Berlin

Evidently Christmas markets began in Germany. Since there's a Berlin-Warsaw express, it was easy enough to mosey over to Berlin. Lola and I ate at a delicious Greek food restaurant right around the corner from our ritzy hostel.

The next, freezing day, we shivered our way over to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was a very subpar museum. There were even parts of the museum with ruined exhibits - a candle in the shape of Lenin that was actually in the shape of melted wax. The best part of the museum - in which I was not allowed to take photographs - was the Reagan room. A room. Devoted. To Reagan. God bless America.

You'll notice. In the lower righthand corner. There is Ronald Reagan's chainsaw and! Wait for it. A fence post from Reagan's California ranch.

The rest of the day, we explored the museums. I went to the German history museum. It was pretty awesome.  Only, I didn't have enough time to really explore.

The market below is one of the most popular. It was wonderful. Large portions of it were even indoors!

There was a man dressed up like a Christmas tree! He sprinkled snow on a little child.

The next morning, Lola and I journeyed through the freezing temperatures to the east side gallery after grabbing brunch at an average place known as the Artist's Meeting Place or something like that. It's in the guidebooks, I believe. The east side gallery is pretty sweet. Lots of pictures on the largest existing stretch of the Berlin wall.

Lola and I then made our way downtown. We walked along the major tourist points. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reich building, and the holocaust memorial.

The best part of the Brandenburg Gate square was the Americanness of it all. For example. Not only was there a Starbucks - where I got a delicious peppermint mocha - but there was also the Museum of the Kennedys. AND the American Embassy was on that stretch.

The American embassy is great. Because they have a Berlin bear that looks like the Statue of Liberty. There are other Berlin bears. Everywhere.

Lola and I headed to the opera after this. It was the weirdest rendition of Carmen I have ever seen. I tend to like things done in a traditional way. This was -  not modern - but not traditional. And it was almost entirely in German. Except for really odd times when it wasn't. And there was this guy with a terrible American accent.

After this, we headed directly to the Christmas market by the zoo because we were going to meet with Ashley. Unfortunately, Ashley and Gus weren't able to make it after all. So Lola and I quickly headed back by ourselves. But we did go through the Christmas market first.