Once again, our well connected alumnus had gotten special permission to let us do a full tour of the German Parliament, even though it is not normally allowed on a Sunday. We walked through a light rain, by the surprisingly large line of visitors queuing up for the standard tour, and through the handicapped entrance to the palatial home of the nation's federal government. A quick pass through the metal detectors and an elevator trip brought us to the entrance to the Reichstag restaurant. Unfortunately, we were paying for this meal. A gigantic 'American' breakfast playfully titled 'Breakfast with Clinton' was available, stick of chewing gum and all, but at presidential prices. We opted instead for the Chirac special, two croissants with butter and jam at a far more reasonable price. Maybe our meal was subsidized after all….
The tour was the real reason we had come though, and we quickly polished off our meals and were led out of the restaurant and down to ground level of the building to begin exploring the building. The original Reichstag had been built at the close of the 19th century to accommodate the first hints of a parliament in the German imperial government, and was thus built in a very regal style. Great columns on the outside hold up the roof and cathedral ceilings of the inside. However, the interior was gutted by the famous 1933 fire during Hitler's rise to power, and was all but demolished in 1945. When the Russians came to occupy it, they found a burnt skeleton of a building and contented themselves with defacing the rubble. Interestingly enough, the now fully restored and redesigned Reichstag incorporates many of the original stones, complete with Cyrillic scrawls into its walls. The great columns and much of the outside structure remain from the original building, so it keeps its grand fa�ade, but the interior is designed by the British architect Foster. It has clean lines, lots of glass, and natural light, literally funnelled into the main plenary chamber by an array of mirrors housed in a glass dome atop the otherwise ancient looking building. Inside, a helix shaped ramp hugs the walls of the glass dome, and lets the visitor look out from the building at the city, or down into the assembly or parliament below. Talk about transparency of government and state. What really made the trip cool was seeing pictures of the chancellor in the newspaper as I sat on the airplane several hours later, and knowing that I had just seen that exact backdrop. What wasn't so cool was that when I say several hours later, I mean seven, did I mention flying standby isn't the greatest? (make link to above)
I wasn't going to spend another day in an airport though, and after missing the first plane, opted to go back into town. I pulled out my Michelin, guide, opened the Berlin map, and chose the closest point of interest. I then flipped to the transport map, and twenty minutes later found myself exploring the Charlottenburg Castle. Once home to Kaiser Wilhelm the IV, the palace seemed somehow French. It seems this wasn't entirely by accident. Inside you can see the art collections of the Kaiser, including large portraits of Napoleon. You can also see the library of the royal family, which seems to contain almost entirely French authors or Greek and Roman ones translated into French. From Voltaire to Virgil to Rousseau, the Kaiser had them all. Unfortunately, I felt the need to go back to the airport, and didn't take the time to visit the nearby museum of Egyptian art, or for that matter any of the rest of the city. I'll be back.
