monday was my last day in Berlin, so i wanted to make sure i got any stuff i had missed in, including, go up into this glass dome that was built on top of the Reichstag government building. the dome, similar to those on many central government buildings (think Academic building at A&M) was actually destroyed during the war, but when Germany re-built it, they hired an English architect to create one of glass, to show the Germans the "transparency of government", giving them the ability to look down over their government in action. it also provides natural sunlight into the building to both light and heat the inside. pretty cool stuff. anyway, i had waited all week to get to the building first thing in the morning, as showing up anytime after 10am found lead to a 2hr+ line. i got their right at 8am, only to find out, that they dome was closed for the next week for cleaning! oh well, i still got to walk up on the roof of the building and take pictures of the glass dome and surrounding 360 degree views of cloudy/rainy berlin, but it really would have been nice to climb the spiral staircase. already a reason to come back!
i didn't let the rain or blown plans dampen my spirits and instead headed over to what is the largest protestant church in the whole world, which has a giant dome on top (also destroyed in the war but rebuilt) that you can pay a few euro and walk around for great views. i am glad i did, grabbed some really great photographs from up top. you had to climb so many stairs (no elevators) that i saw at least 3 people (all lazy americans) give up before they made it to the top. how sad. right after walking out of this church, the rain hit again, and this time even harder. i finally gave in and turned in my bike, about 3 hours early, and retreated to the "tube" (subway) for the rest of my berlin travel of the day. i did pop out over near the something "Wilhelm" church which is awesome to see, because it is an old church that was bombed during the war that WAS NOT rebuilt, but left in its current state to serve as a lasting reminder of the war. it is right in the middle of Berlin's "Madison Avenue" of shopping too, which makes it really stand out (check out the pictures and extended gallery below).
after about 10pm and after my last meal of CurryWurst, i headed back to the hostel to pack up my bags, grabbed a quick 4 hours of sleep before early morning departure to the next city...next stop, amsterdam.
traveling man,
zack!
Check out more day 4 photographs here (includes descriptions for some photos):
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| Berlin - Day 4 |
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