Day 3 in Berlin got off to an early start at The Sports Rabbi ventured out to Balaboosta Bakety and Kosher 4 All market for some Shabbos delights. Piping hot Bobka and rugelach filled the air of the premises while the challahs baked to the shoppers delight.

After making a few other purchases for the Holy Day it was off to do some more sightseeing ahead of the opening semifinal between Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce.

Checkpoint Charlie was the next stop on this humid and hazy Friday morning as I crossed back and forth between what was once East and West Germany at the border point that was manned by the United States on one side and the Soviet Union on the other with the wall between them. Back in 1961 tanks from both nations faced one an other right at the checkpoint and it was visited by JFK during his trip to Berlin in 1963.

Next up was a ten minute walk to the Jewish Museum complex which consists of a museum, a children’s museum as well as a Holocaust Memorial. It was very interesting to see two groups of school children no older than 5 years old visiting the children’s museum, however, many thoughts filled my head.

What do the children think of us when they visit this site at such a young age? How does one convey our story to children so young? Are we just museum pieces or are we actual, factual human beings?

Across the street was the Actual Jewish Museum and a very odd looking tower commemorating the Holocaust as a group of police looked on at the people passing by.

From there it was a metro and tram ride to the Berlin Wall Memorial where I was able to see a large chunk of the wall that remains at a sight where many people lost their lives. Plenty of people walked through a park like area that also had a museum across the way.

I popped back into the metro for a quick trip to the Big Synagogue which stood shimmering in all its glory. Right in the front there were photos of the hostages and a small memorial for the October 7th tragedy.

I headed back to the hotel for some R&R before heading to the arena as the fans could already be heard just a short walk away.

Following a stop at Häagen-Dazs right outside of the arena for some chocolate and vanilla ice cream I checked out the merchandise stands as the fans filled the plaza in front of the Uber Arena with singing and dancing filling the arena. The festival was in full swing.