We kicked off day two with an awesome bike tour starting in Alexanderplatz. We went to the Soviet-built World War II memorial. It was one of the most beautiful memorials I've ever seen. Our guide told us there are some hard feelings that it portrays the Soviets in such a good light, given the brutality they showed during and after the final months of the war, particularly rape. Nevertheless, the Berliners are happy to spend time in the beautiful memorial, enjoying the scenery and atmosphere.
Up at the base of the statue, which portrays a soldier carrying a child, there is a room beautifully decorated as part of the memorial. We saw flowers left by visitors, including one bunch left by an older woman escorted by members of her family. It was clearly not just a tourist attraction for some.
After some more biking, we got to a bear pen. The bear is the symbol of Berlin. Naturally, they keep one around in public for effect. It was by far the most human bear I've seen in its actions. If I didn't know better, I'd assume it was checking to see if it smells good.
As the tour wrapped up, we got to a plaza with statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This boy was playing the accordion at the feet of the fathers of Communism, soliciting donations from the tourists of the capitalist nations of the world.
The art pieces there made for a nice framing for the famous TV Tower, too.
Thankfully for us, Prof. Freeman wanted to make sure we would have enough fun to last us a few days, so we went to a carnival. I had an absolute blast. I'm pretty sure I had the most fun out of anyone, though I did slip and fall down the stairs after one ride. As we arrived, we found some street performers walking around conducting mock fights with one another.
There was no shortage of those most perfect of subjects, children. These boys watched the bumper cars crashing in front of them for several minutes.
As we left (far too early), it started to pour. I just took it for a while, but eventually I gave in and put on my poncho that I had purchased as 'rain insurance' at the bike tour shop. The rain put a damper on the group's enthusiasm for photos, but not for fun. We spotted some couples sitting on benches in the park we were walking through despite the rain, so I whipped out my camera and captured the moment.
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