Berlin (Day 4)

Sunday we got a real treat! Mary Jo convinced Marlena to give us a little guidance in our wanderings! We started the day by going back to the place we had cake on Friday, but this time we had some breakfast/brunch. It was super tasty. Once we had been fed, it was time to start the day. The day started at Checkpoint Charlie.

Checkpoint Charlie

We were there primarily to see it (since it’s a thing that’s just done I guess) and also to do a little video.

Checkpoint Charlie

What video you ask? Well, one for The Zipline Show of course!

Zipline at Checkpoint Charlie

Zipline at Checkpoint Charlie 2

You’d better see the video we did. It can be found at The Zipline Show website.

Ben and Will at Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie is OK, but it’s not something you spend much time at, so we went back down to the subway to head over to the second stop: Legoland.

They

We got a little distracted on the way to Legoland. We were walking across this little patio thing when we noticed these viewers. We looked, and they were things that made “ghosts” of famous people appear. They corresponded to stars on the ground. You’d stand in an empty star, then the viewer would make it look like whatever famous person you’re next to is actually there. It was neat. Unfortunately, there were two problems. First, all the famous people were German, so there were some we just didn’t know. Second, it’s really hard to photograph! Here’s the best shot I could manage.

Ghosts

The problem is that you need a pretty big depth of field. Otherwise, you run into the problem where either the “ghost” is in focus:

Ghost in focus

or the real person is!

Real Person in focus

We did finally make it down to Legoland!

Giraffe!

Oh wait, distraction! We saw some people on a fancy red carpet with a few camera operators running around. We had no idea who they were, but they left just as we were getting there, so we decided to take the opportunity for a little photoshoot of our own!

Photoshoot

Photoshoot 2

I swear that as we were up there, someone came from the side and took a picture of us. Creepy, but at least it’s good advertising!

Once we were done being famous, we went over to Legoland… only to discover it was 16 Euro a person. Too expensive for our blood! We did a quick drop into the middle section of the shopping center we were at to admire the crazy architecture.

Crazy architecture

The next stop of the day was the Communication Museum. As soon as you walk in, you see robots playing ball with people!

Robot Ball Player

They had a ton of stuff there! Everything from stamps to vacuum tubes!

Vacuum tubes

They also had a big exhibit on rumors, which was really fitting for a communication museum. Dang thing was crazy looking though.

Communication Museum Rumors Exhibit

There was a little station with computers where you’d “take an interview” and then the computer would twist your words and spit out a sheet of paper with some crazy accusation.

Rumor computers

Mary Jo apparently likes to “brutally beat” people.

Beater

One thing we made sure to do was to show the world Egg Cup and Spoon. We just watched it once. Should have left it there…

Egg Cup and Spoon at Communication Museum

They even had some weird electronic boards. First motherboard perhaps?

Motherboard

After the museum, we went down to the theatre for our variety show. It was an old style theatre. They even served little snacks beforehand. It was a little skewer with chicken, some soup, a little cheese ball, and some weird tomato jello with mozzarella cheese in it.

Group

Theatre

The show was really good. It started off with some singing by the mistress of ceremonies, then moved on to a pretty great juggler. As Ben pointed out, it was all real. The juggler dropped some stuff later on in the show, but he didn’t falter and even picked the stuff up with his feet and kicked it back into the juggling! There were some comedy musical acts, then an aerial ballet done on many strands of rope hanging from a bar. There was a little dancing group that would come out every now and then, some “dancing contortionists” (I guess that’s the best way to explain them), and then a guy in a giant balloon that changed into a suit while jumping around inside the balloon.

One act was pretty funny. This guy came out with a big belly, but he was obviously quite athletic. Part of his “lose weight” routine involved this gigantic ring that he would roll around in. Once he did, his belly disappeared, but then he drank a beer and it came back. Then there were some tumblers that had a giant see-saw to jump on. They did more of the “real” stuff where there were wave-offs and spotters. The night finished with one of the comedy musical groups coming out dressed like Elvis, but then playing big alpine horns… like in that Riccola commercial. There was really just too much to tell! It was at the Wintergarten, so maybe if you’re in Berlin, you should check it out yourself!

After the show Marlena went home and the rest of us went back to that perfect place we had found to eat the day before. This time it was empty, so we got a table and sat down for nom noms.

MJ and Will

We had quite the spread of food!

I also did a little video explaining something that had happened on the bus earlier in the day. My apologies in advance for those mentioned.

After dinner we all dragged ourselves back to the apartment, talked a bit, then fell asleep. We’re not done yet though, check out Day 5!

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