WWIIapalooza!

as i mentioned in my last post, for a one day tourist in berlin it's pretty much all about the many monuments and places of importance during WWII. of course, i've never considered myself much of a history buff. my interest if any in the subject varies between pretty specific stories rather than periods or particular parts of the world where most people's interest seems to categorize itself.


of course the main points of my interest in history tend to be either unsolved mysteries or the obscenely depressive. totally normal. i also don't know why the illogical grabs my attention, but i spent a lot of time trying to understand why a government would put up a wall sectioning off different parts of a country, separating families and other relationships, and then punish by death if anyone tried to escape from one section to another. then again, i wonder what decisions our leaders are making today that people of the future will look back on in confusion.

the berlin wall memorial.

some of the remains of the original wall. the other photos i have were me smiling in front of it. awkward?

peeking through the wall into the death zone.

pieces of the original wall turned into art.

also on our tour, we were able to stop into the reichstag building. this is one of the few (if not the only - but i don't have access to wifi to fact check myself as i write this) parliament buildings in the world that allows entrance to tourists. the building itself is pretty average, or at least what you would expect for a government building. on top of the roof, however, there is a glass dome that you can climb up for some of the most spectacular views of the city (and a glass of champagne..).

the reichstag.

roof of the reichstag.