This morning, I arrived in Berlin at 6AM and started making my way over to the hostel.  One hour later, I arrived at BaxPax in Downtown Berlin and left my luggage in the basement.

By 7:30AM, I was out-and-about on the way to the parliament building.  The parliament building is supposedly beautiful inside (especially at a part of the building that has a glass dome), but reservations are required a few months in advance in order to be able to enter the building.  It was a nice building and not much out of the way, so I’m glad I added it on a list of things to do.

From there, I walked a block to Brandenburg Gate.  Brandenburg Gate is a historic gate which has been involved in many historical events including figures such as Napoleon.  The gate is similar to the main gate that opens up to the long road leading to Buckingham Palace.

Next, I walked about a half a block to the Jewish memorial.  At this point, it was still before 9AM, so the museum wasn’t open yet.  There were Muslims who were jumping from concrete block to concrete block.  This seemed to be extremely disrespectful but the last thing I want to do is tell Muslims that they are being disrespectful or not doing anything right.  The young muslim guys in their teens and twenties, just have a very arrogant/angry/violent predisposition that I don’t want to mess with.

I then walked to Tiergarten Park.  Tiergarten Park didn’t have anywhere near the amount of activity as Voldenpark did (and other European parks did), but it was a nice park in an urban part of the city.  In the center of the park (and in the center of Berlin) was the Victory Column, a 60 meter tall, monument to how victorious the Germans were in the mid-1800s.  It was a nice monument, and I enjoyed walking all the way to the top and enjoying the view from all four directions.

After walking through Tiergarten, I returned to the Jewish memorial, and waited in line for about a hour to be able to enter the free underground museum.  The museum provided plenty of information about Jewish life in Europe between 1935 and 1945.  It’s extremely heartbreaking, and I try not to dwell too much on what actually happened in the holocaust.  It’s too painful to think too much about how people were able to hate/treat each other in such a disgusting way, while the world stood by for 10 years.  Sadly, stuff like this is still happening today (to a lesser degree) in countries like Syria, Iraq, and parts of Africa.

Next, I walked to Charlie Checkpoint and the Eastside Gallery.  The Eastside Gallery is a 1.5km stretch of the Berlin Wall, which is now pained in murals and street art.  It was a nice walk, and it’s interesting to see how much development is taking place near that stretch of the Berlin Wall.  One luxury residential project is called “Upside Berlin.”

After visiting the Berlin Wall, I walked a few kilometers to Museum Island.  Museum Island contains a cathedral and many museums (including one major one currently under construction).  It was a nice place to nap for a hour before walking back to the hostel.

At the hostel, I met two roommates from Melbourne Australia.  I also met Keenan, a sole-traveler from near Dublin, Ireland.  She was traveling with a friend, but got into an argument with her friend and is now traveling alone.  We talked for about a hour, and then went downstairs to the bar inside the hostel.  We had a drink and then joined up with another group of 3-4 people from Dublin, Ireland.  Half an hour later, we were also joined by the two Australian guys.  It was a nice night and we had a great time chatting, socializing and getting to know each other.