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| A (COLD & WET) Walking Tour of Berlin We had a great tour guide show us some of the highlights and history of former East Berlin. She showed us that the columns below (and other buildings) are easy to spot as "originals" due to the bullet and shrapnel damage marks. You can also see where the restoration money ran out on the ceiling of the walkway. A huge percentage of the buildings in Berlin are either new or re-constructions. We took shelter from the wet, snowy weather whenever possible. Noah is standing on the steps of the Altes Museum with a view of the Berlin Dom or Cathedral. The best shelter was in a new underground mall which had a food court. |
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| The church at left was inspired by a teacup! King Frederick, who commissioned it, wanted an addition for his teacup collection. The square in front of the church was the sight of Hitler's famous book burnings. It has just had an underground parking garage installed - hence the mess. |
| This section of the Berlin Wall stands as a memorial. There are a few other sections of the wall still standing as reminders, however, most of the wall was auctioned off to rebuild the city. There is a two brick wide strip that runs through the sidewalks and streets where the entire wall once stood. Below is the nearby interior of the Sony Center. It is a new open air urban complex with a roof inspired by Mt. Fuji. The opening ceremony for the Odyssey of the Mind competition took place here and inside a Sony Center movie theaters on Friday night. |
| Ralph and Noah took advantage of family free time on Saturday morning by riding the S-bahn and U-bahn trains around Berlin. This station was only a 5-minute walk from the school hosting the OM competition where the teams were busy practicing, competing, and watching each other. Noah's face is particularly messy from playing with some face paint!! |