Berlin...imagine that word with grafitti on it

Our hostel in Berlin is situated in East Berlin...not too far from downtown. At first glance it seems kinda shady, but then it dawns on you that its actually kinda bohemian. On Sunday we took a night train to Berlin, got here at 8:00, checked into our hostel at 10:00 and took an eight hour walking tour of the city for about 8 hours. Good thing I put sunscreen on...otherwise I would have ended up like a lobster.
East Berlin looks like the nice parts of Russia. Oddly enough there are few people in the streets. It feels wierd walking a huge city with hardly anybody in it. If you look close enough you can see bullet holes in many of the old buildings from the Battle of Berlin, but those buildings are beginning to disapear. Culturally, Berlin is in an awkward position. They either downplay or play or overplay Nazi sites. Take Hitler's bunker for example. It is just a dirt lot parking lot with a small sign that describes the Furher's bunker. Either they glamorize it and invite neo-nazis or downplay it and potentially ignore the past. Likewise with Soviet culture. Alot of the old buildings and apartments look dull and boring. However, they are culturally tied to their past. I personally think they are neat...but I am a Soviet nerd. Moreover, the infamous East Berlin crosswalk lights have made a come back after being nearly extinct. Does one keep erasing the past or let a previous culture (ideology) last?

On a lighter (actually heavier note), German food is good. Last night we ate at a quaint little restaurant down the street named Sophieneck (www.sophieneck-berlin.de). I had the schnitzle "gypzy style" with spaetzle. That and a half litter of Berliner Beer hit the spot. Amy thought she was being safe and ordered bratwurst. Luckily we saw another person order the same thing and saw that it had sauce on it. The sauce most likely had flour in it. With a little stress we got the waitress to change the order to a potato and egg omlette.
We have had some success in getting Gluten free food, but eating out is kind of a head ache. Je suis alergique a gluten, was our motto in Paris...they clearly have never heard of such a thing. Tommorow we will go explore the Jewish Museum and Karl Marx Alley and some districts that have that boring Soviet architecture I am so thrilled to see.