What an AMAZING day we had today!!!

Guten Tag!!

Let me start this blog by telling a story about being an American in Berlin. Last night we went to a pub nearby and when we got there a few of us had to use the restroom. We see two doors, one marked with an H and one with a D. We didn't know what that meant at the time, so then we looked at the pictures. One was wearing a short dress and one was wearing a long dress. We were still very confused. So we decided it was safe to go with the long dress, but as we were entering a man came out. So we were instantly incredibly embarrassed and hurried out, and our guy friend walked in. He then gets shoo-ed out by the man, who, in German, tried to express to him that he was going into the ladies room. Turns out there are people here that clean out the bathroom constantly, that we are recommended to tip. So the bathrooms are very clean! But we made a pretty big scene, and everyone in the pub knew we were American. Traumatizing experience, but now I know that H is men and D is women. :) People generally know we are American, and speak to us in English, and I'm sure they have some word for "the ultimate tourist-y person."

Anyway, today was a great day in Berlin! We had continental breakfast at the hotel, which was delicious. Then we were picked up to go on a guided tour of the town. I am blown away by how huge this city is! I was sitting there trying to take every bit of information in, while taking pictures, and getting stressed that I would forget something. But we got to get out and take pictures and walk around at the Brandenberg Gate, then at a section of the wall (a mile long) that has been preserved (the wall was about 100 miles...), and at Checkpoint Charlie. Once the tour ended we went to Kollhoff Tower, which has the fastest elevator in Europe! It was actually INSANE. If you know me, you know I loved that (I wanted to jump at the perfect second on the way down, but that wasn't advised). 24 floors up. It was very windy up there, but well worth it. The most AMAZING view. It was nice to see the entire city and pick out everything that we had just seen. After we were back down on the ground, we went to lunch at Haus Der 100 Biere. Ordered an Andechser Dopplebock Dunkel, which was very...interesting. Very dark. It had a sweet caramel taste since it was dark, and a little spicey. Overall a good beer. I've only been here for two days, but these two will be tough to beat! I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store!! Prost!!

These guys were awesome, but did force us to pay them....the one on the left was hilarious

This gate has been through a lot, and remained in tact after the war. The US embassy is to the left (not in the picture).

The Berlin wall. Many artists painted on it, I particularly liked this section.

Another section of the wall

Where the Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall), used to stand

Checkpoint Charlie!

The American sector

View from the top of Kollhoff Tower (one side). There was a balcony that allowed us a 360 degree view of the city.

The bear is the symbol of Berlin, this one is the friendship bear! Much more bear photos to come :)