Hi Ho Berlin

We had a relatively good flight to Amsterdam and passed through customs without incident then went on to Berlin with relative ease - just outrageously tired. The jet lag traveling in this direction is always quite difficult.

Our first impression of Berlin is that it is pretty great - a very livable city. We also ended up in a great neighborhood called Prenzlauerburg that is like the hip Brooklyn of Berlin. It is an area that was formerly East Berlin, so when the wall come down artists and such moved into this area to get the great old buildings that were in disrepair. The streets are narrow and the sidewalks are broad and there are shops and cafes and restaurants and families and hipsters - it's great.

 This is the central courtyard space of the building where we are staying. I will post more shots of the neighborhood later.

 There are great playgrounds in the many small parks nearby. This is in Kollwitzplaz park. 

 We were first struck how there is much graffiti around, sort of a throwback to the early 90s.

 This is an organic Market that is held every Thursday and Saturday in Kollwitzplaz park about 2 blocks from where we are staying.

 We are getting Camille a rain Hat.

 We took the U-Bahn, or underground train, about a mile down town to Alexanderplaz which is the big central plaza then walked to Museum Island from there. 

 Coke and Camille in Alexanderplaz.

 Coke and Camille at the Berlin Zoo.

 Coke and I with a close relative.

 The winter enclosures were what one might think of as very East German.

 We also went to the Pergamon Museum. You see, the Germans practically invented archeology, so they have absolutely tons of amazing antiquities. This museum had a tear inducing contemporary photo realistic trompe l'oeil that was in a giant cylindrical structure of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon as a historical recreation. We couldn't take photos of it. What you see here is a portion of the Temple of Pergamon that they have in the museum.

Please excuse any spelling errors. More to come...