Deutschland. Tag 2

The second day in Berlin took me to West Berlin, started the day walking from Potzdam Platz through Tiergarten to the presidential palace called Schloss Bellevue, from there to the victory column Siegelssaule, continued the walk till I got to a subway station, discovered on my way that Berlin has a branch of Hooters :) then rode my way to Charlottenburg palace and gardens.


It's beautiful and def. great efforts have been made to restore it after the war, this used to be the summer house of the first Prussian queen Sophie Charlotte, who was basically living there full time in the old palace, later on a new wing was added by her grandson (I think) as well as an orangerie making the place huge! The gardens are very nice as well, the first in Prussia to be designed in Baroque style. These gardens contained a tea house, which now acts as a porcelain museum, and a mausoleum for a number of the royal family members.

I thought this would be the "sight of the day" until I got to Keiser Wilhelm's Gedachtniskirche, a beautiful church (although pretty small) that's been bombarded in the 2nd world war, the ruins are still standing and a huge modern church is built around it, I love churches and this one was really nice with a pretty dramatic story to tell.

Finished my west Berlin itinerary and took the subway back to the east, specifically to the East side gallery which is really just the old Berlin wall left for artists to paint on it, seems as well that paintings remain for a period of time then new painters get the space, a looooooooong walk took me to alexander platz, where I sat down, took some photos of the TV tower, red city hall and fountain, then just got myself a Mac and went to relax my feet in my hotel room :) (Written on 26Sep09)