Grüße aus Berlin

The past week or so has been really, really hectic. Lots of final papers and an exam for my classes, and I'm still not done. But I am in Berlin with the group! The city is beautiful, but also really large and somewhat impersonal. I've heard a lot about the differences between East and West Berlin, but some parts of East Berlin are nicer than some parts of West Berlin. The city is really unique for such a large city because of all the open spaces.

Our hotel is in East Berlin, actually inside the East train station, which would have been really convenient if the S-Bahn lines connecting here weren't under repair and closed. But they are. The infrastructure is still pretty conveniently organized around us though, and transportation isn't too difficult.

On our first day, we arrived at around noon and proceeded to do a preliminary tour of the city with Dr. R. We saw the Fernsehturm and Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz and the Sony Center, Unter den Linden, the Reichstag and other governmental buildings in the area, and the Holocaust Memorial.

Getting close to Marx and Engels in Alexanderplatz in East Berlin.

The Pieta inside the monument to victims of totalitarianism.
The Berlin bear.

Memorial to members of the Reichstag who were murdered by the Nazis.

The hotel on Unter den Linden, where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window.

At the East Side Gallery.

Kids playing at the Holocaust Memorial.

Brandenburg Gate.
The American Embassy.

Inside the Sony Center.

Checkpoint Charlie.

Bombed-out church on Kudamm that wasn't restored, to remind everyone of the destruction of war.

View of the River Spree from the Fernsehturm.

View of the Berliner Dom from the Fernsehturm.

Statue of Schiller in front of the old theater.

Inside the Jewish Museum.

Going back to Wuerzburg tomorrow, Mannheim on Thursday, and back to the States on Saturday!!