Walking Tour of Berlin

Today we took a four mile walking tour of Berlin while it was snowing! Our project director, Dr. Veryhen, led the tour and told us about several interesting political debates behind the rebuilding of Berlin.

I was so happy to see Starbucks! I saw three during the walking tour, but didn't get to go in because everything is closed here on Sunday.

This is the Brandenburg Gate, in real life! When we were taking pictures a gypsy woman came up to some of the students and started asking them for money. Dr. Veryhen got really mad at her and yelled at her to go away; Germans don't tolerate bums or gypsies!

This is the hotel that Michael Jackson dangled his baby off of.

Here we are, freezing our butts off, in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Dr. Veryhen is in the background with the red beanie...he is quite the character!

Even Germans love Harry Potter (I hope!?!) This picture is for you, Chrissie =]

This is part of the German government building. The part on the left is left over from the olden days, and the modern section to the right is supposed to represent how the new government strives for transparency and modernity.

This is a Soviet war memorial in what used to be East Berlin. Thousands of dead soldiers are buried behind the monument.

This monument is similar to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in the US. The statue was controversial when it was installed because the pose is reminiscent of Mary and Jesus, and some Germans thought it was disrespectful to the memory of the Jews that died during the Holocaust.

This is the Berliner Dome, a beautiful church that is one of the view buildings left from before the wars of the 2oth century. To the right is the TV tower that has a restaurant at the top.

This statue is of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The river is frozen!

I had to take a picture of this billboard. It was snowing so hard, and the text under ROXY says "Surf Everywhere" ! haha

This is the roof of a fancy mall that we went it. Below is the central escalator area. This is way nicer than South Coast Plaza!

This Chinese Restaurant is located at the site of Hitler's office during WWII. The bunker that he killed himself is located a few meters away; it is now a parking lot.

This is the Sony Center near Checkpoint Charlie. All the buildings around here are super modern, and more are going to be built in the future.