Obama at the Siegesäule
Well today is an exciting day if you're an American in Berlin and want to catch a glimpse of the presidential hopeful Barack Obama. He flew in this morning, met the german Chancellor for a quick tete-a-tete and will be giving a public speech this evening at the Victory Column.
All around the Große Stern, the giant roundabout where the Siegesäule is located, has been blocked off for two days as they prepare Obama's personal fan mile instead of the ones normally set up for football games. You can expect bratwurst stands and Obama balloons and, I imagine, quite a bit of security.
The area opens at 4pm and Obama is due to speak at 7pm. One hundred thousand spectators are expected, so it may pay to get there earlier rather than later, although there are big screens set up for those who can't get close. I'd recommend using bike to get there - there are buses going through that area, but they have also had to be rerouted, so check it out before jumping on one.
If you don't feel like going along in person, you can see the speech live here. It should be an interesting speech and the Germans are hopeful it will display a presidential candidate with a finer sense of foreign politics than they've experienced previously.