Adventures of Mama-Dirtyfoot: An New Day, A New Little Girl

A good night's sleep did wonders for Madeline. She woke up a brand new person. I still wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of venturing out too far this morning as I wanted to make sure that Madeline continued to rest. David ended up coming back to the flat at about 2:30pm and by this time Madeline was bouncing off the walls and Mama-Dirtyfoot was pulling her hair out! Therefore, after a full morning and early afternoon of "resting" for Madeline, we figured it was okay to head out for a little bit. We hopped the subway here. It is nowhere near as nice as the Tube in London but still very easy to navigate. We took the subway to the Olympic Stadium (1936 Olympics). The stadium is quite impressive and the architecture, as David puts it, was designed to make you feel so small but yet part of something great all at the same time.....hmmm, how fitting for that time.

Madeline had a great time getting some fresh air and running around in the grassy open areas around the stadium. We also enjoyed seeing the landmarks of the stadium itself. I have included some photos below. The photo directly to the left is of Madeline running around the outside of the stadium.

Below is a photo of the Olympic Stadium's swimming pools. I thought of my nephew, Chris, who is well on his way to a future Olympics.

Below Papa and Madeline are standing by where the Olympic Torch burned. Below that, Madeline is enjoying sitting next to Papa, overlooking the stadium, as they rest their feet.

I find these last two photos of the Stadium fascinating. Madeline is standing by the original bell that hung in the clock tower of the stadium. The bell has a German eagle holing the five Olympic rings in its talons on one side, and the Brandenburg Gate on the other. The bell also had two swastikas cast into the rim and as you can see (near Maddie's foot) are still partially visible. The bell was damaged during WWII. There is a hole the in one side of the bell and a long crack that passes through the bell as a result of the bell tower being destroyed.

After visiting the stadium, we hopped on the subway again to Potsdamer Platz. This area is very rich in history. It is all quite interesting and for a true appreciation of this area you can read a very brief synopsis by clicking HERE. At Potsdamer Platz there

was a public art display that acknowledged the history of this area. Here, they also had small sections of the Berlin Wall displayed in the area along the parts of the path of where the Wall once stood. This photo is me standing near a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Currently in Potsdamer Platz, there are plenty of shops (although I enjoyed the Ku'damm, where I was yesterday, much better. I think I might head back there tomorrow.) David, Madeline and I took a stroll through a shopping center. It is quite common here to take your dog into stores, etc.

As we were strolling along, we stopped to watch a fountain that had "dancing" streams of water that would occasionally pop out and jet across, criss crossing, to the other side of the fountain. This guy with his dog also stopped to watch the water and the dog was going nuts because it so badly wanted to get the fountain streams. The dog was whining, and eventually yapping at the water. Before long, the owner finally allowed the dog on the ledge of the fountain so that it could "attack" the water as it came out. It was the funniest thing. Not only was the dog having a blast, but Madeline was having a blast watching the dog.

After our stroll we stopped for dinner. We tried an Australian themed restaurant because it had outdoor seating with cozy outdoor heaters. Leave it to me to order the wild, wacky and adventurous item off the menu - a kangaroo meat wrap! (It was between that and Crocodile Tornadoes) After dinner we hopped back on the subway to head "home", but first Papa and Madeline had a blast playing with the fountain near the restaurant.

After getting back, David had to go to a business social with a bunch of contacts. It was sort of like a happy hour event that was set up by a person at one of the companies that he has been working with. You have to go along and be seen, rub elbows, etc. The social was....Salsa dancing! Ummmm......if you know David, that is Soooo not his thing. It is totally up my alley, but not David's AT ALL! So, I had the evening to myself to blog (Carolyn and Jeff went too.) David should be home soon as he has a long day tomorrow. He is flying to Frankfurt for the day so Madeline and I will be exploring on our own tomorrow. Tommorrow I will fill you in on those adventures.