Make Time: Kreuzberg - Hipster Haven (pics included now:)

Kreuzberg is where I've been staying, and yesterday I decided to just stick around the hood and see some of the cool things here. I mentioned this at the end of my post yesterday, but Kreuzberg is home to the East Side Gallery and the Soviet War Memorial. SHIT!!! I just uploaded all my photos from yesterday and for some reason when I went to edit them they were erased. First time this has happened. Not good. Ugh. I had some great shots of the East Side Gallery and of the War Memorial. Damn. Oh well, can't do much about it now (and yes, I erased them off of my camera already). So I got up and had some free breakfast at the hostel before walking out to the East Side Gallery, which is a very moving artistic tribute to the Berlin Wall. There are a ton of artists who have done murals on the wall, as well as a bunch of graffiti artists as well (which we know I love). It's a hugely touristic place, so it was a bit crowded at times, but I moved through it pretty easily and then walked through the neighborhood streets of Kreuzberg for a bit. As eluded to in the title of this post, this hood is chalk full of hipsters, freaks, artists and generally strange birds. I love it. I walked for about an hour and window shopped, grabbed a chicken kebab for lunch, and then walked on to the Soviet War Memorial, which is located in this beautifully landscaped park - Treptower Park. Just decided I'm going to ride my bike to both the East Side Gallery and the Soviet War Memorial again today to take more pics and show them to you tomorrow (or later tonight - might just add them to this post). So why is there a Soviet War Memorial in Berlin? Yeah, I thought that too. The Soviets had a huge battle for Berlin at the end of WWII, and many of their men died, along with German soldiers and civilians. This memorial was created by the Soviets when they were in power of the city, and they wanted to commemorate their soldiers on "liberating" the Germans. Now, we all know they might have rid the Germans of Hitler and the Nazi's, but the Russians imposed a very dark and gloomy existence (Stalinism) on the Germans. The history of this city is heartbreaking actually, and I often find myself thinking about the average German citizen who was just trying to get by during this time. You go from one crazy lunatic leader to the next, without any time to breathe. I think the German spirit and goofiness helped them get through this for sure. They have an innocence about them here that I love. Oh, and most people here walk around with beers in their hands. It's hilarious. Took me a little while to get used to it, but now I just love seeing random peeps walking with beers. Anyway - back to the memorial. So I hung out there for about an hour - just laid on the steps leading up to the main statue, which is a Soviet soldier holding a child (he saved) and stepping on a broken swastika. It's huge too - very cool. After that I walked back to the hostel and hung out, then got some pizza for dinner and passed out relatively early. So now I'm up and about to get the bike and go go go. Will have more pics today to make up for yesterday, as well as some new ones. Actually, I will just update this post later tonight with pics of the East Side Gallery and the Soviet War Memorial :)

It's Thursday. It's my last day in Berlin. It's sunny. I'm excited to get on a bike and just get after it today. Hope everyone is having a great week and just think, you're that much closer to the weekend now :)