A Giant in Europe: 14. The Berlin Wall, the Holocaust Museum and a Delicious Dinner

I can't believe it's day 12 of this amazing trip. Today was a great one, I must admit.

I got up at an unreasonably late time for someone on vacation, made myself a fresh caprese salad, cut up and apple and watched the BBC, CNN and one other English-speaking channel. I know way too much about the Malaysia flight, the Bloomberg Report and stock stuff that is completely lost on me, except I know I'll never have that much money!

Finally I left the apartment, and decided that I was going to figure out this Berlin transit system. I'd read up slightly last night, knew where I wanted to go, and thanks to Google, was able to find my way.

I wanted to see the Berlin Wall remnants, so that's what I did. It was pretty interesting, and they have a bit of a plank that you can climb to see the wall and other elements around it more clearly.

This is what the metro trains look like on my way to get there. Quite fun! And boy it is an efficient system!

A map of where the wall stood and how it divided Berlin.

An explanation of the two images after this one.

This is the full section that has been preserved. The front wall, which to me seems more substantial than the actual Berlin Wall, was built as a first barrier for people trying to leave / escape. They then came across a brightly lit Berlin Wall, with very frequent armed guards, which lasted 28 years.

And then I did what I think we all knew I would do, and bought a piece of the Berlin Wall!

As I made my way to my next stop, I found a place that sold Currywvusrt, which is something that I've hear about all around Berlin. It was on my list, so I gave it a shot.

The guy put sooooo much sauce on there, which I initially thought was Ketchup. Even after eating it, it seemed an awful lot like Ketchup (which I usually like to add for a slight taste, not an absolute deluge of tomato and sugar!). Then, later tonight I was on the metro (which I was immediately kicked off of in German because the train went out of order), I managed to snap this picture.

Turns out it wasn't Ketchup, but some actual Currywvurst sauce! Who knew! Not me.

From there I walked a bit, then found my way to the Holocaust Memorial (also known as The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe).

There's not much that I can say after seeing the 2711 columns placed in an almost perfect, maze-like grid, all varying heights, the representing the over 6,000,000 people murdered in the Holocaust. I went through the memorial, and then a very touching underground exhibition, which brought in more than a few tears. Here are some pictures of the memorial.

A functional door marked "Emergency Exit", which is painfully ironic.

Exiting the exhibition, the memorial lit a light purple at dusk.

Basically, the fact that I was annoyed at my feet being a bit torn up from my rain shows today became absurd. Pretty much everything I've ever complained about seems pretty absurd after this experience.

Then I took a breath, and decided to walk to the metro and find my way home. I was all the way across town, and pretty clueless as to how to make it work, but Google came to my rescue again. It's been a lifesaver!

On my walk to the metro, I came across a very fun design shop, and then a huge mall, simply called Mall of Berlin.

This is a felt round, made by a Scandinavian artist. She makes her own felt, rolls it like you might a jelly roll (or those delicious little Pickle Barrel tuna or egg sandwiches! Yummm!), and then cuts them into individual slices. They had them as cushions for dining room chairs. But those were 199€ a piece. Not happening. I bought one the size of a potholder, which was much less expensive. It's just so cool, and each one is unique.

And then the mall, which I admittedly only saw a tiny bit of.

There's this massive pen, which has different stuff projected on it. It's pretty neat.

A public chalkboard wall, in the mall!

In the middle of the hall, they have beanbags set up to kids to sit and watch a movie. Tonight's movie was The Lion King. I was soooooo tempted to plop down and watch!

This place took a chunk out of my wallet. But I don't imagine that would shock anyone who knows me! Some of the stuff I bought are gifts, so stop judging! hahaha. Pay close attention to the rainbow counter. I must have one for my personal countering needs!!!

For example, these. They're little sticky notes, very tiny, there's no way you could actually use them. Whoooooo cares, they're adorable!

A little plastic card holder, and some random felt bird kid. No clue why on the latter, but, I mean, look at it. It's so cute!

I needed new socks, and the Nike store obliged. The ones I brought were ankle socks, which I love, but they kept sliding down in my rain shoes, which then made some tiny little slices in my ankles. These saved the night, and they're super cool looking! The little patterned bit is like little padding parts... yassss!