RICK'S BIG TRIP page 22
 


Oh, sorry, this picture isn't very good. Nice clouds though, don't you think? You see that bar going across the trees in the lower right side of the photo? For some reason, the Berliners have decided that, at least for the time being, it's OK to run sewage lines above the street level, even in the middle of downtown areas. They drip a little bit -- but don't worry -- it's just condensation (I think)...
While in Berlin, I had the good fortune of discovering this ancient Egyptian bowling alley. Very impressive.
Out on Kurfürstendamm, that big street they call Ku'damm, there was a festival for a few days. Booths with food, ferris wheels...see the Eiffel tower there? It's all about being international.
Here's a sculpture of a crazy freaking-out horse, also on the Ku'damm, just below that bombed-out church I showed you before.
I was in Berlin for about a week, staying at a youth hostel, in the former East Berlin. The Berliners have no fondness for the days of the Wall, and as an outsider, coming in 12 years (already) after the Wall's been down, you don't see many indications of what was East and West. 
One of the landmarks of old East Berlin is the Radio Tower. I went up that one and looked around, you know, like I always do with the big buildings in the towns I visit. Here's a sign of a little fondness for the old Soviet days. Look, it's those little babushka dolls. You can barely make out in this photo that the figure standing back and center...that bald one with the jelly stain on it's head...it's a more recent innovation in wooden doll designs.
Aren't those kids cute? They've been painting their faces and eating french fries out at the festival on the Ku'damm. That big guy shaped like a cone of fries behind them is not typically German, however -- it's typically Dutch. Yes, those potato eaters came all the way out to Berlin just to sell greasy fries.
My guide in Berlin was a mysterious figure, barely discernible in this photo. A veteran of the formerly Divided City, this illusive gentleman -- we'll call him "Friend X" -- showed me the streets, parks and subways from a perspective no guide book can ever deliver...

Click here for further elucidation regarding the temperament of Friend X.
And there it is, what you heard about Berlin. They're mostly all demolished now -- even the one at the famous Check-Point Charlie is historic rubble. But I found this one lingering, just outside the brand spanking new buildings of Potsdamer Platz (which you see in the background). wreaths, poems, and other mementos lay on and around this grim monument.
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