Perpetual darkness

Sights from a very typical commute

Here in Berlin the sun dips from the horizon at about 3:30pm and it is pitch dark by 4:00pm. Therefore, much of what I do during the week goes on in the dark, literally. This rainy night is very representative of the normal weather here.

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology on Invalidenstrasse: I am currenly working in this historic building and learning about the German Federal Government's inward investment and location marketing policies. You can see my bus stuck in the oncoming traffic. My commute home starts here.

Rush hour on Friedrichstrasse: lights, cars, busses, trams, and pedestrians all seem in a hurry to get home.

Bus driver on the 147 Bus: I take this bus directly from the doorstep of the Economics Ministry to a few blocks from my apartment.

Unter den Linden (Under the Linden Strees) with Christmas tree lighting: This is the most historically significant and scenic boulevard in Berlin. It was built to link the Berlin Palace located on the eastern side of the avenue with the Brandenburger Gate which served the entrance into the royal hunting playground called the Tiergarten (Animal Park). Berlin takes great effort to decorate this avenue - lucky for me!

Unter den Linden trees over unusually empty street: the 1.5 km boulevard with its bright tree lights is a sight to see. It is also 1 block from my apartment!

Brandenburger Tor with new neighbor -the Christmas tree: I took this photo facing west while standing in Pariser Platz. The Berlin Wall ran right behind this Tor. Today only cobblestones trace the path of the wall throughout the city.

The commute ends 30 minutes later: My apartment building on the corner of Wilhelmstrasse and Behrenstrasse: I love living here. No, I haven't yet been at the Block House steakhouse right on my doorstep. I can get chain steakhouses in the U.S.!