The rest of the visitors

When people come for the weekend it is unpredictable in terms of how much we get accomplished because Berlin is such a chillin' type city but here are some of the things that did happen:

Brandenburg Gate

I think I will have 5 million photos of this by the end but it's always a must see!

Reichstag

The Reichstag building is part of the German Parliament buildings. It was originally constructed to house the Imperial Diet, of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Diet until 1933, when it was severely damaged after it was set on fire.The fire was what led to the rise of Hitler. Who set the fire is still under debate, it is believe the Nazis may have done it to create a situation where they could take absolute power.

Today it has a cool dome at the top which you can walk up and visit. It's a bit pricey but worth doing at least once.

Topography of Terror 

The Topography of Terror is a free museum that covers the period from the end of WWII to the end of Hitler's time in power. I think it is the best museum I have been to so far here.  It is located on the site of buildings which during the Nazi era were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. The cellar was where many political prisoners were tortured and executed.The buildings were largely destroyed by Allied bombing during early 1945 and the ruins demolished after the war. The first exhibitions of the site took place in 1987, as part of Berlin's 750th anniversary.

It sits on what was formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse which was also the boundary between the American and Soviet zones of occupation. It's one block from Checkpoint Charlie. The Wall ran along the south side of the street, renamed Niederkirchnerstrasse, from 1961 to 1989. The wall here was never demolished - it is the longest segment of the outer wall still standing (the longer East Side Gallery section iis actually part of the inner wall and was not visible from West Berlin.

The touristy Checkpoint Charlie

Gendarmenmarkt 

This was already in my Christmas Market post though you couldn't really see the square properly so here it is . . .

We had to rest for a bit ;)

Görlitzer Park

We just happened across this part as we were wandering after brunch. It's in Kreuzberg which also meant we passed random bars and clubs - though it was the middle of a Sunday!

A giant slide!

Burgermeister

The Burgermeister is famous in the city! It's a shack under the UBahn. It used to be a public toilet but today it just makes some awesome burgers! For some reason I only have pictures of the beer and food but you can see what the outside looks like here.