Weichers in Berlin

After a great time in London, the Weicher family headed to Berlin, Germany for the second half of our European trip. We arrived on a cold Monday afternoon and took a taxi to our spectacular hotel, the Hotel Adlon, located right in Pariser Platz, the square of the Brandenburg Gate. Unfortunately, it really was freezing during our entire stay. On the last day, it even snowed! But, nothing holds back the Weicher family, and we still had a spectacular time!

The Hotel Adlon was without a doubt the coolest hotel we'd ever stayed at,
rich with history and in an unbeatable location. This is the view from my
parents' bedroom, Pariser Platz, still buzzing with people, even in the cold.

I never got tired of looking at the Brandenburg Gate,
probably the most iconic symbol of Berlin.

The Hotel Adlon: it was from one of the top floor balconies
that Michael Jackson famously dangled his newborn baby, Blanket!
Berlin is filled with all kinds of history!

The Berlin TV Tower

View of the Brandenburg Gate at night: simply stunning!

On our first full day in Berlin, we took a 4 hour walking tour with Original Berlin Walks.
Though it was freezing, we all had a great time and learned so much about the city.
This was our first stop on the tour: Museum Island. Designated as a UNESCO World
Heritage Sight, it is home to five of the most famous museums in the world:
The Old National Gallery, the Altes (Old) Museum, the Neues (New) Museum, the Pergamon, and the Bode Museum.

The Berlin Cathedral

The Altes (Old) Museum, which houses the antique collections
of Berlin State Museums.

Memorial to the civilian victims of war

Signifies the site at which Nazi book burning took place in May of 1933

The Holocaust Memorial. This memorial was quite a strange sight for me.
It is quite massive, and takes up an entire square in one of the busiest parts of the city.
However, there is no demarkation of what it means, or why it is there. In that way, people
are left to determine its meaning for themselves. Each block is a different size and exact shape, and many think that this is meant to represent the Jewish people themselves: everyone was different, and had a different story.
 However, what really bothered me was  the way in which people treated the memorial. Kids ran through it screaming and laughing, and both kids and adults jumped from block to block as if it was some sort of obstacle course. This really bothered me.  After talking about it with my parents, my dad said something that really made sense to me: this might be part of the point. The Holocaust occurred while the entire rest of the  world went on, just as this memorial exists as the world around it (kids screaming and laughing, people using the blocks as benches, etc.) goes on as well.
No matter its intended meaning, it really is a sight to see.

Walking through the Holocaust Memorial

Remnants of the Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

One thing we all loved about Berlin was the food! Currywurst,
meatballs, sausages, potatoes, pork, veal - everything was so delicious!
We had some really great meals, and my favorite was when
we had apple strudel for dessert!

On our second full day in the city, we went to the German History Museum. 
This globe here was the first globe ever made, and you can see that North America is completely missing!

The museum had a massive exhibit about Nazi Germany and World War II.
This poster was a product of French propaganda.

This interior courtyard of the German History Museum was designed by I. M. Pei,
the same architect who constructed the famous pyramid outside the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Coincidentally, we spent about as much time in the German History Museum as we did in the Louvre!
Mom, John, and I lasted for about 4 hours, while Dad stayed for a record 6!

When we realized that Dad was about 2 hours behind us in the Germany History Museum,
Mom, John and I went to Fassbender & Rausch, the most famous chocolate shop in Berlin.
The store had a chocolate Reichstag building!

And a chocolate Brandenburg Gate! We also ate in the upstairs cafe,
which had delicious chocolate drinks and desserts.
Needless to say, by the end of our visit, we had all overdosed on chocolate!

That night, I snapped a quick picture of the halls of the Hotel Adlon,
which I thought were simply stunning! 

Brandenburg Gate in the evening!

The Reichstag Building, meeting place of the German parliament

The Chancellory, known as the "Washing Machine" to Berliners!

Parliament offices: completely transparent to signify the new
transparency of the German government after the Nazi regime.

Later in the week, my dad and I went on a second walking tour with Original Berlin Walks.
This time, the tour dealt specifically with the Third Reich.
Above is a memorial to parliament members killed in Nazi Germany. 

Memorial to the Sinti and Roma killed during Nazi Germany,
located in the Tiergarten.

Another memorial in the Tiergarten, dedicated to gays killed during WWII.

Holocaust Memorial from a different angle, during the Third Reich tour

We learned on our tour that this subway station contains marble from
Adolf Hitler's bunker - how weird/cool is that!?

The Ministry of Aviation Building in Nazi Germany. A great example of Nazi architecture,
this building is today used as the finance ministry building.

After our Third Reich walking tour, my dad and I visited the Topography of Terror,
an exhibit detailing the Gustapo and SS of Nazi Germany.

View from the Topography of Terror - remnants of the Gustapo headquarters,
the Berlin wall, and the Nazi Air Force building.

During our last day in Berlin, it snowed! 

To stay out of the cold, we took a double-decker bus tour.
I turned around and took this picture, and I think it is hilarious.

We stopped at Alexander Platz, which had some cool shops and food stands,
including this Beer Garden!

Overall, I had an amazing time with my family in Berlin. After missing them so much these past few months, it was so great to spend so much time with them for 10 days in a new place. It was also very special being in Berlin, which I've heard my Dad talk about as one of his favorite cities since the first time we visited Europe more than six years ago. I learned so much more about the city and its history from hearing about his personal experiences there during his junior year abroad.

While I was so sad to see my family go at the end of our fantastic trip, it made me very excited to see them next month back in Philly! The next stop on my trip was Paris - stay tuned!