Last year I visited my friend, Corneliu, in Ireland and now he came and visited me in Ireland. (If you ever wanted to know what the Romanian 'Bono' would like - there you go! ;) (Fortunately, Corneliu/Bono is in Ireland and can't beat me for putting this picture up ;)
So Corneliu and I went and saw a great many things and places in Berlin. Here is a pic of the Reichstag. We went with some friends from Institute.
I don't know where Corneliu was when I took this pic ;) This is Steffi and Andreas and that guy with the beard, AGAIN!
Fortunately for us Andreas has a PhD in History and Steffi had just taken a tour of the Reichstag, so I had ton o' info to learn! This says 'the People' and every German prime minister brings some earth from their local province and puts it in that garden area....
Here is the dome all lit up - loverly!
Across from Alexanderplatz and by the Berlin Cathedral is the Karl Marx forum - I just thought it was an interesting photo...Marx and Engels AND the Cathedral....what would they think? ;)
This is Alexanderplatz and a protest - this pic is actually for Tara who loved the German Polizei ;)
Corneliu and I went to the Pergamon Museum. This is now found in Turkey and was once Greece and later Roman.
Ahh, the good old days when rich European countries could go 'rob' other countries of their historical heritage ;) This is the Pergamon altar...
The Romans - 'strike a pose there's nothing to it!'
So Babylon the great fell...but leave it to the Germans to rebuild it! ;)
This is the Ishtar Gate, gate to Babylon, built by Nebuchadnezzar II who is mentioned in the Bible!
Here is a dedication written by Nebuchadnezzar (I was grateful for a chance to practice cuneiform translation), he says 'I laid the foundation of the gates...and thus I magnificently adorned them with luxurious splendour for all mankind to behold in awe.'
Hmm...hmm....
This is a mihrab that points towards Mecca and allows worshippers to know which way Mecca is so that they can pray....(part of the Islamic museum in the Pergamon Museum).
This is a memorial to the people who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall...
Corneliu and I turned the corner and saw the 'The World' balloon landing - just thought it was cool to see...
This was the former Nazi Air Force command center; then it became the East German offices for all their governmental departments; and now it's the tax office! Corneliu's tour guide said that this building was, is and probably always will be hated!
This was made in 1952 and is on that same building...it shows the happiness that totalitarian-socialist regimes can bring people - UGHH!
Just one year later in 1953 thousands of East German people protested, wanted dissidents freed, higher wages, etc. Soviet tanks crushed that!
