Day 43: "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall"

Italian

English

The old watch tower

I got up and ready then headed to the east side gallery, located about a block from my hostel. The east side gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall painted by artists. It was really cool to see.

I then went to the train station and headed to the Berlin Wall memorial. This section of the wall is not painted and is somewhat falling apart. It was even cooler to see this, as it was about what the wall would have looked like back in the Cold War. There was a memorial for those killed and information about the wall on these polls located in an open area behind the wall. It was definitely an interesting and sad part of history to see.

Caleb: "Don't smile, its a sad place".. Me: "What else am I supposed to do in the photo?"

I went back on the train and headed to more central Berlin. I saw the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.

Brandenburg Gate

The Reichstag

A snowman!

Caleb and I had lunch at a restaurant that served German foods. I had sausage, sauerkraut, and boiled potatoes, all served with spicy mustard. Though sausage has never been one of my favorite foods, I actually liked it. I think trying traditional foods is an important to visiting an area of the world.
I planned to go to the memorial for the slain Jews, but it started snowing pretty intensely, so instead I went back to the hostel.

For dinner Caleb and I jumped on the train and went to a section of town we hadn't yet been. We found a cool, kinda chill restaurant. The waiter spoke English, as he had lived in Ireland previously. I ordered a German pizza, which he recommended. It had thin crust, a white sauce, onions and bacon. It was definitely different but still good. For a drink I had a sweet beer that is made in Berlin. It has a green color and a very unique taste (and is also sickly sweet). The waiter gave us recommendations of where to go for bars and then we headed back to the train station. We didn't really end up finding much, but went to a small club. It was probably the weirdest place I have ever been. There were maybe 5 people total there and it was dark and a little sketchy. Caleb and I played foosball.
We got back to the hostel around 1:30. I read my book, but fell asleep a few pages in. I woke again at 3 or so, and changed into my pajamas, brushed my teeth, etc. before heading back to bed.