Note about our Roommates

This is Chris. I just wanted to add a couple of notes about our "Australian" roommates. They aren't actually from Australia, but New Zealand. Also, when the Italian guy finally left the other day, we were so happy because we thought we'd finally get a good night's sleep without having to listen to him snore. But in fact, the New Zealander that came in to replace him snored all night! When Erica and I heard him start snoring, we both just started laughing. It was just too perfect.

But last night all was quiet, so hopefully that will be the end of our snoring stories!

Update from Berlin

Erica here. Today was a busy day. We must have burned 5,000,000 calories today just walking around. Chris is still complaining of ankle pain from a little trip he took yesterday when he missed a step at a U-Bahn station. (He was looking at his phone and not paying attention.) Hopefully it will get better.

We started off with an earlier morning (thank goodness) and had breakfast again at the New Zealand Cafe. I decided I wanted something different this morning (instead of the usual toast and fruit salad) so I opted for the veggi-fry. It was an awesome and HUGE breakfast, complete with baked beans (classic). However, it was also 7.80 euros, so I will not be ordering it again.

We headed out to the Berlin Zoo Aquarium and bought tickets for the aquarium only, worried that we wouldn't have time to appreciate both the zoo and the aquarium on the same day. It was the right decision and Chris and I ended up spending quite a bit of time there. Did you know that the Berlin Zoo Aquarium has more species than any other aquarium in the world? Well, it does and now you know.

After the aquarium we headed to Bendlerblock, a memorial and museum on the German resistance to the Nazi socialist regime.

"It was moving and illuminating." - Chris Woodall, recent visitor to Bendlerblock

The museum focused much attention on the failed Hitler assassination plot that took place in that very same building. For those of you wondering: YES, this is the same plot upon which the movie "Valkyrie" is based. Tom Cruise plays the character of Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, who was chief of staff. After the failed assassination attempt, von Stauffenberg and a few cohorts were tried (same building). The same night of the trial, Stauffenberg and the others were executed in the courtyard by firing squad. While we were at the museum, a bunch of American military officers were taking a private tour (which prevented us from going the pace that we wanted to on our own tour). It was very interesting to hear them talk. Chris and I decided that they had to be high-ranking officials just by the things they were saying and the insignia on their uniforms.

I caught some interesting snippets here and there:

A short, dark-haired woman: "Well sure, the government would have to spend more money but I think it would be worth..."

A tall, lean older man in a commanding tone: "Well, they're all having the same problems now with the money. I need you to raise their cash advance limits to fifteen-hundred. All of them."

We didn't know what they were all doing there. Chris and I mused that they had all seen the movie "Valkyrie" and were inspired to come see the real place. But most likely, they were there on official business. The building is now, after all, the building for the German Ministry of Defense.

After Bendlerblock, we headed to the Sony Center to eat. We had a very filling meal at an Aussie bar & grill named Corroboree. Chris had the biggest burger I've ever seen (and ate it all) and I had a huge bowl sweet potato curry (and ate it all). Portions here are huge. We spend so much on food that it's difficult to justify not eating everything that we're served. I suppose we could ask for carry-out, but then we're stuck schlepping extra crap all over the city. *Sigh*

After dinner we headed to the Reichstag. It is gargantuan. We stood back and snapped a few shots in the grassy knoll in front of the building. You have to walk a ways before you can get good shots of the entire thing. You can tell how HUGE it is because there a bunch of people standing around it for size comparison. We waited in line to go up to the cupola and it was totally worth it. We were able to view the famous Adlon Hotel, where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window of its Presidential Suite. We were also able to snap some amazing shots of the city. Because we made it up there just before sunset, we were able to snap both day shots and evening shots. We are quite good at what we do.

After snapping about a billion photos at the Reichstag, we wandered around Tiergarten a while, happening on various statues and monuments along the way. The street from Brandenberg Gate to the Victory Column (Strasse des 17 Juni) was closed for preparations for the 60th anniversary of the public so we were able to wander it freely and at our own pace. This allowed us to snap pictures of both the gate and the column while they were lit up without having to worry about being hit by any cars.

Tomorrow we plan on hitting the zoo and the TV tower. Be sure and check back with us for more accounts of our Berlin shenanigans.