Berlin post 5

posts are a little backed up

Berlin

Flew in from Dublin and got picked up from couchsurfing friend Cary Cavnar. Phil called shotgun and got to sit front seat in the rental Fiat. This turned out to be a good thing for me because I didnt have to navigate the rat's nest of Berlin, also Cary didnt previously know how to drive manual transmission.

Cary booked us a hotel in shady east berlin, and It took Phil and Cary an hour and a half to find the hotel in the dark. The hotel proved to be fairly nice however, and the service was pretty good. We jumped on the city train, and for some reason we decided that we didnt have to pay for the short ride downtown. Turns out that we were bieng watched by a plainclothes 'train police'. The moment we got out of the train we were surrounded by five citizens who didnt really speak english. They demanded our passports and bank account information, and told us that we had commited a criminal offence. One member of our party did give some of this information to them as the other members argued with the citizens. They left us alone after we mentioned 'U.S. embassy', but not before giving us a ticket in german. We still need to get this cleared up, because we have no idea what authority those citizens have.

The next day we found a free walking tour of berlin (thanks james fox for the suggestion). The tour was given by an irish lass! We could understand her irish ways because we had just come from ireland. Anyway the tour was exceptional. Berlin is historically the focal point between the capitolist-communist struggle. The history here is remarkably powerful, and I wont go into too much detail because everyone who travels to germany needs to experience Berlin. The free tour is a perfect place to start and is given in front of the Brandenburg gate at 11 oclock.

Berlin was leveled during WW2,one can still see bulletholes in the buildings. Obviously much has been rebuilt, the new architecture reflects strong ideas. The Riechstag (law making body in Germany, see below)for example has been completely redone by famous british architect Norman Foster. The old masonry dome has been removed in place of a glass dome; contained within is a mirrored conical stucture. The people ascend the dome by walking to the top as they look in upon parliment below them. The prevailing idea is transparency. In theory,nothing the lawmakers do should be in secret, and this is reflected by the architecture. Holocaust monument below, brandenburg gate below. Berlinwall below.