Berlin

Then came Berlin, the city of history. The first thing I noticed was how big it is! There are a lot of people going a lot of different directions. They even have their own train system that is separate from the rest of Germany. It was very interesting to say the least. We ran into Christoper Street Parade and had to leave the middle of the city because there were so many crazy people.

This building is called Reichstag. It functions as seat of the Federal German Parliamnet, the Bundestag. 

Go Germany! Everywhere we went there were Germany flags 

for the Euro Cup. 

Neue Wache. The inside has been repeatedly redecorated. Since 1993 it functions as a memorial to the victims of war and tyranny. 

Berliner Cathedral

Old City Buildings.

Checkpoint Charlie. Nothing really remains of this checkpoint between the American and Soviet sectors of Berlin that once had fences, barriers and a watch tower. It used to serve as a crossing point for diplomats, embassy members, the allied forces and their relatives. Its name comes from the American spelling code: C for Charlie; A for Alpha was located at the autobahn checkpoint of Helmstadt between East and West Germany; B for Bravo was assigned to checkpoint Dreilinden near Potsdam. This is where everyone had to go through in order to get past the wall that separated East and West Berlin. You were forced to buy some of their money that you could use while you were visiting. Then you weren't allowed to bring anything back with you and your car would be searched.

East side Gallery is the one section of wall that is still standing. It reminds people of what happens so that it never has to happen again. They are one country again with no separations. It is painted all over with different designs that you can see for miles. These are just a few of our favorites.

Siegessaule. The Victory Column was designed in 1864 by J. H. Strack for square facing the Reichstag and later changed to a figure of victory. Under Hitler's rule it was removed in 1938/39 onto the roundabout of the Grosser Stern. Who would want to try and move this big thing? What a crazy man!

We attended sacrament meeting while we were there in Tiergarten. Here is a picture of the LDS church and what they look like in Germany.

The Brandenburger Gate is the only remaining city gate. It was located in the no man's land just behind the wall. After the fall of the Wall, the gate was reopened on December 22, 1989.

A piece of the wall that isn't painted. This is what it looked like...no hope of going anywhere.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. These are in memory of all the killed victims from the war. They are uneven and different heights because everything during the war was so exact and there were no changes without order.

From the top of TV tower. Berlin is HUGE!! It goes on forever!

More churches....

From the top of the Berliner Cathedral

Olympic Stadium. We got there a little too late to get inside, but it was cool to see

how different the designs were from the two different stadiums in Germany.

The hostel that we stayed at this time used to be normal apartments that they had turned into a hostel. It was right in the middle of regular places to live. It felt like I had just moved on my mission and this was the place that we lived for a couple nights. It was a cool feeling and brought back memories from my mission.

These are the different trains in Berlin, not just the normal Deutsche Bahn.... They need their own because they are so big and different than any other city with where they can and cannot fit things. I am glad that I didn't get called to this city, I never would have made it. Frankfurt is much more my thing. Good thing I didn't really get a choice. haha.