Berlin–A City Full of “Eye Candy”

This city is amazing. It is big, but the public transportation makes anywhere just minutes away and the entrances to subways are pretty: I took the hop on hop off bus and it gave me a good overview of the city. Every time you turn your head there is some architecture, monument, artistic design or beautiful street to see. It’s like looking at old and new at the same time. This place was pretty much destroyed by bombings but you would never know that so many pre-war buildings were authentically restored if someone didn’t tell you. I took a walking tour and got the scoop.

These pictures surround a large square. This first one is a concert hall:

On each side of it are these churches: The first one was built by the French, and because the past German government was “kinda” competitive they built the second so they would not be “outdone” by that neighboring country. Both of these were destroyed in the war and these replicas were built in the 1980’s. The statues are black because they are original and went into hiding during the war. The interiors of both these churches are bare — it cost much more to restore the insides.

If you take a close look at the concert hall notice the different colored stone. That building was not destroyed and it was repaired.

I have been staying with Patrick and Melanie. We went out to a cute restaurant for dinner and today I met Patrick at his office at Bloomberg News where he works as a journalist covering the German president. His office is right in front of the Brandenburg Gate. How would you like that view from your window:

This next pic is me in front of the TV studio— does this make me a celebrity?This picture is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe ( almost 6 million) during the Holocaust. There are 2,711 blocks over a large area. The artist has said the interpretation is: whatever you want it to mean. Very amazing what you see and feel walking through this remembrance:

These are pictures of the giant headquarters of the Hitler government and armed forces. The Russian’s did not bomb this building because they thought it would be useful when the city was divided up after the war. The East German/Russian government called it “The Ministries of Ministries”. Today, it is still dreaded because it is the Ministry of Finance and all Germans send their taxes there:

There are still sections of the Wall that are standing around the city. This sample is along the right side of the picture– it is in front of the Ministry of Finance building: