Pictures -- Part III...

One of the many windmills that are in the northern portion of the country.  In the southern part we saw a lot of solar panels on houses and barns.

Advertisement in the "U" (Underground) in Berlin.  I was excited because I knew what the product was and also what it said.

That's right -- even in Germany!  

This is in the Bebelplatz in Berlin where books were burned by the Nazis in 1933.  This memorial by Micha Ullman consisting of a glass plate set into the cobbles, giving a view of empty bookcases, commemorates the book burning. Furthermore, a line of Heinrich Heine is engraved, stating "Das war ein Vorspiel: nur wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." (in English: "Where they burn books, they ultimately burn people").  Heinrich Heine was a very smart man.  Sorry, but I couldn't get a better picture -- too much glare.  You can kind of see the bookshelves in the upper left corner.

This is a reconstruction of "Checkpoint Charlie" which was the dividing line between East Berlin and West Berlin. 

This is Michael, our guide for our 4 mile walking tour around Berlin telling us about this car called a "Trabi" which was produced by the East Germans (communists).  It sounds like a riding mower has more power and is more dependable.

 This is on the side of a building and one of the first things you saw when you entered East Berlin (communist side) from the Western sector. 

This memorial in Berlin is comparable to our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  

Dave at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin...

And ME at the Brandenburg Gate.  I love this and what is symbolizes.

Last remaining section of the Berlin Wall.  The original Wall which consisted of fencing was put up one night in 6 hours.   East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres (97 mi) around the three western sectors, and the 43 kilometres (27 mi) that divided West and East Berlin.  It was in existence from 1961 until 1989.  

The KaDeWe -- a gigantic department store in Berlin that is over 100 years old and boasts that it carries 480,000 items.  After being inside, I believe it.  The Gourmet Floor, which is the 6th floor, is definitely my favorite.  There is every kind of food item, liquor, and mini-kiosks that serve food that you can imagine.  It is the cat's ass!

A small selection of some of the beer (bier) that you can buy at KaDeWe.  They even had Miller Lite.

Some of the desserts in the gourmet floor in KaDeWe.  I wanted to order one of each.  They were sinful!

The english section in a bookstore we stopped to visit.  The numbers 2, 3 & 4 books on the best seller list right now are the "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy.  As we walked into the store there was a huge display selling the books -- german editions, of course.

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas throughout the country.  Almost every town we were in as well as every section of big cities like Berlin was setting up for their Christmas Markets which last the entire month before Christmas.  They have already started selling the "gluhwein" which is a hot spiced wine (and very good I might add).  It will warm the cockles of your heart...and the rest of your body too.

We were across the street from this when we were on the way to see Blue Man Group.  The giraffe is probably 12-15 feet tall and made out of legos.  

I thought this was cool.  It was in an area where they were setting up the for the Christmas Market and was made out of pieces of firewood.

I don't know what this was but it was definitely a one-person vehicle.

"There's no place like home"  quote from Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and Me!

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!  I TOOK OVER 1,000 PHOTOS.  IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM ALL AND ARE A GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT, LET ME KNOW!

AUF WIEDERSEHEN!!!