We have been sleeping more than 11 hours every night for the last week. But today we ventured out for the first time. We are staying one block away from Tempelhof Airport, site of the Berlin airlift, just one more layer of Berlin’s rich history that I was not privy to prior, but one that I am super excited to learn about.
As you can see, it is quite a beautiful day...we are lucky. Berliners have not been blessed with an early spring. In fact, just two weeks ago, they were still experiencing winter temps in May. Tempelhof field has just been converted to a huge park where people come to fly LED-lit kites at night, roller-blade by day and BBQ around the clock.
I wish I had my roller-blades! This runway is a roller-blading dream! Really, the sidewalks in this neighborhood are all cobblestone.
We got our first glimpse of Alexanderplatz, Berlin’s edition of the Seattle Space Needle, Toronto’s CN Tower, etc. It has been said that the best place to view Berlin is to go to the tower because it is the only view of Berlin that is not spoiled by the tower itself. “Alex” as the tower is commonly referred as, has been a great landmark so that we don’t get lost—as much.
Look to the right, you can see it way in the background.
Ok, and closer up: 
The park, being in Neukölln, has made the residents worried about gentrification. No other city I have previously visited has been so obviously divided as the neighborhoods here. Every decade, one neighborhood after another goes through the gentrification process. Neukölln is next. The park just speeds up the process of increasing rents, yuppie bars, and boutique hotels.
But I am just happy to be here at this point in time when the park is in its infant stages of development, happy to be staying in a neighborhood which personality mimics mine. Anti-establishment, a bit away from the center of things, and one that is just being discovered. Or maybe just by me.