One of the few remaining sections of the Berlin Wall

Wall is covered with paint and graffitti

The view from the West side of the wall

An outdoor museum display is on the east side of the wall

The display documents the history of the wall and the Cold War era

The remaining segment of the wall

Outdoor produce market

Yes, they have Starbucks in Berlin

No pigeons on these sills

Checkpoint Charlie -- the main gate between East and West Berlin

Two American soldiers are stationed at Checkpoint Charlie today (for the tourists)

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

Photo of original Checkpoint Charlie

Photo of East German guard tower

Checkpoint Charlie Museum -- honoring those who tryed to escape and various methods used to escape from the East to the West

Escape in trunk of VW Beetle

Vehicle fitted with steel plates for attempted escape

The steel plates -- vehicle had evidence of many bullet holes

Escape attempt with small boat

Escape attempt with small homemade plane

Painting showing the celebration at the falling of the wall on 9 Nov. 1989 by Matthias Koeppel

The newspaper Die Welt has tethered balloon that ascends from where one can view Berlin

Unter den Linden - a tree lined east-west ave. from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss--was Berlin's main promenade

Hotel room view of Berlin

Busy street below

Another hotel room view of city

The group has to have a few beers after a long day of sightseeing in Berlin

Berlin Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall)

Some of us had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the River Speer

The Lunds and the Bakers enjoyed their German food

The entire group "pigged out" on pork dishes

Apartment buildings from the East German era

The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. Also appears on German euro coins.

The gate was built to collect taxes and to make sure no soldier could escape from Berlin

Quadriga on top of Brandenburg Gate

Potsdammer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 - was previously divided by the wall

Die Welt balloon has ascended for a viewing of the city

The Old Town Hall (Altes Stadhaus) is the former seat of the East German Council of Ministers

Berlin Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall) - built 1861-69.

Marienkirche (St. Mary's church), dating to 1274

Fernsehturm - TV tower - has restaurant and viewing deck on top - 365 meters in height, built in 1969

View of Berlin from the top of the Television Tower (Berliner Fernsehturm)

Red City Hall (Berlin Rotes Rathaus)

Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) built in 1894

Museum Island (Museums-Insel) - the five classical museums of Berlin

City Administration Building

Green area is Tiergarten Park, 200-hectare park, was Prince Elector's hunting preserve and opened to public in 1717

St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche)

Reichstag, seat of the German parliament

The curved white roof is House of World Cultures

Hauptbahnhof (Main train station)

Rosenthaler Strasse

New Synagogue - has oriental style domes, built in 1988

Sophienkirche (wrapped in construction plastic)

Park Inn - hotel where our group stayed for two nights

Galleria shopping center - enjoyed by many in the group

Volksbühne

Immanuel Kirche

Alexanderplatz

Much construction in Alexanderplatz area

Kongress Hall

Haus des Lehrers

Alexander Haus

Markisches Museum

St. Nicholas Kirche

Tiergarten - huge city park that was once the hunting preserve of the royalty

Walkway in Tiergarten

Tiergarten houses the Berlin Aquarium, which has a divrsity of fresh and saltwater species and a Terrarium

Outside of the Aquarium

Next to the Aquarium is the Berlin Zoo, boasting over 1500 species, founded in 1844 by Friedrich Wilhelm IV

The Elephant Gate with its oriental-style buildings guarded by two elephants is one entrance to the zoo

Ruins of the Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Old Tower has a Memorial Hall as an admonition against war and destruction (Photo courtesy of Zibell & Zmania)

Memorial Hall also is a call to reconciliation in Jesus Christ (Photo courtesy of Zibell & Zmania)