I had a breakfast of corn flakes and brotchen. We met upstairs and was surprised to see Dr. Goebells before Dresden. We started the day at Checkpoint Charlie and went back and forth between West and East Berlin. Cobble stone marks the path of the former, infamous, wall. Part of the wall has been preserved adjacent to the former Gestapo headquarters (Now the Topographie des Terrors). It is an ironic juxtaposition. Next we saw the government quarter on Friedrichstraße. Many sites are poorly documented. the Reich Air Ministry building now houses the Finance Ministry. We saw a statue of Goethe (Weimar ‘20’s) looking out over the Jewish Memorial. The experience makes everyone an accomplice. As one descends, Berlin disappears. One has the chance to turn and make different decisions. The city then disappears and one is lost and a bit disoriented in the symbolic horror of concrete slabs resembling coffins. The hope is that one can turn and make progress and come out, and return to life that is somewhat normal, while always having the reminder; it also shows the cycle of history with its tops and bottoms; and there is always a way out, and a point at which decisions can be made not to descend to the depths of evil.
Potsdamer Platz is a Mecca of capitalism. A historical irony in this communist-socialist bastion. The Sony Center is a mish-mash of ultra-modern architecture- that tries to preserve some of the past, but at the same time making it trivial (Esplanade façade, Frühstück room, and Kaisersaal).
Then we moved toward the east to the Brandenburger Tor, The Philharmonic (spaceship building), Tiergartenstraße 4 and the Reichstag. The lines were so long that we did not do the Reichstag today. The Hauptbahnhof near there is huge as an airport terminal- its own crystal cathedral, with shops and people everywhere.
Staying cool is proving difficult. There is hardly any air conditioning here. I am sweating like crazy in the room. It is always cooler outside. Ice is very rare. Starbucks offers ice and there is a store around the corner which sells it, although they seem to have a short supply. Spezi is plentiful and Coca-Cola even markets it under the “Mezzo Mix” label in 0,5 L bottles.
Tonight we ate at an American-Italian style Barbecue place and went to the museum at Checkpoint Charlie. I had pizza for lunch and a sampler platter similar to Wings at the BBQ place along with Spezi.