July 24 - Exhaustion

John) Today may have been the most tiring of the entire trip. I feel as if we've walked the greatest distance - equivalent to about twelve subway stops!

We saw a huge number of historical and cultural sites: the Kaiser Wilhelm Church, Europa Center, Sony Center, Pergommon Museum (Middle East Antiquities), the Berliner Dom (Lutheran), St. Hedwig Cathedral (Roman Catholic), Unter den Linden Street with many embassies, Alexander Platz, Potsdammer Platz, Brandenberg Gate, Parisian Platz, Bebelplatz and Humboldt University, the new Holocaust Memorial Park, the Palace of the Republic (East Berlin Congress Hall) and the Fernsehturm (Observation tower). Much of what we saw was in the former East Berlin.

Unfortunately, we didn't attend church. We were there on time, but they no longer offer a 9am service. Rather than wait for the next, we chose to move on.

Today, it was especially fascinating to see communist architecture as we walked through town, including the ugly, run down, and boarded up congress hall for East Germany. It's difficult to believe evil men like Eric Hoenecker worked there. Berlin has changed dramatically since reunification.

We ended the day with sushi and tempura near our hotel. I am exhausted and, frankly, chafed. Gene's blisters are starting to have babies. Tomorrow we sleep in and we don't start hitting the museums until the afternoon.