Yanky Londoner: Berlin 13 Years Later

It has been 13 years since I backpacked across Europe and stopped in Berlin. I can't believe it has been that long. Thankfully, Sandra has moved there for a Fellowship and it gave me a great opportunity to go back.

Sandra lives in a huge one bedroom flat for London standards and the rent is so cheap!! I was so jealous of the space...

even if the kitchen was a little ghetto! :) Her sink was being held up by the refrigerator and the stove. It was rather funny.

As the weather was good on the first day, Sandra took me out to see the sights. I thought the architecture was really fun and the city had these pipes running all through it in different colours.

We went to an outside art display that had photographs of how things use to be in the area.

I also got to walk over the wall a few times on the trip. It is marked on the ground throughout the city where the wall has since been removed.

One of my better photos!

The Germans love their bikes and it was fun to see this bike stand powered by a solar panel! Germany always promoting its renewable energy!!!!!!! The leaders in the world.

On our walk we passed by the German Bundesrat, which now is a building that houses part of their government.

We walked by this building and some one had put up the signage - Central Intelligence Agency Interrogation Center. A little fun by someone.

As we were walking through the city, I told Sandra we had to walk down a street. It was a memory that I had 13 years ago.

I was shocked to find this piece of artwork. 13 years ago I took a photo with this artwork. Keena was with me and she acted like she was pushing the artwork down the street (I still have the 35mm photo). Here is my surprised face!

We then headed over to Check Point Charlie. The same photo is up and almost everything looks the same.

Well almost everything looks the same. Now there are people dressed in uniforms who you can have your photo with (huge tourist trap) and there is a McDonald's there. Really.....bad taste.

As we continued to walk through the city, we passed this artwork of an outline of a face. It was neat.

We then headed over to the Holocaust Memorial which I really wanted to see as it was not built when I last visited. We were reading the information at the Memorial and I thought it was nice to find out that it was approved in 1999 to be built....the year I last visited.

I have to say I really think the stones are beautiful. As the clouds changed over us, so did the shades of gray.

After walking through the stones, we headed down below to visit the free museum. Let's just say that it was incredibly depressing, but I am glad I went.

As we continued our walk, we could see the Berlin Victory Column in the distance. Last time I was in Berlin, Keena and I danced ourselves down this road during the Love Parade with thousands of other people.

And of course....the Brandenburg Gate (we passed under it during the Parade).

A photo from the front of the Gate.

Here I am giving Sandra a cheeky look as I take a photo. The US embassy is behind me.

We finished the day with a walk by the canal.

During my time over the weekend, we also had some great meals. Sandra lives in a neighbourhood with many Turks. We headed out one evening for some great Turkish food.