Brandenburger Tor

Found it!

Dear Curious,

There are a crap load of pictures of the Brandenburg Gate all over the internet and elsewhere. Our additions don't add up to a whole lot, except that while many people can say they know what the thing looks like, not so many can say they've seen it with their eyes. We kind of like that last part.

What's difficult to appreciate about the gate from most tourist pictures
is that it has these carved scenes betwixt the columns.
Quite frankly, I think the columns are too close together or
the depicted scenes are too high up b/c it's nearly impossible to get a good look at them.
Wave Mel! Please. Come on! Oh, never mind.

The depicted scenes are a little strange.
In this one a giant baby wrestles with a snake.
Of course.

One of the nice things about Berlin is that you can make money doing almost anything.
Except for this girl.
She's pretty clueless on how to be a statue.
The guy on the far right has got it down, though.

Historically,  the place is pretty darned important. The plaque outside the gate tells me that it used to be part of an enveloping wall, and Wikipedia refreshes my memory by saying it was one of 18 gates of that wall, the last standing. It's been a favorite place for invading armies (we're talking Napoleon here) to march their troops under and be like, "This city is MINE! Understand, fools?" Napoleon also stole the horse drawn chariot (Quadriga) and brought it back to his own country. But history tells us that he didn't account for it not really rolling along like a real chariot and ended up leaving it at a gas station where it was later picked up by a tow truck and returned.