Flat Stanley in Berlin!

Hi!

Flat Stanley has toured Berlin, the capital of Germany, in Europe!

Until about 30 years ago, the city of Berlin was divided into two smaller cities: West Berlin and East Berlin. There was a wall that cut through the city, and police would check that nobody went from one side to the other. It was very sad. But one day the wall was knocked down, and now there is only one Berlin!

The first three pictures were taken in what was once East Berlin: Alexanderplatz is probably the most famous place of the city. The tower you see in pictures 1 and 2 is called "Fernsehturm", that means "TV tower". It's 368 meters (about 1207 feet) high! A lift can bring you to the ball you see on top, and you can watch all the city from there, and eat and drink as well because there's a restaurant! 

The third picture shows the symbol of Berlin: a bear! I have seen other bears during my time in Berlin, as you will see!

Form Alexanderplatz I have walked along a tree-lined avenue called "Unter den Linden", which means "Under the linden trees". In picture 4 you can see a coach taking tourists around the city center.

Unter den Linden is 3 kilometers (more than 9800 feet) long, and it runs from Alexanderplatz to the "Brandenburger Tor" (the "Brandenburg gate") which you can see with some difficulties in picture 5, right under the hand of the girl who was holding me (sorry, I was too tired to reach the gate!) 

Picture 6 was taken inside the French store "Galeries Lafayette". It's quite famous: they have the biggest Galeries Lafayette in Paris, France, of course, but since the French were among the conquerors of Berlin after WWII, they decided they must have their favourite store also here, selling champagne, baguettes and camembert! One thing the stores's famous for, is the dome: I have tried to show it to you through the glass. The small blue spot you see on top is the sky!

What did I tell you about the bears? Picture 7 shows a statue of a bear made of stone! 

I bumped into it right behind the famous "Humboldt Universität", one of the best universities in Germany, which you can admire in picture 8.

And then... more bears in picture 9! Aren't they cute, playing chess?

Berlin is constantly under construction. I wanted to give you one example: in picture 10 you can see the construction site of the subway tunnel that, once finished, will connect the Brandenburger Gate to Alexanderplatz.

At last my day in Berlin was coming to an end, and I got on the subway to go home. In picture 11 you see how comfortable I was on the seat!

My hosting family lives near the Southern border of the city. It is very quiet there, and it was nice to go there to rest after the long day spent walking through the chaotic and noisy area of Alexanderplatz! Before reaching the house, you have to walk along a short path that cuts through bushes, flowers and trees (picture 12)

When the path ends, you have to cross a small, wooden bridge. You can often meet ducks and storks in this place, but unfortunately there were none, as I took picture 13!

I was finally home, and I was offered a typical German snack: a soft, warm, big pretzel and a cold beer! There's a bear on the label, see? And the brand is "Berliner Bären Bräu", which means: "the beer of the Berlin bears"! What can I say? They really love their bears in this city! I quite enjoyed my snack, as you can see in picture 14!

And after that, I was ready to take a nap in the garden, which is full of dandelions in this season. See picture 15?

My day in Berlin was over, and now I'm ready for another adventure!

See you!