Berlin, Germany

Berlin-

Our train was not near as modern as I had expected. Going from Vienna to Berlin took us straight through Prague, Czech republic and the heart of the old soviet union. The soviets were kind enough to eave some of their old trains behind and this was one of them. The back half of the passenger cars on our train were dropped and reconnected to another engine in Prague and continued onto Moscow for a morning arrival there. A Russian doorman was kind enough to keep us from entering this part of the train when we arrived at the station.

We arrived in Berlin at 9 AM rested and ready to hit the town. Caught a cab to our hotel where they already had our room ready for us. We decided the best use of time was to hit the hop on, hop off bus tour. The hotel reccomended the city circle bus, so that us what we did. It was a great way to get oriented with the city. We did not realize how large Berlin is. It is 3.4 Million people and covers 900 sq KM. There is a lot of ground to cover

Berlin is living history. It is undoubtedly the cultural center of Germany. We watched Movies being filmed in the streets on our tour today. If you want to see a play, musical, opera, etc it is all available everyday. Just like being in NYC , LOndon or Paris.

On to the events in Berlin… incredible. City is green, people are happy, and music, laughing and fun. Today on the tour bus a Russian guy gave me his head set (that could be set to any language) with only a smile and have a “hey Jyou enjoy, I will be fine sitting here” Overwhelmed I asked if I could buy him a beer or a Vodka at the next stop. He Told me in plain English… NO good VOODKAA in Berlin only MOScow… I will try to do some research on that in a future trip.

Nearly 70% of Berlin was destroyed during WWII. Berlin has spent decades rebuilding their city. It’s amazing all that has been done, but more amazing that there is still more to do. Buildings that still need repair or sponsors to finance the repair have these silloettes that cover the old building with an art drawing of what it will look like after completion. It was pretty apparent most of the action is now in what used to be East Berlin behind the wall. Since reunification, there has been non stop redevelopment and construction. Especially on the east side where not as much rebuilding from WW II had occurred.

After riding the bus around the entire loop once, we decided to get off the bus and go from Potsdam (German version of time square) to the Brandenburg gate on a stroll and check out the day. We came across the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The Memorial to the 6,000,000 Jews that were killed in WWII by the Nazis. I would not know where to begin a memorial to such an event. This was pretty interesting, 3000 pillars erected. It seemed like a massive symbolic cemetery.

Next stop with the famous Brandenburg gate. This was an original city gate that was always a symbol of the city. It sits right in the middle of the current city and was right next to the Berlin Wall when it was still standing. Normally you can drive right up to it but today it was blocked off in preparations for tomorrows May Day celebrations.

The entire area was packed with crowds out enjoying another beautiful day. We saw lots of Bier Bike tours, street performers, etc. We made a stop into Starbucks to use the free wifi and call the kids. It was great to talk with them and wish Trey luck on his football game later in the day.

We also stopped by the Reichstag. The German Parliament with a glass dome at the top that you can actually climb. A fire (most historians think set by the Nazi’s but they blamed the opposing political party) in the Reichstag in 1933, was such a horrifying event to the German public, that parliament passed an act to allow Hitler special powers to protect the German people from this type of terrorism. It was meant to be a temporary measure to get the situation under control. It gave Hitler, a democratically elected leader the free reigned he used during the entire Nazi period.

The Berlin wall still screws things up. Not all subways have been reconnected. For mass transit junkies like us, traveling 6 miles with 3 changes is hard to grasp. But that is the beauty of the city…the west is connected with the east. We see Checkpoint charlie, the wall, and try to remember what are parents know… the world watched this place from the end of WWII until the fall of the wall in 1989 and reunification in 1991. Now it just seems normal but there was nothing normal before then.

We have spread good cheer and happiness for the last several days based on our own good feelings. The few sampling of local drinks have kept me in a great mood and me wife seems to follow in good cheer.

The key phrase seems to have be ” your English is great! Where did you learn it so well?” Every German that you say that to wants to keep talking for us for a while and help us as much as they can. . I plan to keep using it to our benefit.