Eastern European Adventure - Around Berlin

In October we embarked on an adventure of grand proportions with two travel mates of ours. A few years before, we all realized how we wanted to travel together but weren't sure where to go because of the vast number of places to which we wanted to travel and experience. So, we each put a slip of paper with our choice in a hat (India, Japan, South America, Eastern Europe) and had a complete stranger pick out one destination. And that's how we ended up at such a wonderful destination with some wonderful people.

We flew from New York and arrived in Berlin. It was amazing to be in a city that was such an  integral part in the twentieth century. Between the scars left from World War II and the remnants of communism, there is a constant sense of history and its own past. With that history, is a hip, modern city that thrives on the energy of its citizens.

Berlin has stark contrasts between modern art and classical buildings.

The famous Checkpoint Charlie. 

Quick! Learn German!

Part of the Berlin Wall still intact.

The Holocaust Memorial in the middle of the city. Each block is a different, sometimes slightly irregular shape. 

The maze within is meant to confuse and disorientate. 

In front of the Reichstag, home of the German Parliament. 

The Brandenburg Gate.

The holes in many buildings are actually
bullet holes from World War II.

Part of the Berlin Wall turned into a graffiti park.

There are two identical cathedrals facing one another in this square - the Französischer Dom and Deutscher Dom. The oldest of the two is this one - the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral). It was built between 1701 and 1705.

Berliner Dom Cathedral.