Berlin Day 2 (Post 1)

My second day in Berlin I picked up a Stadtplan (city map) at hotel reception before heading out. It didn't stop me from getting lost though. It didn't help either that the area the hotel was in was covered by a key of the downtown landmarks.

I ended up here after being lost for at least 2 hours I'd say. I was going through many neighborhoods which I'm sure not many tourists get out to see! I biked at least 50 miles a day for 3 days in the city and still didn't see everything. That's what happens when you get lost I guess.

This was near Lengeder Straße



I somehow managed to work my way into the city, though not the inner city..yet. I found a church so I took a picture.



Still working my way into the city center (Mitte).



The Italian Embassy.



A row of houses near Potsdamer Platz.



I took a lot of pictures of St. Matthew Church (St. Matthaus Kirche). This is a back view.



Potsdamer Platz



The American Church in Berlin near Bülowstrasse.



Interesting buildings

Berlin Day 2 (Post 2)

Topography of Terror and a portion of The Berlin Wall



Checkpoint Charlie



Random shots of the Fernsehturm (TV Tower).



Spree River



Berlin Altes Stadthaus



Berliner Dom



Closer to the TV tower and St. Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church).



Berlin Rotes Rathaus (Berlin Red Townhall) and the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain).



Again, the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain).



Alexander Platz



Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)



Siegessäule (Victory Column)



I became very lost trying to find my way home.. I decided to take a picture of some train tracks. I think I crossed these three times trying to find my way to the hotel.



And then I continued to get extremely lost and ended up at Siemens. I knew I was on the outskirts of the city by the looks of things, so I turned and headed back..still managing to stay lost for another hour or so.



A few of my fingers were numb by the time I got home..too much gripping the handlebar I guess! I biked all day and all night.

I took some pictures of the hotel room. The bathrooms were all very similar. Not many places I went to had baths, most had showers built in this fashion.



I found it strange that the soap was called "Tricky Ricky".



Small differences yes, but the toilets are flushed by big buttons on the back of the wall, not levers like in the USA. I don't know why I find these things interesting!



And the bedding in Germany is different than what I'm used to.



Square pillows, no top sheet, and the comforter always was folded in half like a sleeping bag. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to sleep inside that way or use it like a normal blanket. Oh well!

Berlin Germany

After a long day and night of traveling, I finally arrived in Berlin at about 10AM on the 9th of September. I napped for an hour or two here and there on the flight, but I was waiting for the food service before trying to sleep, and dinner wasn't served until near midnight I think. They served breakfast 3 or 4 hours after that, which woke me up out of a semi-sleeping state.

After taking a taxi to the Hotel Carat (recommended) on Ollenhauerstraße, I decided it'd be best to set up my bike and take a look around. I wasn't that tired surprisingly, and I knew I should stay up until night time if possible so that I could adjust to the 6 hour time difference.

After some trouble with my bike, and finding a bike shop very close to the hotel on Auguste-Viktoria-Allee, I headed the opposite direction down the street which turned into Humboldtstraße. I didn't bike for long when I noticed what looked like a park of some sort to my right. After taking a turn into the "park", I realized it was actually a cemetery. It was an incredibly well kept one, so it was very nice. I must have seen 8 different people with watering cans in random parts of the cemetery.



I went back to the hotel to get my wide angle lens because I really liked one of the churches there (last one pictured above).

When I was finished, I biked down Müllerstraße or some street nearby. There was a really cool looking building with an Apotheke (pharmacy) on the ground floor. Apotheken are nearly as common as bakeries (Bäckerei, plural Bäckereien), Imbiss (unsure of plural but they're food stands/diners), and bike shops. Of course in the inner cities bike shops aren't as common, but they seem to have a lot of them in the outer areas. Biking is extremely popular in Germany.



As I continued to bike, I somehow ended up in another cemetery..I didn't stay long though.



I biked around aimlessly for the entire day, getting lost and not caring. Most of the time I was in the Prenzlauer Berg area, though I wasn't aware at the time of course.

Below is a picture of the Prenzlauer Berg, Wasserturm, built in 1877. Today it's been renovated into an apartment complex, but I wouldn't want to live there. Between 1933-1945, the engine house in the tower was an "unofficial prison" used by the SA. The tower's considered "The unofficial symbol of Prenzlauer Berg".



Here is a church. I know nothing about it currently. I tried to research it but didn't find anything!



A random street I took a picture of..



Graffiti. I took a picture because it made a mention of the USA..not a very good message really. I believe it translates into "Against the aggression of the USA".



Just a building near the graffiti. It may be something, but I don't know what. This whole area had a gate of sorts that you entered in through, and then many of the buildings were numbered.



Here are some of the number buildings. I'll have to do research at a later date, at the moment I'm swamped with things to do.



Here is the Zeiss-Grossplanetarium.



It was starting to get dark and I think I decided to head home at this point. Unfortunately when you don't know where you are, don't speak the language well, and it's getting dark, it makes it all the more difficult to find your way. I most likely made it home between 10:30 and midnight, like I did the whole time I was in Berlin. I seemed to get lost there a lot..it's such a spread out city.

That's all for now! I explored more of Berlin on my second full day.