Ich bin ein Berliner
We flew into Berlin on Dec29, and we decided to see a few sights before heading to stay with Eri's friend in Postdam. Right outside of the train station in Postdamer Platz (in Berlin, not Postdam), there was this huge slide with people riding inner tubes down it... Central/northern Germany is pretty flat, so I guess they do what they have to do.
Hangin' with a commie statue (Marx and Engels?) in Alexanderplatz, East Berlin.
The Berlin wall: one of the most oppressive relics of modern history. The west side was covered with art and graffiti, while the east had barbed wire and landmines. We spent a few hours reading about the wall, the Nuremburg trials, and other history in the area. It just seems unfathomable that a government would create a wall to keep citizens inside the country. 
There are cobblestones through Berlin where the wall used to stand.
After seeing some sights, we took another train to Postdam, just outside of Berlin. Then we took a bus to Grube, a small village outside of Potsdam. Eri's friend, Martin, is from there, and we stayed in his parent's house for our time in Berlin.
A view of across the street from Martin's house.
Martin invited us to play some poker with his friends in Postdam. There were 12 of us there in a small apartment--8 playing (including Martin, Eri, and myself), one guy not playing and 3 of the guy's girlfriends not playing (Eri being the only female participating).
After many strokes of good luck, I was crowned poker champion.
Sanssouci is Potsdam's castle, built by Frederick the Great in the mid 1700s. Although it's usually quite magnificent, unfortunately many of the statues and fountains were boarded up for the winter. 
We found it interesting and amusing how many German stores use the image of a pig to symbolize good values.
Hangin' with a commie statue (Marx and Engels?) in Alexanderplatz, East Berlin.
The Berlin wall: one of the most oppressive relics of modern history. The west side was covered with art and graffiti, while the east had barbed wire and landmines. We spent a few hours reading about the wall, the Nuremburg trials, and other history in the area. It just seems unfathomable that a government would create a wall to keep citizens inside the country. 
There are cobblestones through Berlin where the wall used to stand.
After seeing some sights, we took another train to Postdam, just outside of Berlin. Then we took a bus to Grube, a small village outside of Potsdam. Eri's friend, Martin, is from there, and we stayed in his parent's house for our time in Berlin.
A view of across the street from Martin's house.
Martin invited us to play some poker with his friends in Postdam. There were 12 of us there in a small apartment--8 playing (including Martin, Eri, and myself), one guy not playing and 3 of the guy's girlfriends not playing (Eri being the only female participating).
After many strokes of good luck, I was crowned poker champion.
Sanssouci is Potsdam's castle, built by Frederick the Great in the mid 1700s. Although it's usually quite magnificent, unfortunately many of the statues and fountains were boarded up for the winter. 
We found it interesting and amusing how many German stores use the image of a pig to symbolize good values.
posted by Einsteinium at
12:41 PM
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