Our last day was spent going on a preplanned tour with the other coworkers. Since there were so many of us we all ended up going our own way in separate groups. It was a beautiful day and much warmer. There were certain sites that we were to see. Some of them we had already passed but it was still fun nonetheless. Our first stop was to the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz. This is a large square and transport hub in the Mitte (city center district) of Berlin, near the river Spree and the Berliner Dom. The Alexanderplatz has been subject to redevelopment several times in its history, most recently during the 1960s, when it was enlarged as part of the German Democratic Republic's redevelopment of the city center. It is surrounded by several notable structures including this, the TV Tower. We didn't want to spend hours in another line today to go to the top so we just walked around the area. And guess what we found....

Another Christmas market! This time it had a carousel...

and a large Christmas windmill.

We walked along the river to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). During the war the Germans and the British had an agreement that they wouldn't bomb St. Paul's if they didn't bomb Berlin Cathedral.

Here is our little tour group. Nick, Giuseppe, Eric and me!

Nick is the most British boy I've met here. Very polite with a proper accent. Giuseppe is from Italy and has a great accent as well. In the mornings he likes to say this, "Nick.... (or Eric)....djou know whaaaat.... (think Italian accent). I tink I'd like to take a creeepe. djou know, vor breakvast."

So, we'd go with him in the morning (at the Christmas markets nonetheless) to take a crepe. You know, for breakfast.

Going about our way, on the tour, we came to the Holocaust Memorial.

It's a large city block filled with concrete blocks at different heights.

As you go deeper into the blocks they get higher and higher and it gets darker and darker.

The memorial was designed by architect Peter Eisenman. It consists of 19,000 square meter concrete slabs and arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The cubes are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere.

It had rained the night before and all of the blocks looked as though they were "crying".

Hello Giuseppe! I bet you're ready for a crepe right about now?

Near the Holocaust Memorial is the Brandenburg Gate at Pariser Platz. It's a square in the center of Berlin. The square is named after the French capital Paris in honour of the Allied occupation of Paris in 1814.

Within the Pariser Platz is the DZ Bank. It was designed by Frank Gehry.

Since it is a place of business we weren't allowed to go in unless authorized but they let us take a peek to see the typical Gehry design inside.

This is the Philharmonic Hall by Hans Scharoun.

This is the National Library also by Hans Scharoun.

And this is the Sony Center. It's filled with a movie theater, restaurants, offices, apartments and Lego Land! I know, Lego Land? Whatever they want....

We tried to go to the National Galerie but it was closed for the day. But all we really wanted to see was the outside.

This is the Zaha Hadid housing. It's a rare early work from the days 'before she was famous'.

Then we headed over to the Jewish Museum. Since it was dark we couldn't get very good photos of the outside.

The museum covers two millennia of German and Jewish history and consists of two buildings. One is the old Kollegienhaus, a former courthouse, built in the 18th century. The other is a new addition designed by Daniel Libeskind. This was one of the first buildings in Berlin designed after German reunification and opened to the public in 2001.

This is the Garden of Exile.

It's a bit like a miniature version of the Holocaust Memorial.

This is the Holocaust Tower. It's pitch black inside except a tiny slit at the top to let light in.

This is Memory Void. It's filled with thousands of steel faces.

That's it! That's our trip. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Cheers!