Berlin,Berlin

Ah! What a nice place! There is so much history in every corner. Everywhere there is the distinction between East and West, Russians and Americans. People are very friendly and like to practice their English with you at any chance they get. I met about three people that have been in Canada before for different reasons and they all had good memories about it, which made me be a special visitor. A guy that was riding velo-cycles told me he was in Canada for 2 years and started pedaling very slow so he could talk longer :)
It helps to have friends that live in a city you travel. A friend of mine told me before hand where the right place for a hotel would be, where the nice places to go were and then also some night life from the city.
(The picture here is what they call Victoria, the Fat Lady of the town, foot size 93)
I stayed there 3 days and 3 nights. First day took a tourist bus that went all around the East and West. Changed the guide 3 times and each of them gave different flavor to the tour. One of them was simple and just explained what the buildings around were. The other must have been from the East because she was sort of angry about West. But she was well informed about the prices of everything that was being constructed or re-constructed. Here she is in this picture with mic on her hand while we are getting to the Gendarmenmarkt.
And believe you me, there was so much under construction there, unbelievable. The third guide was very patriotic. He said that he had shed a tier when in a train he found himself divided by a glass door from the first Class passengers. Also, he had all the ironic jokes about politicians and Obama that visited Berlin just one day before me.
(The picture here is the German White House. When the flag is up, Angela is in the house)
For tourist entertainment, there were a lot of people painted up in shiny colors that would stay like sculptures and move only when you get close. Typical of big cities. Here a picture of some tired soldiers eating McDonalds and chatting with a tourist :)
On the second day I visited Potsdam. What a lovely little town! If there is a place in the World where I would like to live, would be that one. So cute, so charming, with so much history, with so much art... just lovely! It was first build to be the place where Prussian Emperors wanted to spent their summer. Not in Berlin but yet close to it. All of them brought there something from their hobbies and desires. There was a part that looked like Tuscany, a Dutch neighborhood, wood barakes where Russian singers used to live, a copy of a Scottish castle, Dutch wind mill. There was the Cecilian palace where the fate of Second World War was discussed (Potsdam Conference) and Truman was telegraphed of having a son. One of the Kings wanted to have fresh fruits every day so he planted a lot of trees and vineyards. Sanssouci palace is just gorgeous! One of the Emperors had build a decoration monument on top of a Dom. There were three naked woman on their back representing the Empress of Austria, the Queen of France and the Empress of Russia. They were all positioned in a way so they were showing their naked bum to their own countries. What a funny Emperor!
(This picture is Potsdam's version of Branderburg Gate, build only 20 years after the original one in Berlin)
There was also the Forbidden city where the head of KGB used to be and nobody knew what went on there. The walls were painted white and the prisoners were dressed in black so they were visible if decided to escape. The Wall used to be just by the river side and nobody could see the river. There was a heavy bridge and that was where Americans and Russians used to exchange the spies. Here a picture of the bridge, sorry, not a good one!

In short, lovely little town!
On the third day I took a tour with a boat around the river Spree. Nice but was only in German so can't say I learned a lot from it. But went behind some buildings hat looked very pretty from the front and just normal from the back. We counted 47 bridges going on. Here is a picture of some live-in boats in the river.

I had very little time to shop there but my hotel was very close to a big mall, KaDeWe. I had only one hour to shop there and I bought the only thing that I am proud to show off from this European trip. Is a HugoBoss shirt with an edge! Not so lucky with shoes! Those people are very tall and the cool shoes were flat, while I have the other problem (short and need high hills). I also went to a couple of bars, one of them by the river and my feet were in sand. Was in the Possessed district, a part of the city where artists took over the houses and refused to pay. They fought with police and continued to make their crazy art. Still, there was art made out of pieces of iron.
During all the time I was there, the weather was nice and warm. The hotel was good and I got it for half price deal. Trains were well organized. People friendly and good with English. In short, I liked Berlin and Berlin liked me. I believe that when you visit a place and things go right at the beginning, things will go right for a long time. From this idea, I would say that Berlin is a city I can live with pleasure :)
(This is a picture of a part of the Berlin Library, a very modern building)

I did see 2 cars like mine in Berlin :) 4 in general in Germany! A lot of BMW and Mercedes and Audis. Nice to see good cars. One nice thing in Germany is that radio stations have good decent music. I just ended up hearing some old songs, Italian, French and English ones that you do not hear in any Canadian radio.