First Stop: Berlin!

Sorry I’m just now blogging! Last week we were off of school (and work for Bjarke and Solvej) for our Easter holiday! I love that Easter is such a big deal in Europe.. you get the whole week previous to Easter to celebrate (and the following Monday!) So we went back to Prague and the Czech Republic! This time bringing along my newbie Evelyn from Guatemala who just came in January. But before the Czech, we hit up Berlin for a couple of days! Here is my story:
Sunday 5.4.2009
We drove from Denmark to Berlin (around 6 hours) during which I caught up on my fashion knowledge (thank you mom!) and listened to Harry Potter. And of course, slept. Doing what I do best.
When we got to Berlin we left the car and explored the streets near our hotel while we waited to check in. After check-in, we walked the 17th June Street in central Berlin, which during the Nazi era was a triumphal street lined with Nazi flags. The street was renamed 17th June Street from Charlottenburger Chaussee in 1953 to commemorate the uprisings of the East Berliners. This is the street shown in movies about Hilter with Nazi soldiers marching towards Brandenburger Tor. At the end of the 17th June Street we reached Brandenburger Tor (read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate and http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/unter_den_linden/brandenburger_tor.shtml ) The Brandenburger Tor is the trademark of Berlin. It was the main entrance to the city surrounded by the wall for thirty years, separating West and East Berlin. Since the Revolutions of 1989 and the Berlin Wall was destroyed, the Gate symbolizes freedom and the unification of Berlin. Being there was amazing. So many people from all over the world travel to Berlin to see Brandenburger Tor and there’s just a good vibe in the air there. We sat down for a while and I got the chance to soak it all in. One thing I love about Berlin is how quiet it is.. full of people, but still quiet and peaceful and relaxing. Bjarke disagrees. He listens for the fast racing cars late at night and the loud growls their expensive cars let out, but I think it’s such a peaceful city. I must note that I spotted a Starbucks here! I haven’t seen one of those in 8 months! Denmark has one Starbucks and it’s in the airport in Copenhagen. But Germans? They’re big fans! I was just excited to see one! We walked past Reichstag, the German parliament Building but didn’t get to go inside because we would have had to wait in line for way over an hour. We also walked past the building Hitler committed suicide in, Führerbunker. And Adolf Hitler's Memorial. We saw the biggest shopping street in Berlin called with all the expensive designer stores.
We visited the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche Church which was just so beautiful. They have turned the remains into a memorial with the church’s history which was really interesting to read! The church was built between 1891 and 1895 by Kaiser Wilhelm II. After the bombing of Berlin in the November of 1943 only the broken west tower of the church remained standing. It was restored and preserved and in 1961 a memorial church was constructed next to the old church. And the old west tower was transfigured into a memorial with pictures of before and after the bombing and the church’s story. (the new church from the inside)
After sightseeing we took a cab back to the main shopping streets and ate a dodgy Italian restaurant. And made it an early night back at the hotel as Evelyn was sick. Monday 6.4.2009 We dedicated almost the whole day to the fabulous, and famous, Berlin Zoo! Probably the coolest zoo I’ve ever been to.. they have SO many amazing animals! Some that I’ve never seen before… Including their Panda Bear named Bao Bao. I’m so so happy that I was able to see a real live Panda Bear! It’s shocking that Bao Bao is one of 239 Panda Bears left in the world. And we saw the famous Knut the Polar Bear (who if you haven’t hear mauled a woman who jumped into his tank just days after we visited the zoo! Read more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30182514/ )
The zoo even had a section dedicated to nocturnal animals and that just blew me away… Along with my absolute.. 100% favorites THE ELEPHANTS! It was love at first site. A whole bunch of elephants throwing up water and walking around posing for pictures. I was in love! Honestly, I need to look into a career with elephants! There were countless other animals.. and I even got to see hippos, an anteater and penguins that you were allowed to touch! They were so unbelievably cute! For more information about the Berlin Zoo check out http://www.zoo-berlin.de/en.html . We spent 4 or 5 hours in the zoo just walking around and taking pictures and having a great time! After a couple leisurely hours shopping we stopped at an Irish pub for a Berlin Pilsner and ended up staying for dinner and it was SO good! Such a relaxing and enjoyable day! I’m working on my next couple blogs about the Czech so be patient! They will be posted soon! Keep reading!
Francine