Beautiful Rhine Valley, German
by momdawg
I didn't make it to Berlin, but since Frankfurt is not on the list, this was the closest destination. I visited my brother who lives outside of Frankfurt in a "little castle". The countryside is absolutely gorgeous. The Rhine River Cruise. We met some amazing people from Berlin who go wine tasting one weekend each month. They invited us to a wine festival in a very small village. The festival was at a 500 year old jesuit monestary. We were the only Americans at the festival. We had a fabulous time and we were embraced by everyone. The Rhine Valley produces some of the most amazing wine I have ever tasted.
We also went to two flea markets. The are called "floh markts". I found amazing jewelry, antiques, etc. I had to buy another bag just to bring all the "goodies" home.
Neptunes Fountain
by CandS
Ahhh...Neptunes Fountain...it is very pretty at night! I would have loved to have seen it during the day too... There were lots of couples around here when we were there...it looked like a very romantic setting. :)
Bundestag and... beaurocracy?
by matcrazy1
On September 6, 1991, the decision was made: Berlin became the capital city of the reunified country. Since that time huge enterprise of moving all governmental and parliamentary institutions from Bonn to Berlin started.
Germans decided to put all numerous federal institutions at one area of Berlin at the place, close to Branderburg Gate where the Berlin wall divided the city into two quite different parts.
I was a little bit surpriced to see so many huge, never ending buildings of... German beaurocracy. OK, it seems that nowadays beaurocracy is a part of all well developed countries. Only in Europe? Hmm... I must visit Washington, I see.
Personally I think that the people who decide about milions of others should have the best possible area and enviroinment for hard work. It seems that Germans already have :-).
Taborkirche, Kreuzberg, 1903-1905
by Kathrin_E
Like many churches in late 19th and early 20th Berlin, the Taborkirche was inserted into a street front between the houses. The olive-green house on the left is original and as old as the church. The neo-gothic church has survived the war remarkably well except the loss of the pointed spire.
After the building of the wall the parish community in this eastern part of Kreuzberg became one of the remotest areas in West Berlin, cut off by the wall on three sides. This quarter became as much Kiez as can be, with social problems, occupied houses, political demonstrations, a high percentage of migrants. The parsons and the community faced the situation, took part in political discussion and social work in the streets.
Date: 1903-1905
Architect: Schwartzkopf / Bürkner
Confession: protestant
Address: Kreuzberg, Taborstraße 17
Location: easternmost end of Kreuzberg
How to get in: open in the daytime
Nightlife in Berlin
by lashr1999
There are some good clubs, bars and restaurants in Berlin. On our first night my roommate wanted to see the Reichstag at night but I passed. Some girls on our tour said they had a list of bars they wanted to check out. This sounded like a better way to spend time in Berlin. The area the girls said the bars were at was Hackesche Hofe. Indeed, when we got there we saw many bars and restaurants to choose from. We first sat at a restaurant for some light food and drinks. We sat outdoors and it was a good choice, until it started to rain. We made the decision to go to a club to get out of the rain. At first we were going to go to the Matrix club but our waiter said the club was not good since it had a lot of drugs. He instead told us to walk a few blocks down and turn left. We did this but the area looked deserted and felt that we may have taken a wrong turn since we were drinking. However, moments later we heard some music and followed it to the club. Here, there was an outdoor area to dance and some indoor areas to dance. We walked around, dance, drank and had a good time. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant or the club is now. However, I do know in the club we had our photos taken and they said it would be on the clubs website. If someone sees my picture there, can you let me know what club I was at!
Cycling in Berlin, through the city
Prenzlauerberg, Mauerpark
part of east side gallery
"Berlin-West", on the other side of the wall
