Hello Mom,
today we wanted to do a big sightseeing tour, but it was raining until noon and started again after a short time. So it was a short day for me outside.
First we went to the Oberbaum Bridge. From here we had a fantastic view to the East Harbour section of the river Spree. On the left side you can see the buildings of Mediaspree, like Universal Music Headquarters (Germany), MTV Central Europe and TV Dockyard. On the right side you can see the Treptowers and the TwinTowers. And in the middle of the river Spree you can see Molecule Men. These thirty meters high metal sculpture was designed and executed by the American sculptor Jonathan Borofsky. Symbolically, they represent the intersection of the then three districts Treptow, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain.
We walked along the East Side Gallery. It is the longest open air gallery in the world. The art mile is located along the banks of the river Spree in Friedrichshain. It is 1316 meters long and it is also the longest segment of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. Right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery was painted by 118 artists from 21 different countries. Using various artistic means, the artists commented on the political events that took place in 1989 and 1990 in over 100 works of art found on the eastern side of the wall.
In the course of the years, many of the images became greatly weathered and, in 2009, forty of these works of art were restored.
Our last stop was the o2 World. It was opened in September 2008, a modern multi-function arena setting new standards for Berlin. Up to 17,000 people can attend the concerts – then the stands can be converted to a sporting arena within a few hours after they leave.
The o2 World is particularly suited to large and spectacular shows, such as “Walking with Dinosaurs”, which features life-size dinosaur replicas. Concerts are also provided for by the ultramodern technology and video projections. The arena is also the home of the national league basketball club ALBA Berlin and the ice hockey team Eisbären Berlin.
By the way. It is cold in Berlin, but it is still not snowing!
Love, Joe