East End Boys, and West End Girls

This afternoon we toured downtown with Martin. We took the train (S-Bahn) into downtown and then road the U-Bahn (subway) down to an area near the old wall.

We visited the Berlin Wall Museum. It was very interesting to see. There were lots of pictures and explanations of the various controversies and attempted escapes that occurred there. Martin went to this location in 1989 and gave us his first hand account of what it was like when the wall came down, and other memories he had there. I think its hard for the kids to image what it was like. Hopefully these stories are making an impression.

We then attempted to take a ride up 150 meters in a balloon, but it was too windy, so we went to plan B. 

That was an elevator ride up 24 stories in 20 seconds (I'm not sure if its true, but I told the kids it was the world's fastest elevator). I told them to hold on to their pants when it took off. (Maddie said it was faster than mom's office elevator and it only goes up one floor.) We have several pictures from there. This photo is from the ground up to where we were.

However, before we went up there, Martin thought we should have a rest and go into what seemed like a "Mall" to me and of course we had to try Martin's favorite eis. I haven't felt that guilty for those we left back in the US, until we stopped here. Sissy would have really liked it and we thought of her,  missed her and were overcome with guilt. However, she too would have been miserable before we left, because the actual portions were much larger than they appeared in the photo-menu. So at least she missed that part. The feeling was worse than the full size Sundae at Andy's Custard. You will have to see the photos to get a feel for what all we had. There was at least half left over. We were supposed to go to an 1860's authentic German restaurant after the aerial tour, but none of us felt like eating any time soon.

We then went through the Sony Center at Potsdam Platz. Those of you that know me, know as a kid, I loved building with Lego's. My Uncle John and Lego's are the main reason I became a civil engineer. He is a civil engineer and used to build with me when I was an impressionable kid. I had to have my photo taken with the Legoland Giraffe (made of Legos). Although John and I could have built something cooler than a giraffe, and it would have had moving parts.

We just finished eating at a nearby restaurant. Markus was playing tennis, and Almut just came home from work, so we took the kids with us and they helped us order. G-man had some sort of spatzel and Blake had a schnitzel he said tasted like chicken fried steak. Maddie was still full, but is now eating with Almut.

Tour with Martin