...Victory Column...

This is what I did this afternoon.

To explain:

I rode Frank Sinatra to the Seigessäule in the Tiergarten in order to climb its 285 steps to the top. What awaited me was an absolutely fantastic view.

It was cold up there, though.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been quietly stewing about the fact that Frank Sinatra's tires blew out on Friedrichstraße. This week, however, I was able to take the time to buy two new tires and a new inner tube. With some help from Kerry, I was able to get my noble bicycle running again.

And so today, I decided on a little field trip to Tiergarten.

The sun started coming through the clouds at just the right time, so I was able to take some fairly rad pictures, of which this is the best one. I took my time in walking around the base of the monument, checking out each of the brass panels in the base of the column. It was quite impressive. So impressive in fact that people had chosen to take some souvenirs.

Example One (with no head)

Example Two (with no heads, hands, or feet)

Now, I had no problem with climbing the very narrow staircase and the 285 steps to the top. I had no problem maneuvering around the very narrow observation deck. But it was cold. It got up to 42 degrees today. It was a bit cooler on the observation deck, obviously.

Needless to say, I bundled up.