Two days in Berlin

I arrived in Berlin on Tuesday evening with Simone and Wolfgang and stayed for three nights. The first night we met up with Silke and her husband Gumbi (I have no idea what his real name is but that's what they call him) for dinner at a great (but empty) place where I got to try yet more traditional German food. Schmaltz again, head cheese, veal cheeks - these last few days have certainly been the best eating of this trip! We also hit up a club in the popular Hackesher Markt, where Simone and Silke dance until 2 in the morning..

On Wednesday I toured the city with Simone, Silke and Wolfgang. We hit Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, and then went to lunch on the roof of the parliament building, next to a huge glass dome (the glass for which is from Bretten, I heard a thousand times). It offered a great view of the city. After that we were back at Hackesher Markt for some shopping (Simone and Silke) and beer (Wolfgang and me). We found a Weihenstaphan pub where I would return the next day.

Parliament is actually in session under the glass!

Wolle and I cougar hunting in Berlin

 I didn't do much that night besides walk around and do some reading. My feet were killing me so I went to sleep pretty early.

Hitler's globe with an allied bullet hole in Germany

Thursday was my one day to myself in Berlin. I had a ton of advice from Silke and Simone, and I started with the Deutsche History Museum. It was everything from 100BC to the Fall of the Berlin Wall, but it was laid it terribly and I kept getting lost.

Chruchill, Truman, Stalin in Potsdam. Cool because I'm reading Truman right now

After that I walked for a few hours. On the main street leading up to Brandenburg Gate there is a Mercedes dealership across the street from a Volkswagon dealership, which also had a Veyron. I had a snack across the street in the Einstein Kaffe where I could still see the dream car.

 The Holocaust Memorial is awesome in it's size and effect. An acre of these tall stone blocks, some as high as 15 feet. All I could think though was that it would make the most epic game of hide and seek or capture the flag ever.

Holocaust Mahnmal, which means memorial and warning

 I decided against the checkpoint charlie museum and made my way back to the Weihenstephan house. With some leiberwurst (that's 4 days in a row for those keeping track) I tried a few more of what has become one of my favorite German breweries. The day before Simone and Silke showed me pictures of a bar they said I would really like, surrounded by graffiti and weird art. It took me a while to find but it was indeed a very cool place (if it's even the same one). After a beer I got picked up by a girl from a group of masters students at the art school, and I stayed with them for the rest of the night. The highlight was when the original girl, quite drunk, decided she was too tired to stay out anymore and was going home, but not before secretly slipping me a note that had her name, phone number, address, and "visit me to night." No, I never tried to get in touch with her.

The artists all took turns making great drawings

I left Berlin as early as I could but still didn't make it to Cologne until 6 or 7. I want to go to Brussels very early tomorrow so it's going to be an easy night. Plus it's pouring rain, so not a great time to see the city.