Long weekend in Berlin

Monday was Ascention Day in Denmark, so Chuck was off. We decided to drive 4.5 hours to Berlin and spend a long weekend taking in a history lesson or two. The pictures are posted and here's the recap.

Saturday - We stayed at the Berlin Hilton hotel, located on the Gendarmenmarkt, which is a central plaza in Berlin. An early morning of driving, meant we arrived in Berlin by 8:45am. We spent the morning at the 'toothpick' or 'tv tower' and had lunch in the revolving restaurant. Off for a quick boat tour on the canal, passing by museums covered in scaffolding and cranes. It looks like the whole city is in the midst of a major facelift. We spent the afternoon walking through the Tiergarten, which is a huge lush park filled with locals having cookouts. No invitations to join them, so we kept walking. We waited in line to enter the Reischstag or government building. We took an elevator up to the top floor and then walked on spiral ramps in the glass and mirrored dome. Then, we were off to the Brandenburger Tor or Brandenburger Gate, which is the entrance to the Tiergarten.

Sunday - We had coffee (tea for me) at a cute little bageri (bakery) off Gendarmenmarkt, then walked to the Jewish History museum and Checkpoint Charlie. Chuck decided that he had to get his passport stamped with all the stamps from the timeperiod. Sometimes he's like a kid in a candystore. It was cute. We hopped on the tourist 'hop on hop off' double decker open air bus and toured the city for 2 hours. It was a welcomed rest for our weary feet! At the end of the bus tour we went to Potsdammer Potz and saw the Berlin Wall, then a short walk to the Holocaust Memorial and a visit to the museum.

Monday - We were up early primarily because we were going to stop at Ikea and CITTI on the way home and had a 4.5 hour drive ahead of us. Well, apparently all stores are closed on Ascention Day, so no shopping for me. We did; however, stop at Schloss Charlottenburg, which is a beautiful palace just outside of Berlin in what appeared to be a suburb. We walked the gardens and enjoyed spending the morning in a very beautiful and peaceful park-like garden.