Germany: Day 2

Guten Tag!

Just finishing up Tuesday here on the East side of Berlin. My second round of training went well this morning, but by the afternoon, I was a total wreck from having slept so little last night.

I cabbed it back to the Leonardo Royal around 3pm and fell instantly asleep. Still felt completely unhuman when I woke up three hours later, but some Tylenol and a Snickers bar later, I perked up enough to track down a steak dinner.

I needed protein, friends. A seriously large rib-eye steak. It vas gut!!!

So in my post today, I thought I'd treat you all to a brief, but delicious, group of interesting Berlin facts I've learned in the past couple days.

1. Graffiti is legal in Berlin. Almost every building has some kind of tag or artwork. IMO, it makes the place look slum-like, but it's standard to the Germans.
2. Part of the Berlin Wall was left standing as a memorial. Not a reminder, but a memorial.
3. The East German soldiers frequently shot people.
4. You know those news reels from WWII where Hitler's army was marching down the street? Well, more than half of those "soldiers" were hired to march in the parade -- to make the army look much more imposing than it actually was.
5. There are still some older taxi drivers that refuse to drive to certain parts of what was once East Berlin.

This morning at breakfast (yes, I made it to breakfast today), an older couple sat down to share my table. They tried to talk to me but being that I speak no German and they spoke no English, we could only smile, nod and laugh foolishly. I was so sad that we couldn't talk. The stories they must have to tell...

I'm going to put on some music and get a bit of work done before I drug myself with Nyquil so I can hopefully sleep through the night.

Gute nacht! (Good night!)