Berlin Blog question 2 alone in Berlin

I started off my day getting to know a 20 year old Israeli guy on the elevator of our hostel, he gave me his email and I told him I would 'facebook him'. Upon leaving the hostel I decided I needed to buy a map to figure out where I wanted to go. I hopped off the U. at Alexanderplatz figuring that I could find a map there. However I was wrong, I spent a good 40 minutes wandering from store to store not a map to be seen, one in English at least. I decided to head to the next area/stop that I knew well, Potsdamerpaltz, I figured I could find something to do there. I was wandering around looking at street signs when I stumbled across a big guide map in the middle of the sidewalk. Low and behold on the map I saw 'Berlin Philharmonic' excitement shot through me; I had been wanting to visit the building. Before continuing on my journey I decided I really needed to find some sort of map, so for a second time I went wandering from store to store in hopes of finding an Berlin map. This time around I had better luck, I found a bookstore with an English map, and I also purchased a guide book titled 'Berlin 1933-1945', talk about exciting. While exiting I saw H&M and had to stop and shop. After H&M I tried to start my adventure, when I realized the map I had just bought sucked! So I went back to following the ever so handy street signs. Being the picture taker I am, I stopped at a corner to take a picture of a unique looking yellow building. Like a gift from God I discovered that building was in fact the Berlin Philharmonic. Ecstatic I ran to the entrance of the building, only be flooded by melancholic emotions; my beloved philharmonic was closed to tours from July 4th through August 28th. Feeling dejected I roamed around the area hoping for something to pop out. After an hour of no such luck I decided to head back to the U. While approaching an intersection and blue sign popped out with a long word which I determined meant musical instrument museum. Suddenly it was like the clouds parted and the sun began to shine, I skipped to the museum. All of that excitement for nothing, the doors were locked and the lights were off. I stood looking at the hours posted on the door in disbelief, until I could snap out of it. Upset I decided to go to the film museum, my last resort. On my way to the museum I saw the IMAX and decided to go in and take a gander, I picked up a pamphlet with the hours on it, and the one next to it titled ‘The History of Berlin’. Upon reading it I bypassed the film museum for the U. and took it to the Zoolander stop. Now I thought it would be easy to find this place, but again I was wrong; I walked up and down the street 4 times before I realized the museum was in a mall. The museum was ok, it was a bit scary due to the use of audio, and visual effects. Nothing really stood out to me besides the lack of information about victims of the holocaust, it mainly focused on the Jewish. Upon exiting I stopped and ate some great pesto pasta, and started writing this. While eating and thinking I patted myself on the back for avoiding Starbucks while in Germany. I mentioned this only because on my way back to the U. I was stopped by a seducing sign outside of starbucks. Sadly this is where I finished my day in Berlin.