Berlin! Berlin!

So after two long flights we arrive in Germany and I feel right away like I am in the modern world again. Seriously, to come into Frankfurt airport and go to their ultra-modern looking train station and go 10 minutes into downtown Frankfurt, and from there get on a high-speed train to Berlin...I just have the feeling every time that the US is decades behind. The train ride was totally comfortable, I slept more than on the flight, and in less than five hours we were in Berlin, standing outside the apartment.

The building is what is called Plattenbau, cheap apartment bulidings put up in East Germany like building blocks. It has since been renovated, but you can tell from the outside which buildings were constructed like this. Our apartment is on the seventh floor, with no elevator...which is already starting to be a workout in itself. :)

We are living right on Gendarmenmarkt, below. This square has two huge churches, the French and the German Dom, and between them the Konzerthaus.

It is so beautiful. Here is a picture at night, so gorgeous:

And here I am, enjoying a half-liter sized bottle of good German Bier: