Berlin (1 of 2)

After dragging ourselves out of bed we made our way into Berlin. We
bought our tickets from the booth in the underground - this time
remembering to actually validate them (something we didn't do in Vienna
or Rome - so we'll still have tickets for next time!) we jumped on the
underground and made our way to our first stop at Alexanderplatz.
Our first impressions were mixed - the city looked quite run down and
1970's style prefabbed buildings were everywhere. We decided the best
way to see our surroundings was to make our way up to the 250m high TV
tower that looks over the city. From here we could see the vast
differences in the landscape. Most of the historical buildings in Berlin
have been rebuilt, although some have been left in ruin as a reminder of
the city's past. Many areas are being redeveloped or are in desperate
need of renovation where as the main strip leading up to the Tier Garden
look a bit like buildings from around Europe transplanted into one
place. Potsdamer Platz, on the other hand, could have been lifted
straight from America with its glass fronted sky scrapers - if it wasn't
for a great slab of Berlin wall in the middle of the path serving as a
constant reminder of the areas history.
We also visited 'Check Point Charlie' after a bit of wandering in the
wrong direction as by this time it had started to get dark. The mix of
cultures in Berlin is evident and is somehow hard to believe this is
Germany's capital as it still seems very much a work in progress. That
said, it is certainly somewhere I think we'll revisit as I'm sure that
in our lifetimes redevelopment will progress at such a rate that