Berlin Day Two: Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Back Never.

As Day One had ended with Rix, Sabrina, Alex, and me going to the Brandenburger Tor at night to take pictures of it glowing, realize our cameras were horrendous when it came to night time pictures, then going to the Holocaust Memorial where we were chased around by a group of three guys shouting
"boo!", we decided it was time to call it a night and return the next morning for a free walking tour of Berlin that our hostel has advertised.

Brandenburger Tor

As luck would have it, the clouds turned gray and proceeded to let fourth an ocean of rain upon Berlin. The free walking tour was immediately forgotten for a hop-on hop-off bus tour. If you go to the Brandenburger Tor, you'll find almost all of these types of tours pick up there. Tickets range from 10 Euro to 17 Euro per day ticket (9am to 7pm). If the weather is nice, I still recommend the walking tour, because though our particular tour was given in German and English, the buses are loud (a combination of the number of people and the roaring engine) so it was hard to hear. There are also other options, like  bike tours, which guide you through the city. Berlin is fairly well set up for bikers, with lanes and signals solely for bicyclists. There also these bizarre contraptions that are called beer-bike tours. A bar is surrounded by seats equipped with pedals. While you drink beer, you pedal, and somehow the bike-bar moves, being steered by the sober driver who is also giving a tour. We did not try this. Perhaps next time.

We stopped first at the President's house (I think that's what the bus driver said...), which is this massive building. I had no idea what it was, but it was pretty.

President's House

Then we went to the Victory Statue. This is tricky to find as you must walk down the street, find the tunnel (there are signs though they are quite small), walk through the tunnel, not get distracted by this could exhibit which projects a silhouette of you using your body heat onto the wall, climb a flight of stairs, and then surface with rain pelting you rather unpleasantly. We accomplished this feat and found ourselves staring at murals made of metal. Bullet holes from WWII combat decorated the art work, damaging some sections so badly that they were completed removed.

You can climb to the top of the tour, but it was pretty expensive and as it was cloudy and rainy, I didn't think it was worth it, though if it had been sunny and clear, I definitely would have. The statue itself is beautiful and with the right angle, you can manage to get the Brandenburger Tor in the picture, as it is right down to road from the statue. There's also a few memorials of famous people, mostly chancellors, that parallel the road, so you can walk to either the Brandenburger Tor or the President's house and see statues commemorating German leaders.

After the Victory Statue, we went to Checkpoint Charlie. I'm not going to lie, it was slightly disappointing. I thought I'd see a massive part of the wall, a huge barricade that was the checkpoint. Instead, it is pretty much information pasted on walls, a really expensive exhibit, and a sign saying you are about to leave American territory. It is worth seeing, don't get me wrong, but if you only have one or two days and are debating what to see in terms of the wall, I'd say choose an different part of Berlin or just go to C.C. really quick.

After Checkpoint Charlie, we headed back home. It was down pouring and cold and we were hungry. We spent the night getting food, hanging in the hostel, and preparing for the next day.