I finally got the pictures up on the post from a few days ago. The internet at my hostel went to garbage and I couldn’t get on for 3 days, so now I will be posing the next days rapidly.

Another lengthy S-Bahn ride took me to Wannsee, a beautiful lake far on the outskirts of Berlin. And after a lengthy walk I made it to the Haus der Wannsee Konferenz. Or the House of the Wannsee Conference. In this house, all the leading members of the Nazi party gathered together. (Though Hitler did not attend). This is where they planned and coordinated the ‘Final Solution’.  Almost everything has been removed from the house to make room for displays and information centers. There are numerous copies of the topics discussed at the meetings and recordings from Holocaust survivors on display. Near the house is Pfauen Insel (peacock island) which, according to legend is haunted by the ghost of the alchemist Johannes Kunckel, whose ghost is black with red eyes, and whose house and laboratory burnt down in the 1600’s. The island also has numerous peacocks. Unfortunately I was trying to get back to the city asap and was unable to make it. The island was still a good distance away.

I made it to the remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm church which was bombed to smithereens. Nary a thing in Germany was left standing after WW2. I then headed towards the Kafhaus des Westens (shopping mall of the west) and past some kind of Turkish protest parade. There was an overwhelmingly massive Polizei (police) presence with near full riot gear. Making it to the KaDeWe as they call the mall, I fond it was closed, thanks to the Ladenschlussgesets (store closing law). A country wide law requiring virtually all stores to be closed on Sundays, to promote family and unity. It mainly involves retail stores, as restaraunts, attractions, museums and services and the like may remain open, though on Mondays, almost all museums across the country close, just ‘cuz. Disappointed I turned around and went to the Berlin Zoo, the zoo with the most species of animals anywhere in the world. Lots and lots of animals, yep. Wolves, elephants, giraffes, lions, hippos, cows, chickens, and a large aquarium, also with insect and reptile displays.

Moving on back to the city center I went to the Altes & Neues Museums (old and new). The Altes Museum contains lots and lots and lots of ancient Greek statuary and stone carvings of people, gods, emperors etc… The Neues Mueum contains many relics from early civilizations, Celtic artifacts and other pre-Roman relics.

Bonus video of the protest: https://youtu.be/km_MoNq6lw8
Bonus video of the cathedral bells, it went on for quite some time: https://youtu.be/OxvJvA4Gw1Y