December 3-5, 2014: Berlin!

December 3-5, 2015 - Berlin: 

Chris had a big education conference to attend in Berlin, which happened to be awesome for me because that's where my best friend Crystalyn lives! So, while Chris was conferencing all day, Lyn and I would explore the city. It was awesome. 

We first went to see the Oberbaum Bridge. It connects the Friedrichschain and Kreuzberg boroughs, which used to be separated by the Berlin Wall. So, it's become a symbol of the city's unity, and a pretty popular landmark. 

 Also, as a functioning bridge it's pretty cool, because it's double decker! Trains go on the top, and cars go on the bottom. You can't really tell from where I was taking photos. But here's one from the internet, just to show you what I mean. 

Cool, right?

After seeing the bridge, we went to the East Side Gallery, which is a really long portion of the Berlin Wall that has been all street-artted-up. (Yes. Street-artted. It's a verb now.) 

"Das Universum liebt dich und hilft dir!" The universe loves you and will help you!

This creepy Grim Reaper statue sitting on top of the wall freaked me right out. I thought he was a real person for a minute. 

"Hitlers drogen erobern Berlin" Hitler's drug conquer Berlin. I think this is from a group advocating for the legalization of cannabis in Berlin and the EU. 

Some "Checkpoint Charlie" cartoons.  
Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin, until the fall of the wall in 1979.

"My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" or "The Fraternal Kiss" by Dmitri Vrubel. This painting is a recreation of a photograph taken by Regis Bossu in Berlin on October 7, 1979. The two men are Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union, and Erich Honecker, the East German President. This was at the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic. 

So, I guess "love-locks" on the Berlin Wall are a thing now?
Not really the kind of place I'd choose to lock my love for the rest of time...

"Wir Sind Ein Volk" (We are one people) by Shamil Gimajev

"Some Heads" by Thierry Noir

"Es geschah im November" (It happened in November) by Kani Alavi

These people were taking a Trabi-Tour throughout Berlin. You can rent the "official car of the German Democratic Republic", the Trabant, and drive it through the city, with live radio commentary in the car. Weird. 

Once Chris was done with work for the day, we decided to check out some Weihnachtsmarkt -- Christmas Markets! (This was pretty much a nightly thing, and usually where we ended up eating dinner. Currywurst for the win!) 

So many candies.

So many brats and wursts.

Schaumküsse! (The chocolate things in the bottom left corner.) Evidently, they're like an essential part of any typical German childhood. They're giant marshmallows on a waffle cookie base, then encased in a hard chocolate shell. Biting into them breaks into the gooey marshmallow center, which is why they're named the "foam kiss."

Marzipankartoffel! (Marzipan potato.) Literal blobs of marzipan, meant to look like potatoes. So silly.

All the markets smell like glühwein, which is basically Christmas in a cup. It's a type of mulled wine made with various christmassy spices and also raisins. Luckily for us, most gluhwein stands also sold "kinderglühwein." Because we're basically children. Haha. 

Need some faucets made of chocolate? No? What about chocolate gears? Chocolate spades? Wrenches? BASICALLY ANY TOOL MADE OF CHOCOLATE??!

Just look at those giant creepy nutcrackers!

Looks ready to bite your arms off, if you ask me.

The most giant weihnachtspyramide I've ever seen! And it changed colors! 

We popped into a mall, and they had the biggest Christmas tree ever!! O Tannenbaum, indeed. 

Zucker Schloss! (Sugar Palace)

This kid. He was so scared about this ride, but didn't want to stop watching it. The dad was trying to convince him to be brave and just ride it. Haha.

Christmas markets are like giant carnivals, too! So many rides!

I started playing with zoom blur on my camera, what with all the lights. The result looks like a weird acid trip. Behold:

But really, so many rides. 

The next day, we went to a schnitzel place for lunch. I could eat schnitzel every day, and not even feel bad about it. 

Delish.

Also, at night-time, all the streets light right up. Germans know how to do Christmas, that's for sure.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. It was pretty badly destroyed by a bombing in 1943. They never repaired the damage, as a reminder of the events of WW2.

 We also went to check out Charlottenburg Schloss, a 17th century palace on the west side of Berlin.

A statue of Friedrich Wilhelm I, elector of Brandenburg.

There were some Christmas Markets at Charlottenburg Schloss, as well. As a part of the decor, they set up this giant disco ball in the courtyard of the palace. Naturally, Crystal and I took a selfie in it. We're the two black smudges in the middle. 

Oh man. These shirts were in the palace gift shop. And the feminist part of me is offended by them.
 If you're a Prince, well, you're born to be King, obviously. But if you're a Princess, nope, destined to always be a Princess, and nothing more. Sorry. Bad luck about not having a penis. 

The grounds behind Charlottenburg Schloss are pretty amazing. Closer to the palace, the gardens are very curated, and look similar to Versailles. But further out, things get more wild and overgrown. And I love it.

Reflections of trees in the water.

Also, surprise, we found a small playground and obviously had to ride this zipline swing like a million times. Except for I fell off of it once. Because I'm obviously the most uncoordinated person in the history of the world. 

Crystalyn is a lot more coordinated and graceful than I am.

Riding a see-saw? Don't mind if I do!

Especially if it's this weird looking giraffe see-saw!

The "Belvedere," a little tea house in the gardens of Charlottenburg Schloss, built in 1788. So cute. 

Ha! This statue made me laugh so hard, for no reason. It's just a kid carrying another kid. How good is that? 

Also, look at that poor goat's face! He's terrified.

I sneakily took this photo, because I wasn't supposed to, but I needed to show Chris this little nativity set. We ended up buying it as a Christmas present for one of my siblings.

Also, at the weihnachtsmarkt outside of Charlottenburg Schloss, they had this awesome hand carved nativity scene. It was beautiful. 

And that's our Berlin trip! Stay tuned for the story of how Chris drove a car on the wrong side of the road on Christmas morning (well, that's pretty much the whole story. But there's pictures of us, so stay tuned anyway.)