Spent Today In Berlin

We arrived in Berlin yesterday afternoon. We had a little difficulty finding the local train, but after walking a thousand steps up, down, and around we finally made it to our hotel.  Very nice hotel Mary picked for us.

RIU Hotel, very nice

 We took the Underground and walked a few blocks to the Berlin Wall.  We saw the Mall  of Berlin, some cool old cars, and some interesting buildings.  We visited the Berlin Wall, which made a big impression on each of us.

 

 We walked around a little, then we went to the Mall of Berlin.  It was more awesome than any mall in Idaho.  We found frozen yogurt, yeah! We had a good explore through Toys R Us, where Mary found good stuff and Pete bought me an 18” doll.  She is fabulous! As we were leaving, at 9 pm, all three of us spotted the same store; Pete saw the word ‘krepes’ and thought of Mary and her crepe addiction; Mary actually saw sewing machines and thought of me and sewing; I saw the big word ‘Fabrik’, and thought of me and my addiction.  They were actually selling tea. What?? The sewing machines were cut in half and used as decorations on the ends of the shelves.

They had carrousel horses hanging from the ceiling
and a big tube slide from the third floor. 

This was the only quilt I saw the entire time I was in Europe.
It is made of parts of jeans that are stuffed, apparently
advertising the different brands they sell.  This is Mall of Berlin.

It was a lovely warm evening, and we had finally figured out the underground and had good success at getting back to the hotel.

My 18" doll is just fabulous!  Mary thinks she is fabulous, too!

This morning, Mary found us a good place for breakfast, that had gluten free options and eggs for Pete. We strolled to Check Point Charlie, which was a major tourist trap, then on to the Natural History Museum, where we learned a lot about natural history. 

  Of course you know the Museums of Natural History are all filled full of things from the 'natural world' that have been 'collected'.  If they were alive, that means they were killed and stuffed or preserved in formaldehyde for people to study or observe.  The Berlin Museum of Natural History is pretty extensive: dinosaurs, insects, birds, fish, fossils, rocks, mammals, plants, etc.  Yes, polar bears, fleas, and peacocks!

Berlin Natural History Museum

Me and Rex.

Between the Underground (train) and our hotel was the most colorful place in Berlin, Delores Burritos.  I had to take a photo.
     We are currently on a train back to Koblenz.  We will spend tomorrow, in Klausen, relaxing and doing laundry. We are hoping to make our connection, in Koln, without incident. Right now, we are running 20 minutes late.  TTFN!