Berlin, Germany

Holocaust Memorial

East Berlin cross-walk symbol

Denton in front of the Brandenburg Gate



Marisa in front of the Brandenburg Gate



The Reichstag Building, German Parliament

In the Reichstag's glass dome

View of the Brandenburg Gate from the Reichstag

Trying out a Bratwurst

East Berlin Gallery

Potsdamer Platz

Lounging by the River

Crossing Guard! in East Berlin

We arrived in Berlin with intentions to only stay 2 nights and ended up staying 5.  Berlin had so many surprises and we enjoyed discovering them. Marisa hadn’t been here before, so it was new to both of us. Again, we joined a walking tour by New Europe and our guide was knowledgeable and FANTASTIC! He knew so much about World War II and The Cold War. Learning about these subjects while walking around the streets they took place on, was a completely new experience and created relevance to the history.  We saw the Berlin Wall, East Side Gallery, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, and Brandenburg Gate.

Through the powers of Facebook, Marisa connected with an old friend from Sonoma, Lauren Klenow, who was studying Art and German in Berlin for awhile. Though we were staying in a grungy part of town, Lauren showed Marisa a nicer neighborhood nearby that we explored later.

Berlin has an entire island dedicated to housing several museums. While there were many, many museums to see, we decided to see the Pergamon. The Pergamon houses several large archeological finds from Ancient Greece, Turkey, and more. It was amazing to have been to Athens and the Acropolis to see where some of these finds originated.