Berlin

  Yay, we got to sleep in... until 6am. We're not museum kinda people but today we are making an exception to go to the Pergamon museum.  It's the museum of ancient history and the pictures will show why we went  Memorial To The Murdered Jews Berlin's holocaust memorial consists of hundreds of granite squares of varying height arranged over sloping hills.  Walking through reminded me of a corn maze. Very somber experience.  Pastrami To Die For I had targeted a small restaurant named Mogg for our lunch.  Walking there, we meandered through the Jewish Quarter where stark reminders of the families that had been taken out of their homes by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. This sobering reminder was replaced by happiness as we dove into the scrumptious pastrami sandwiches at Mogg.  My goodness, they were awesome.  It was even more impressive that this restaurant, with patrons out the door, was run by only two guys. Mauerpark After that great ...

    Our first full day in Berlin left us in admiration for this city.  The people, the cleanliness, the diversity... all things that a lot of U.S. cities are beginning to lose.  We started our day by visiting the Brandenburg Gate which is the symbol of Berlin.  It is difficult to see some of these sites and not be reminded of the photos from the worst times in German history.  But just like when we went to the Dacchau concentration camp many years ago, you feel compelled to reflect and admire how this country has restored itself in the last half century. Passing under the gate, we headed to the Reichstag.  This is the seat of the German government.  The building was badly destroyed during WWII and they rebuilt it about 30 years ago.  When they did, a glass dome was built over the building.  From inside this dome is a pathway that circles around the outer glass plus a glass ceiling over the hall where their parliament conducts business....