We are still struggling a bit with the German transit system and have figured out that a lot of it is based upon assumption. Despite that, we spent the day in Berlin and discovered what a wonderful city it is.
Our first stop was the Reichstag which is an imposing building. You can feel the history oozing from it. We followed that with the Brandenburg Gate and Victory Column. Several of the monuments still had bullet holes and mortar damage from WWII.
It was the day after the Berlin marathon and the city was still full of participants. Several of them were walking around wearing their "participation medals" around their necks. I guess this says a lot about that generation.
To cap off the day, we wandered the streets of this wonderful city, taking in the atmosphere. We made a point to see Checkpoint Charlie, though we passed on waiting in line for a photo op. What really caught our attention was the Ampelmännchen craze—the iconic crosswalk symbols inherited from East Germany. Naturally, we had to grab a couple of souvenirs to bring a piece of that history home.
