Jenn and Scott in Central Europe: Unter den Linden

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We took the train from Zoologischer Garten to Friedrichstraße station. Scott and I really enjoyed the movie Gotcha!, a spy-fantasy movie starring Anthony Edwards that came out in the 1980s. A young college student is touring Europe with his more worldly friend when he meets an exotic woman from Czechoslovakia at a cafe. An attraction and affair ensues before he learns that she's a spy. The pair soon find their way into Berlin and then East Berlin! Their secret code should anything go wrong was "Meet me at the Cafe Fredrichstraße". We just had to go to Friedrichstraße station as a tribute to our love for a good old fashion camp flick.

On a more serious note, Friedrichstraße station, was the first stop for the subways in East Berlin during the Cold War. The station was utilized by two West Berlin S-Bahn lines and the U-Bahn U6 line. The station served as a lone transfer point for westerners within East Berlin. West Berlin passengers could transfer from one platform to another but could not leave the station without the appropriate papers. All other stations that ran between the East and West sectors of the city were sealed-off and known as ghost stations (Geisterbahnhof). This was our first taste of the World War II and Cold War history that is so rich and ever present in this part of the world.

From the Friedrichstraße station, we walked to the head of Unter den Linden to check out the Brandenburg Gate. Criss-crossing the road for many blocks were a series of big blue pipes.

I was fascinated by this feature of the city and was incredibly curious about what they were for. A quick internet search tells me they are used for transferring thermal energy to nearby homes. Our tour guide from the 3rd Reich walking tour that I'll tell you about shortly says that Berlin has a high water table and as such it is challenging to displace enough earth to allow the water pipes to reside underground.

Germany was celebrating the 60th Birthday (Geburtstag) of its post-World War II federal republic and the area was swarming with people enjoying the festivities. There were concerts and other celebrations planned for the entire weekend.

We strolled along Unter den Linden. We chanced upon a set of churches that seemed to be mirror images of each other (Französischer Dom and Deutscher Dom).

On our walk, we also encountered some fantastic architectural details including this cat and mouse door.

I also felt the love from this giant bear outside a souvenir shop on the Unter den Linden. Bears were prevalent throughout the city and seem to be a kind of local mascot.

Humboldt University, the oldest university in Berlin, was the next stop on our walk. Founded in 1810, the university has matriculated a range of prominent students including Albert Einstein. Vendors set-up shop outside the University along Unter den Linden to sell books. This seems quite symbolic given that Nazis burned almost 20,000 books during World War II in the plaza across the street. Thankfully, times have changed.

We turned up along the Spree River when we chanced upon a craft and flea market near the university. We found some great buys including a necklace made of plexiglas with different colored felt circles that could be swapped into the center. This really appealed to the polymer scientist in me! The chain was actually pretty shoddy and fell off my neck in less than an hour and was lost forever. Thankfully, the plexiglas got caught in my scarf and was saved. I had the perfect chain to hang it on at home. We also found some great art prints including a whimsical portrait of Einstein.

Our next stop was the Rotes Rathaus followed by a stroll through Nikolaiviertel, a pedestrian enclave with quaint shops including a hat seller and a mini-book dealer. We found a great little restaurant, Gaststätte Zum Nußbaum‎ for lunch where we were able to dine outside next to a white picket fence. The sausage with lentils and beer that I had really hit the spot after a morning of walking.

After lunch we continued our walk to Alexanderplatz, the heart of the former East Berlin. The Fernsehturm Berlin (TV Tower) stood out as a beacon to keep us oriented.