Weihnachtsmarkt Berlin

My apartmentmate Steffi invited me up to Berlin on Monday to visit a couple of Weihnachtsmarkts with her and her friends. Steffi is a native of Berlin, so it is her home playground. I decided that if I was going up to Berlin (a 2-hour trip), then I would make a full day of it and visit a couple of museums.

I first paid a visit to the Kaethe Koellwitz Museum because I did a presentation in German a few years ago on this turn of the century artist (19 to 20th century). I like her work and in the museum I additionally learned a little bit more about her technique and motivations for various projects.

Second stop was a museum called The Story of Berlin which covers the 800 year history of Berlin. I concentrated my education on the early history of the city since I knew my general German history but was curious how Berlin in particular fit into the picture.

With Steffi and her friends we visited a couple of Christmas markets which surround Der Fernseh Turm at Alexander Platz (the TV Tower at Alexander Place). Everything was on a bigger scale than in Cottbus, but still the same concept of fair rides, tasty treats, and lots of people. My highlights were trying a delicious donut-like food and riding the ferris wheel high above the city (this time in a closed-in box, thankfully).

View of the second market from the top of the ferris wheel at the other market



There were sheep and a donkey!



That's a water-fountain statue of Neptune lit up with blue lights while people ice skate around on his frozen fountain water.