Berlin, Germany

Berlin day 2

Today we hopped back on the bus tour and headed over to the museum island area. It turned out to be a great replacement for public transportation since our 24 hour tickets were still good from the day before.

Being a Sunday, and May Day, there were lots of activities and people in the streets, parks, etc. It looked like way to much fun to spend this cloudless 70 degree day in museums, so we narrowed it down to one only, the German History Museum. How much time can one museum take, we thought? Well, We found out how detailed The Germans can be at the history museum. It starts with the roman times and goes through modern times. Over 8000 artifacts tell the story. The first floor goes up until 1918. The 2nd covers WWI to present day. So much has happened here in the last century, it feels like more than happened in the previous 1900. Great stuff and information that made us understand the city and people in such a better way.

After that it was time for some fun. We walked a main drag, The Unter Den Linden down to the Brandenburg Gate. Stopping for a few cold beverages, sausage, and shopping along the way. Before the 2nd world war, Unter Den Linden was built to rival the Champs Elysses in Paris. It was on the east side of the wall but was always home to some of Berlin’s most important sites. There is shopping on each side and a wide median in the middle where people gather by sausage stands to eat and drink under the shade of the beautiful tree lined street.

At the Brandenburg Gate there was a May Day celebration going on. Lots of food, a live band and a very festive atmosphere. We got there just in time to learn the lesson that Germans are not very good rappers. But next came another German band, who was there to do their best impressions of 80’s music….much more my speed. We ate, drank and watched people having fun while we did so ourselves. It was great fun watching the crowd get excited about our music and dance in the streets. It was a fun party and all the beer stands eventually ran out of beer! A great day.

They say that Berlin is not the best place to get German food. They like things from other countries and you can pretty much pick out about any type of food to eat here. So we went to a recommended Cantonese place called “good friends”. Lots of locals were found here and some tourists too. We made friends with our waiter Ming, and he served us some fabulous tasting food! This meal was great and the last task we had the energy to complete this evening.