricate!

I then went to the German History Museum. This is the very first thing that you see when you enter the museum. I just wanted to take it home and put it in my house, although it is a totally fictional house.

I didn't realize that there were so many Nazi uniforms.

After the museum, I headed back to my hostel to get ready for the night.

Did I mention that it was New Year's Eve? There was a huge celebration with a multitude of vendors and a large concert in the evening. My hostel was cool enough to give me a free bottle of bubbly that I was hoping to share with the Canadians I had met the day before. Unfortunately I was running late and although I emailed them and they said they would wait, we couldn't find each other. I ended up drinking some of the bubbly, but threw most of it away because no glass was allowed in the area. Oh did I mention that this was at the Brandenburg Gate? I pushed through the crowd to get a nice spot for the musicians, but ended up leaving it to use the toilet. When I got back (because the lines for the toilets were insane and  I kept getting hit on by random guys), it was even more packed. I kept getting pushed one way and then another and then another and so on. Hence the blurry picture of the stage below. Luckily, I was eventually pushed into some American soldiers who were kind enough to let me stand in front of them to keep from getting pushed around and I ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night.

Here is more of the crowd and the ferris wheel that had been set up for the night!

This was New Year's Day. I spent the day with the American soldiers I had met during the New Year's Eve party. The day started with trying to track down one of the guys because he apparently didn't make it back to the hotel room. After wandering around, we headed back to the hotel and found him with a few police people because they found him passed out in another hotel. After apologizing to the police and getting breakfast, I convinced the guys to go to the Olympic Stadium with me. It is pictured below.

Here is a cool man hole. It has a lot of Berlin's landmarks on it.

After the stadium, I took the guys around to see some of the wonderful landmarks the city had to offer. I basically puppeted the tour I had followed two days prior. After that we grabbed some food and said good bye. They were nice guys and I gave them my email, but I didn't get any of their information because they were more like vacation friends. I left for Dusseldorf the following morning!

Berlin was wonderful! There was so much to see and do that I do hope to go back sometime soon! There were so many museums I didn't get to see and a several other areas I didn't have time for. The people were friendly and the food was delicious. I can't wait to go back and explore more. Hopefully next time I will be able to share it with someone I care about (hint hint. nudge nudge. hello there friends and family)