berlin, where i found love & happiness in shoes & jagermeister...among other things!

So last night, I went on a pub crawl that is led every night by the same people who put on the free walking tour that I took in Paris as well as Berlin. While on the pub crawl I met lots of new people and one was a man from Hamburg, Germany. When he asked how I liked Berlin I had to pause and really think about it. What I decided on was that Berlin is a nice city with a really crazy history (mainly the last 100 years) but what I love so much about this trip is seeing the old architecture that just doesn't exist in the midwest. Berlin had a lot of that, before 90% of the city was destroyed during world war 2. So there are still some interesting structures with 1+ decades of history behind them, but Berlin is largely a new city.

I learned so much about Paris' history on the walking tour there that I made sure I went on the one in Berlin done by the same group. Before the tour I was really shaky on my Berlin history....basically I knew that it was an important place during world war 2, had also been involved in world war 1, and that they had that awful wall until it went down sometime in the 80's. I learned an incredible amount, saw a lot of neat stuff, and still managed to fit in time to pick up a pair of shoes (my Berlin souvenier -I allow myself to purchase 1 thing in each country I visit) and meet yet more new friends. Here are some of the photo highlights:

The Brandeburg gate - the statue on top was first stolen by Napoleon, later stolen back by Germany who then renamed the woman from Peace to Victory and turned her head so she is always keeping an eye on Paris. Pretty cheeky, huh?

The holocaust memorial. Very moving...enough said.

A cathedral that though only about 100 years old, was built to look much older at the request of the ruler at the time who wanted "an old cathedral" built for himself.

As mentioned earlier, on the last night of my Berlin stay I went on a pub crawl put on by the same people as the walking tour. I had gone on the one in Paris and had a blast. This one did not disappoint. More new friends, and a healthy appreciation for the powers of Jagermeister.

And a few things from Belgium now that I have a good wifi connection to post photos -The Grand Place - the main square in Brussels. Very ornate and beautiful with tons of cafes and such surrounding it.

3 course meal for 15 euros? Heck yes!! This is the smoked salmon...

...and the filet mignon - with fries! (they were invented in Belgium, so they come with practically everything)...

...and the chocolate mousse!

I also went to Bruges, Belgium for an afternoon. This trip was inspired by the movie "In Bruges", which is pretty great in my opinion. This is the clock tower in the main square that is featured in the movie. I also had the very best beer of my life in Bruges. Recommended by the bartender and brewed by trappist monks, it was incredible...now if I could only remember the name of it! Argh!