Church and a Christmas Market

Our second day we hopped on the Ubon and headed to the Chapel of Reconciliation. So appropriate for a Sunday. This chapel is Germany's first rammed earth building in 150 years. This church was built on the same land as the former Church of Reconciliation, which was built in 1894. The old church was destroyed since it was surrounded by the wall dividing East and West Germany.

This is the bell that once was atop the old Church.

In the basement there was a bomb left over, just sitting there. It was so surreal to think about all the tears that were shed here.

This is a memorial to those who lost their lives trying to cross the borders.

There is a patch of land that is left as it was when the wall came down. It's blocked off so you can't go on it but you can peek through the concrete walls.

Across the street of the church is the visitors center. There is a tower that you can climb to view the church and the land that is left.

This is overlooking the land. It's a very solemn place to be. In fact, Berlin as a whole seemed quite solemn. It could just be that it is cold and wintertime but it didn't seem to be a happy city. People didn't smile. It seemed that the city is still struggling to move forward. The history is still very much a part of their daily lives.

After the chapel we headed over to Museum Island to try and get into a museum. The tickets were all sold out for the day so we just walked around the area.

This is the Gallery of Chipperfield by Am Kupfergraben.

Another museum on Museum Island.

This guy was playing Christmas songs on semi-filled water glasses. He was really good.

Another museum..

As we were walking around we happened upon this little Christmas gem. Another Christmas market!

Can you pronounce that name? Froooooheeewwwweeeennnnaaaacchhtennn. Hmmm. I can't either. This was really a lovely market filled with lights and yummies.

How cute are these little huts?

We were hungry and cold. We found this little heated tent serving authentic German style food. It was a perfect little place. They even had lap blankets for the guests!

This was a very flamboyant (to put it nicely) singing group entertaining the crowd.

Now, this part is for Bob. Bob, here are the marzipan you are so desperately craving. The people were clamoring for the stuff at this little hut. You really missed out. And look! They even have ones shaped as little fruits just for you.

As we headed back to the hotel we came across this chocolate shop. They had replicas of the iconic spots in Berlin made out of chocolate. They were amazing!

This is Brandenburg Gate.

The Reichstag

Don't you just want to take a big bit out of it? The temptation was too strong. As we were walking back we also came across this. It's Checkpoint Charlie. And along the street was a timeline of what happened during the Holocaust and when the wall was up and after it was taken down.

There are two soldiers, British and American, (actors really) who stand guard at this point. The actual checkpoint was removed in 1990 and is now a museum.