On a borrowed bike I saw these varied sights in the former East German sector of Potsdam today

[Victor_c3]

15. speaking of "a little bit like cuba"

If I remember correctly, if you are in Berlin in the museum district area, one of the exteriors of one of the museums has been refurbished with an odd pink marble. The marble was acquired by the Soviets when East Germany was part of their union and the marble actually came from Cuba. Apparently it was cheaper and easier for them to use pink Cuban marble than try to match the original marble when they were doing their sloppy job of restoring some of those buildings.