4 September, ’04, Saturday. Today we were out at the bus by 10am and on our way for a full day of exploring. Our first stop was to “Check Point Charlie”. Yes, we are tourists…. Even today, as you walk across “The Line” you get a funny feeling. It is different. They have constructed many new buildings, and they look fantastic, but still…. Then of course, we went to “The Wall”. There is a section of about 100 yards long that is pretty close to being as it was under the Communist’s. The only difference was a couple of holes that had been knocked in it when it started coming down. We spent about 45 minutes at the wall and then on to the “Brandenburg Gate”. The Brandenburg Gate is a wonderful piece of architecture and thank God it is still there for us to see. The Communist’s did a job in taking a large number of historical buildings and destroying them. There are a few were the Germans have now rebuilt to look like they did before. There is a difference, the front of the building may look as it once did, but once you get past the front facade, it is all modern and high-tech. Well, I had my first 3 destinations fulfilled, now I’ll turn it over to Louise. Off we went to the Gemäldegalerie. Now I’m going to give you some information right out of their literature….The Gemaldegalerie opend in 1998, and consists of a rotunda, a long and well lit hall used as a meeting place, 18 large galleries, and 35 small cabinets. The museum shows 900 paintings that had been divided between the collection s in East and West Berlin, in the Bode-Museum and the Dahlem. Further, 400 additional works are on display in the Study Gallery downstairs. As it was, we spent about 3 hours plus and they closed the doors on us. It was REALLY GOOD. Next a “Brock” & Brew and then to the “Reichstag” (The New Parliament and Government Building). A ton of history behind this building but, I’m going to let you dig into your history books to read about it. The only thing that I will get into is the glass dome on top. Rick Steves really enjoys it on his tours and I totally understand why. It is beautiful. We were there right at sun down and it was great. Again for the second day in a row, we wonder in to the campground well after dark. Tomorrow….an earlier start to Berlin