December 20th found me waking up in Berlin and ready to go see as many things as possible! I had breakfast in the room (from the grocery run the night before) and headed out. I walked to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
The memorial is a labyrinth of 2,711 pillars.
I don't necessarily get the symbolism of the memorial, but the information center (underground) was very good. In part of it, there is a continually running soundtrack that recites victims' names. It would take
more than 6 1/2 years to recite them all.
After the memorial, I walked over to the Brandenburg Gate
Then I had a timed ticket for the Reichstag. This is Germany's historic parliament building.
I didn't know a ton about it, but it's on Rick Steve's must see list, so I got a ticket. You have to put in an application and give them your info, including your passport. If you get approved you get an email that you are on the list for a particular time. Since it's where parliament meets, you have to go through a lot of security and bring your passport.
I was under the impression that if you didn't pre-book, you couldn't enter, but I saw a line to try to enter without the pre-booking. It was a mile long.
You listen to an audio as you climb to the top and then on the way back down. It's fascinating!
This glass cupola was added in 1999 after reunification. Parliament actually meets in under the glass section you see above.
There is a hole all the way at the top that vents out the air from the room where they meet.
Some of the views...
The black tower on the left is The Carillon. It is the 4th largest bell tower in the world and was erected in 1987 for Berlin's 750th anniversary.
The white oddly shaped building is the House of World Cultures built in 1957. It was formerly Congress Hall and was a gift from the US government.
The tallest thing in this picture at 368 meters is the Television Tower.
The station that you see on the far left with the river running just beside it is Friedrichstaße Station. It served as the intersection between East and West from 1961 to 1990.
Of course you can also see Berlin Cathedral too.
The mirrors are designed to reflect light down into where Parliament meets to reduce energy needs.
That metal mesh thing on the left actually moves throughout the day and follows the sun. It provides a shade so that the sunlight doesn't blind people below.
After the Reichstag, I took a bus to Charlottenburg Palace. Passing by the victory column...
There is a Christmas market at Charlottenburg Palace. I grabbed lunch there and bought an ornament hand painted in Ukraine. I told them I had other things from them and the lady working there seemed surprised. I told her I had purchased it in Innsbruck and she said "OH yes, we have a booth there!".
Charlottenburg Palace has pretty ceilings.
This porcelain room was kind of crazy.
In the chapel.
A nice view of the gardens
The library
After Charlottenburg Palace I decided to go to the Zoo
I wanted to see Pandas and Polar Bears. Turns out they moved the Polar Bears to another zoo across Berlin so this was the only one I saw.
A rhino taking a soak
They have 4 pandas because there is a mom, dad, and twins!!
The dad was hanging out by himself, but this is mom and the girls.
They are definitely the stars.
I saw otters
A tiger enjoying a snack
And a rhino doing a remodel project
After the zoo I walked a bit of the same area as the day before on my way to catch a bus back to my hotel area.
This is Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. There are new parts that have been built, but this is the ruins of the bombed out old church. They left it as a memorial to Berlin's destruction in WW2.
I wanted to get to the Christmas market earlier this day to 1) beat crowds (which as you can see I didn't manage)...
... and 2) secure a seat at one of the Christmas cottage restaurants (which I did). This market has these cottages around the edges and restaurants in Berlin run them during the market. You sit inside and have a full dinner service.
This is something I've never seen before at a market.
You get great views while you eat
My dinner was great too.
The fog rolled in that night. I shopped around after dinner and then headed back toward the hotel.
I stopped at the chocolate store again. This time I purchased a few things for gifts and admired their chocolate Berlin sculptures.
I stopped in a pharmacy on the way home to pick up a couple of things I like to grab when I'm in Germany and then called it a night!
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