Achtung baby I'm riding on the U2

03.08.2015

Achtung Baby is the name of an Album by the band U2, and U2 is the name of the underground line which runs through the city of Berlin from east to west. On my first foray into Berlin yesterday, I discovered that the U2 station, about 100mtrs from where I am staying, will take me to just about all of the attractions of Berlin. I began by heading for the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag Parliament Building, which are in the centre of Berlin. Following a bunch of tourists on the way took me to the Holocaust Memorial, which is only a block away from the Brandenburg Gate. I decided not to join the line for entry into the underground museum, this time, but instead thought I would just walk into the maze of blocks 2711 of them that represent just a few of the 6 million Jews-men, women and children senselessly murdered by the Nazis in WW2) They were put there as a tangible reminder to future generations of Germans that the horrors of the holocaust really did happen. As I got deeper into the field of blocks and they started to get higher and close in around me, I began to have feelings of helplessness, oppressed by the height and weight of the blocks, and a deep sadness at what the place represented brought tears to my eyes. I turned back to the outer perimeter and found a shady tree to sit under until I could stop the tears. I read last night that the architects of the memorial designed it purposely "To produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere " to allow one to experience the place viscerally as well as intellectually. "The whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason" I would say, from my own personal experience, that they have done a good job of achieving their aims. From there I walked around a corner and up the road to the Brandenburg Gate across from the Reichtag, and the welcome shady embrace of the Tiergarten Park. The temperature had climbed to 34 degrees by now, and the hordes of tourists were gathering at all the right places. After taking a few photos I squeezed into a #100 bus to take me further up the road to Alexanderplatz. This square is dominated by the TV Tower with long queues outside waiting to buy a ride up to the top. This is the oldest part of Berlin the area where it was first settled, and from here the old churches and museums are easy to get to. It is also crowded with tourists and locals with lots of places for them to eat and to shop for souvenirs. I was starting to feel the heat so I headed back to the U2 metro and was home in 10 minutes. The buddy bears are scattered all over town. They were introduced to Berlin in 2001 as an artistic event in which 350 of them were made and painted by a variety of artists. Afterwards many were sold at auction to raise money for charities. The ones you see today are a few of the originals which are privately owned by the shops, businesses premises, and hotels where they are displayed....I am starting to like Berlin...

piece of the old Berlin wall