Berlin Day Three

Well today was a really eary start. I arrived at the Reichstag after my 1/2 hour walk there by way of passing a few things I would visit later that day. The Reichstag's biggest attraction these days is the cupola, a modern dome on the top of this old building that let's light into the meeting hall. I think it's one of the most amaizing things I have seen, and you'll be able to tell by all the pics I took :)

Next I headed to the Jewish Memorial which is a bunch of stones in a plaza that when you walk into it you are going to a lower ground plane and the stones rise above even higher too. It is a very moving place, and I took some amazing shots in the morning daylight.

I then moved back to the DZ Bank. I had to wait till it opened at 10, so I back tracked a bit to go get a glimpse of the "Horsehead". I wasn't allowed to go past a certain point, but I can say I went and looked at it. Why he designed this, I'll never know, but then that's Gehry for you!

Next I moved on to Banhof Potsdamer Platz, which has the Sony Center. This is a major hub of growth from West Berlin. Everything, but one building was destoryed during the war. I went into the Sony Center to take some pics, unfortunantly the BIG football craze here has this big set of chairs and tv screens in the very center of it for watching games. But you do get the idea of the very modern setup they have here. I then grabbed some dunkin donuts (yep they have them here!) and a cola light and walked around the area a bit. After a couple of hours I started getting hungry for lunch, so I decided to go eat lunch in Arkaden, which is a mall of types.

I then went and bought a metro ticket and took a bus to the Bauhaus Archieve and Museum. I wanted to do this, since I am an Architecture student, and it was pretty interesting. I got to see some models of some buildings I have studied along with drawings that went with them.

Next I started off on my big adventure. I was on a search for my Grandma's candy she requested, Marzipan (but it has to be the little pigs she used to get as a child). So I found a place that sold them, or I thought, the other day so after my trip to the Bauhaus Archieve, I hopped on a above ground metro and headed out to it. I arrived at the place, and found out they didn't sell the kind I wanted to get, but the lady that worked there spoke excellent English. She told me the place I wanted to go was a few streets back, and they would have them there. So I set back to go where I started, and I found them! I bought some extra (pigs are traditional at Christmas time, so I bought some teddy bears as well to give, since they didn't have that many pigs) for some others. I even bought a mixture of Haribo gummies for them as well (I know they sell it in the US, but these are made in Germany!).

I then set off back to the hotel with the weight of the candy in my hand, and my pocketbook a little lighter (I always wanted to say that). I rested a bit after my long day, before I was going to head out to get some dinner and go up in the TV Tower. I ended up leaving later then I thought, so I ended up going up in the TV Tower first (and got some good pictures of the sunset) and then headed to dinner at this little resturant my guidebook suggested for good German cuisine called Mutter Hoppe (Mother Hoppe). I had a Berliner Kindl Beer, tomato soup, and a cold roast beef dish with horseraddish, some white sauce, sour veggies (I had to try it even if it was cauliflour, tasted like it was pickled to me), and roasted potatoes. I was amazed at the portion of the dish and ended up eating a good 2/3 before calling it quits. I wasn't used to huge dishes back in the Czech Repulic, but they were filling come to think of it (has to be the potato dumplins). I then headed back to my hotel for a bed, since I was tired from my loooooong day.

Big Morgen!

***Will post pics later!