Last day of Berlin

Fred worked all day so Josh, Max and I spent the day together.  We got up a little later than the past few mornings and grabbed breakfast at the hotel.  They were doing lunch at this point so we ordered a la carte.  Had to take a picture of the scrambled eggs Josh got.

I had soft boiled eggs and loved the way they served them.

We basically stayed in Mitte today.  Started off with a little shopping.  We went back to Apartment and explored that area.  We had gone here last time we were in Berlin. Nothing that interesting but we checked out a few stores.  As someone said to me about the shopping here, "it isn't Paris, it's Berlin.

Had to walk over to the Hackescher Market just out of curiosity.  It is really just a bunch of restaurants housed in one large building. 

It was time for lunch.  It was recommended to me that we go to Sophieneck to fill our desire for the bratwurst.  It was.  Cool history.  Family who owned this building with a bakery in it left in 1961 when they wall was going up and then returned after the wall came down and created the restaurant. 

This was the perfect lunch.  A Berlin pilsner, a bratwurst, sauerkraut and fried potatoes with a little mustard on the side.  Totally hit the spot.

We then went over to Soundcloud where Fred was to meet some of the crew.  Really nice to put a face to people I have emailed with and heard about.  They gave us some great recommendations for the rest of the afternoon.  Goes back to the theory you have to live in Berlin to get to really know it.  I didn't read any of the things they told us about on the web. 

The Ramones museum.  Who knew?  There is a documentary playing in the back in a small room with a couch that we watched for awhile.  Keep in mind for $3.5 euros you are a member for life…just keep the small Ramones pin.

Listened to some tunes, got a coffee and moved on to our next stop.

C/O Gallery.  Wow.  There were two exhibits there and both were fantastic.  Polaroids from Sibylle Bergemann.  I can't stop thinking about them.  One shot is all you get and they were all so beautiful.  I particularly loved the ones of the children.

There was also a Gregory Crewdson exhibit.  Have always been a fan of his work.  The boys were totally into it.  This picture gives you an idea of the space that C/O Gallery is housed in. 

Down the street is a building called Tacheles.  Basically a building taken over by artists who are squatting and creating art.  Kind of sketchy. 

There is an outdoor sculpture garden and you can see the back of the building from this shot. 

Here is the other side. Supposedly you can go in and look through all the studios.  After seeing the garden, we decided that was enough. 

Last stop, the Berlin Wall, not Checkpoint Charlie but an area where they kept up the original wall.  Lots of historical conversations on the way over.  All good.

Time to put up the feet and get ready for dinner.  This was written on a wall at a cute cafe we stopped in to get some water.  Two great days packed with enough to get a feel for the city.