Layovers and Adventures/ Berlin Germany

In order to get to our Alpine Europe tour, we had to  go through quite a few layovers. We started with a flight from Denver to JFK airport in New York.  We had a 6 hour layover and found some comfy seats to pass the time. We were sitting near the Saudi Airlines gate and found it entertaining to watch how many suitcases (and the size) of each family. The scale was very busy as people unpacked and repacked their suitcases with all the purchases they had made. The muslim women would go into the ladies room and come out clothed head to toe in black, ready for the trip home.
In NY we boarded our Norwegian airline flight on the the 787 Dreamliner plane. We were lucky to get a bulkhead seat and had plenty of room. We had touch screen TVs where we could watch all kinds of movies, audio and tv shows.  The food we ordered left much to be desired. Certainly not worth the $28 for the dinner.
Next we touched down in Oslo, Norway. (Norwegians home base) Here the airport was very upscale. The food was very expensive and to our disappointment we could not get onto the wifi because you needed a phone to get the password.
   It wasn't soon enough until we were headed to Berlin, our last leg of the day.
Because our flight to Salzburg didn't leave until 1:30 pm we could do some sightseeing in Berlin tomorrow. We took the airport express train to the eastern part of Berlin in the Alexanderplatz area. This was where the Rick steves walking tour ended.

Here is our broom closet room in Berlin. Ian liked the fish screen saver on our TV. Very relaxing. It was right across the street from the return train to the airport. We left our bags in our room and was back from our walking tour to grab them for the airport. Note my Jacket vest ready for its use tomorrow.

Here is the Reichstag the starting point of the tour. There is a glass dome up top. You could climb up if you had a reservation. Its where the government meets here.

Berlin Wall victims Memorial. For those that died trying to cross the line. This is where the wall once stood. 136 were killed while trying to escape.

The Brandenburg Gate is the symbol of Berlin. This straddles the East and the West. Nov 9, 1989 the wall came down.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of the Holocaust. 2711 pillars.
As you start to walk between the hollow concrete blocks it seems there is no way out but up.

The pillars get higher and higher at the end.

It is like a maze.

Museum Island holds many buildings we didn't have time to see. 

Berlin Cathedral

Karl Marx statue with stainless steel monoliths with pictures of workers.

There were several fountains here.

This is Alexanderplatz with the TV tower 1200 foot. Meant to show the power of the atheistic state. This is where our hotel was located.

A great start to our vacation!