“Ich bin ein Berliner”

Honestly, I did not know what to expect from a city that was so harshly divided just 20 years ago. I guess I was expecting a sharper contrast between the two sides, but as you can see in this picture – both were pretty amazing.

As we wandered around the city, we noticed that the former East Berlin is perhaps even a little nicer than the West as most of the buildings were built after the wall fell. Regardless of which side you are on, Berlin is a cosmopolitan city with plenty to do during the day and night for history buffs (i.e. Christina), architecture buffs (i.e. Dianne), and celebrity buffs (guess that’s me!).

The Berlin Wall deserves its own entry, so aside from that, my top three highlights of our 24-hour tour of the city were in a convenient cluster within 5 minutes of each other:

1) Reichstag – we stumbled upon a documentary about Berlin and the history of this parliament building, which was projected at night on the outside of an adjacent building. The architecture and grounds are unbelievable and dwarf the capital building and the mall in DC.

The history film was projected on this building

2) Brandenburger Tor – the last remaining gate of the first Berlin wall built in 1730 to regulate trade through Berlin. It was also used as a checkpoint for the modern Berlin Wall. This Tor (gate) easily rivals the Arc de Triomphe and is even featured on German 10, 20, and 50 euro cent coins as a symbol of division and unity.

3) Hotel Adlon – OK I know this isn't historical, but I cannot help but enjoy seeing the window from which Michael Jackson so famously dangled his newborn son Blanket, covered in a blanket of course. Bonus: it is the perfect distance from the Bradenburger Tor for great photo-ops. 

I think that's the window just a few floors up! Credit to Dianne for the picture.