Janay Hansen

Today I went and visited Schloss Charlottenburg (that's code for Charlottenburg Castle). It was way cool. I only saw half of it (lame), because for some reason they charge extra to see the whole thing (double lame) -- and come on, it was pushing it to even pay for the main section. Anyway, the part I saw was super cool.

First, I had to try and find my way there. I studied my maps and decided it wouldn't be a big deal because there was a train (one I hadn't taken before) that would take me directly there. So, I found said train and settled in for a nice long ride. Unfortunately, the rail was under construction after about the 3rd stop, so they made us all get off and find another way. No problem under normal circumstances, but I hadn't bothered to bring my city map because I knew exactly where I was going and my train map doesn't have street names or anything to tell you where the next station is. So, I got off the train and then wandered aimlessly hoping to find another station.

Amidst the wanderings (which made me kind of nervous because I wasn't familiar with the area and there was graffiti everywhere I looked) I passed a random cool old building that they were renovating. I love old buildings (like the abandoned ones). It makes me wonder what happened there and why it fell into disrepair -- I just know there's some fantastic story behind old buildings. Anyway, long story short, I finally came upon a different train station and figured out a new route to the palace.

All along the street leading up to the palace there is a big walking trail type thing down the middle of the road. It was nice to walk on the trail and see the palace getting ever closer. There were moms with their kids, people walking dogs or riding bikes, etc. I loved it. It was nice to be in a residential area, because up until now I've always been in the business district of Berlin.

I toured the palace (the parts that I could), and then walked around the grounds. The palace gardens are just open to the public, so there were tons of people jogging, riding bikes, and just sitting on benches reading books (even though it was windy, and therefore freezing cold). I loved learning about the royalty who had lived there, and I could just envision them in their fancy gowns hosting lawn parties, and strolling through their forested gardens. The top floor of the palace was redone almost completely because of the damage to it during WWII. But, the main floor still had all the original flooring and some of the original ceilings and wall hangings. It was pretty amazing.

Now, back to yesterday. I visited the Brandenburger Gate and also the Holocaust Memorial. The picture of the Brandenburger Gate is not awesome, but I have this strange anxiety about letting people know I'm about to take pictures. Therefore, any time I get out my camera, while there are people around, I immediately go on stealth mode and try to take the picture as fast as I can. In fact, all the pictures that have me in them are torture for me to take. I turn on that little timer and then agonize over how long it is taking to actually take the picture, all the while I'm standing there posing for myself. I don't know, it just makes me feel too weird and obviously touristy, which apparently is not okay with me. So, there you have it. If there are bad pictures, such as the Brandenburger Gate, you now know why.
I figured the Brandenburger Gate picture disaster wasn't too big a problem since I'll be going there with Jon and I can take a picture with him in it (strangely, this doesn't seem as bad as being a solo picture taking tourist -- I know, weird).

The Holocaust Memorial was pretty cool. There is a whole big block that is covered by hundreds of different sizes of rectangle stone slabs, and then there is an information center underground. It takes you through the factual persecution of the Jews and then has a display of personal writings from Jews and prison guards alike. It was terrible and yet amazing at the same time. Sometimes, I had to stop reading halfway through (especially when any mention of children was made) because it made me too sad. Overall, I'm really glad that I went even though it was sad.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Some of the Berlin Wall is right across the street from our hotel. Like, I literally can see it from the front door. At first I thought that they had just moved these pieces here because it's sort of a touristy area, but the wall really ran right along this big main road. Pretty crazy!