just call me a tourist

So today was the first day that I played the tourist. I don’t have any life lessons worked out yet, but I did have a fantastic time.

I did one of those hop on-hop off bus tours, which for 15 Euros isn’t bad. They take you to all of the major city sites and you can get off at any stop you want to and just hop back on the next bus which will usually come around in 15 min or so. Although, I found that if I hopped off I was more likely to stay for at least 30 min to an hour so I'd just catch the third or fourth bus that came. 

The first hop off site for me would have been the Philharmonic but for some reason we didn’t stop there even though it was listed on the sheet. I was outraged. But instantly appeased by Topographie Des Terrors, our 6th stop. It's is a museum by one of the only remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. The Wall is preserved as a part of the museum and in front of it is a long exhibit about Hitler’s and the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1930-1933. It was definitely moving. Even just seeing sections of the wall made the whole thing so real. It felt strange to see tourist smiling in front of it with their friend taking their picture. The existence of that wall and all the stories surrounding it are just too horrible.

 A section of the preserved wall

 A picture of the window of a Jewish-owned drug store during the boycott on April 1, 1933

 A picture of members of the Reich party during the celebration of the "Day of National Labor" Hitler is in the center.

Another section of the wall.

After that I hopped back on the bus for a quick ride to Check Point Charlie. I momentarily joined a different tour group where I got to hear the guide describe stories of escape over or under the wall from East to West. We saw a replication of the American side (The Soviet Side would have been to obtrusive to replicate - see picture below.) That’s definitely a spot I want to return to. I didn’t feel like I saw enough. 

 A picture of Checkpoint Charlie in the '80s

After that I got a real treat stopping at the Berliner Dome which is apparently the largest Protestant Cathedral in Germany. Oh was it beautiful! I even got to hear a mini organ concert on their phenomenal organ! Phantastisch!

 From the outside

 The largest inside dome

 The organ

 The Alter

 And this was probably my favorite.  Perhaps because I knew what it said without having to look it up :)

"Er is nicht hier/Er ist auferstanden"

He is not here/He is risen

He is risen indeed!

Finally I returned to the Philharmonic only to find out that they do tours of the building at 1:30 daily but tourists aren’t really welcome to wander the building at other times. I’ll have to put that on my list of things to go back to. 

The outside of the Philharmonic

There were plenty of sites I’d like to spend an afternoon at. I didn’t even hop off at this one but the Museum of German History sounds fascinating! I’ll have to go some afternoon after class!

After my adventures I finally tried the one of the quintessential Berlin dishes (think the Philly Cheese Steak of Berlin), the Currywurst. 

It’s basically a bratwurst with ketchup and curry powder. I had mine “mit Brot” or “with bread” which I assumed would mean it came on a bun, but it actually came breaded and fried. Honestly, I’d been seeing it advertized at restaurants and food stands and thought it sounded gross, but when I heard it was the Berlin dish I figured I needed to try it. And after a full day of sightseeing I was exhausted and starving so I knew that would be the best time. Food always tastes better when you’re really hungry.  And sure enough, it was pretty good. There was a bit too much ketchup on mine (I’m not a huge fan of ketchup) but other than that, I enjoyed it. :) Afterwards I treated myself to a scoop of hazelnut ice cream from a cute shop on my walk home. I don't have a picture of that though, I ate it too quickly. It was delicious.

Overall, I think it was a pretty good tourist day.