RICK'S BIG TRIP page 21
 
 Right in the Middle of Berlin, on the "Ku'damm" (that's short for Kurfürstendamm) there's this enormous bombed out church. When it didn't fall down in World War II, it was surely a sign of divine providence. So it's left there, as it was, a sort of monument among the modern growth beside it. Strange, awful, impressive.
 The Tiergarten is a beautiful park right in the middle of Berlin. Here's a statue worthy of note. The glory! The unabashed victorious enthusiasm as this bold hunter displays the limp carcass of a small, defenseless fox! You can just hear that heard of manic dogs barking and yowling their fool heads off. Don't you love "Sport"? 
 Ever since they decided to bring the capitol of the reunificated Germany back to Berlin, those folks have just been building like crazy. Here, in the center of Berlin...did I say the "center of Berlin" again? Ah, you see, there is no center; Berlin has many centers. This particular spot, Potsdamerplatz, is some city planner's idea of where the new center should be. Built in what was, during the Cold War, the middle of Nowhere, we have here a great conglomeration of modern glass architecture. It has a big modern hotel/shopping mall atmosphere. A good place to meet your international Big Business clients, I suppose.Cozy? No, not cozy.
 And here's something you don't see every day in the States: This poster, from a subway (a.k.a.., ü-bahn) station, is advertising the fact that the newspaper Die Zeit ("The Times") is not read by the likes of those who would be inclined to join a fascist rally. I would translate this, "Young People are Zeit readers -- but not all..." It's nice to know that this sort of rally has fallen out of fashion (...but I'm still a little concerned about those Young'uns who are not Zeit readers.) 
 And here we are at another subway, a.k.a., ü-bahn station (though it's obviously neither subterranean nor unter der strasse). Isn't it lovely the way that light comes in, reflecting off the rails, making this look like some kind of scene from a dark, futuristic light travel sci-fi flick? 
(Rick’s home page) (Back to page 1 of Rick’s Big Trip)

NEXT PAGE….!