Wie Wir es Tun Berlin - Teil 1 (How We Do Berlin - Part 1)

The following is one Swedes interpretation of events. Not necessarily factual or agreed upon by the Americans.

Arrival at Berlin Central Station (Berlin Hauptbahnhof). Right beside the Spree river that flows through Berlin.

Direct view of the Central Station..ouu...glass (not ice cream Swedes!)

First stop after arrival is for some German food. This place only took cash, which seems to be the Germans' preferred way of getting paid. We wondered if they, then, took the money and hid it in a toilet tank or mattress. A well known fact, according to Johan. Johan's greatest fear is to get yelled at in German, which hasn't happened yet. But after reading this post, the probability of that is high to very high.

Some of us enjoyed the food...

Some of us were not as pleased. Thankfully sharing is caring.

A view from the balcony in the rented apartment. Roof top living is cool. Or as the Germans would say "cool."

Of course there are a few draw backs... we don't speak German and the washing machine doesn't speak English.

Thank goodness for iPhones and it's witchcraft apps found and shared by Andrew Hill. It helped  translate the long German words.

Sunset was wunderbar. Wunderbar is German for "freakin sweet." Makes up for the Richard Simmons of a workout...7 flights of stairs - sans an elevator.

Perfect way to end the day...

Breakfast, the start of day number two, was started with pretzel bread sandwiches and Danishes for breakfast desert.

First order of business was exploring Berlin. We stayed just 10 minutes from the memorial and remains of a section of the Berlin wall. Our apartment was on the east side.

Here is what the east Berlin population stared at. The Wall(s) - more to come in the next post - was built in 1961 and the border was opened in 1989.

This is a view from the west side...

Glad to see after the fashion showdown and refusals to change, Johan and Malia were able to get it together for a "twinzies" pic...

Confused German sign. If it was truly inactive, wouldn't it be blank? Lies!

Next was taking a look at the Brandenburg Gate...

Time for a break! "Beer-ka" - Germany's fika..

As Montanans say, "it's time for a god..damn..beer!" Or maybe that's just Kris Owen..as demonstrated by Kelly's face...

We got beer from the world's oldest brewery. Established in 1040 (note that fact came from Johan after a couple of their beers).

Berlin was wicked hot today. 96 degrees with 60% humidity. Berlin's public transportation is..how you say..a poor man's sauna!

Next, time for Johan and Mandy's tradition of visiting the city aquarium. The Berlin one was attached to the zoo, but time did not allow for both.

The aquarium was really nice. Johan's favorite exhibit was the one to the left. Huge predator Amazonian fish including Silver Arowanas, Peacock Bass and Arapaimas. Super cool!

Off to beer-ka II this time accompanied by asparagus. The German ones are long and white. (Innuendo intended)

Around the corner was the Reichtag.

On top was a glass dome, visitors could look right into where parliament debated law - a symbol of transparency.

Speaking of transparency, shopping with three girls requires patience and a good attitude. Thankfully Johan had both. What a gentleman and good looking at that.. P.S. All of the above was written by Johan.

Then a nice walk by the river...

Guess what? Yep you guessed it. More food and beer. This time right by the river. We got all German staples.

A view from the restaurant...BOOM!


Time to say good-bye..can't even attempt to spell it in German..so just picture the Sound of Music..Probably a beer at our roof top apartment.

Next up we go on a bike tour thought the city and much more...