Our first stop of the day was the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is the longest section of the remaining Berlin Wall. First we walked along the inside of the wall, where graffiti and street artists had spray painted the wall. We walked along the path closest to the wall, once we reached the end, we walked back to where we started further away so we could see the designs from further away. When we got back to where we started we walked around the opposite side of the wall down the sidewalk. The East Side Gallery commissioned street artists and muralist to create peace murals on sections of the wall for the 20th anniversary, which was in 2009, of the removal of the wall. Each piece was really interesting. And the outer side of the wall, was much longer than the inside. When we got to the end, Evan and I sat on steps over looking the Spree River.
After visiting the East Side Gallery, I needed a bit of a pick me up so we stopped at Crazy Coffee for cappuccinos on our way to the metro. We got our metro tickets stamped and Evan and I rushed onto the train, I was right behind him and since he wouldn’t push further into the train my body got caught in the door and he had to pull me out. We went one stop on the train and the train emptied out and us, and 2 other people were the only ones left still on the train. I asked Evan if this was the last stop and he said he didn’t think so, and I told him I thought that train was going to go backwards to the stop we just came from, and he was all no Elise, trains don’t just go backwards. And I was like yeah, um yup they sure do. And it turns out I was correct, because after waiting for 10 minutes people got on the train and the doors shut, and the train went backwards to the station we just came from. Hmm, weird. So we got off and found the correct train.
We got off and walked along the Spree River toward the Reichstag. We stopped along the river so I could take some photos. Then continued on toward the Reichstag. We wanted to tour the dome, but I had read a few before days before we left that you needed to book your tickets weeks, if not a few months, in advance, so I wasn’t too positive that we would get a tour. Once we got to the entrance, we looked up tickets online, and there were no available tickets until mid June, which is obviously a bummer, so we just admired it from the outside.
We walked across the street to Tiergarten, which is a beautiful wood park in the middle of the city. We walked down to the Russian World War II monument and then back through Tiergarten toward Brandenburg Gate. We saw the gate from behind, and walked to the Memorial for Murdered Jews of Europe. We walked through the maze stone walls of the memorial toward the entrance of the museum underneath the memorial. We read our way through the museum, which was obviously really sad and jarring. Berlin has such a weird, horrific and interesting history.
Once we finished the exhibit, we walked back through the memorial toward Brandenburg Gate and got a small dinner at a near by restaurant.
We had bought tickets to go up to the top of Fernsehturm, the TV tower that looks like a disco ball. We walked toward it and go up to the top almost immediately. At each window, there was a map to show you which buildings you were looking out at in the city, there were 250+ building identified from the top. We spent a good chunk of time at the top looking at the city of Berlin. Though I really hate heights, I love going to the tops of lookouts in different cities.
Once we had completed the 360 degree view, we got drinks at the bar and just hung around to see the sunset over the city. We had the best view in the house.
Once we got back down to city level, we walked to Hofbräuhaus to have a couple of beers. We stayed for just over an hour, there were so many people were standing up on the benches, dancing and singing along to live music. Before we left, Evan and I went out to the dance floor while the band played their last couple of songs. When they took their break, we left and walked our way to Protokoll, a craft beer bar. We sat next to a couple on a date (?), but let me tell you that conversation was the weirdest date conversation I’ve ever heard.. haha. We stayed for a couple of beers and then left.
Man I did not realize that I had gotten as drunk as I was. Evan has suggested that we stop and get some food before going up to the apartment but I declined. Once we got into the apartment, I then realized that I actually really needed food and asked Evan if he would go downstairs to get me some fries at the shop next to the apartment building. And he did, because he’s a literal angel, I swear. Man on man, did I need those fries.
