My Dad traveled to Europe the summer after his junior year in college. Dad and his best friend hitchhiked to New York and then hopped across the pond, bought an old VW and drove around Europe (I have a point, I promise). At some point, they reached Berlin. In the 70's, the Berlin Wall was up and strong. Communist East Berlin was a different world than a block away from Allied-controlled West Berlin. The wall separated families and split everything. Dad faced machine guns when seeing the two sides of the city, having to travel through Checkpoint Charlie to ensure that he was not an East Berlin citizen trying to escape to West Berlin.Understandably , he had a few worries with Lainey and I hitting the former disaster city.
The weather was gorgeous- hello European summer.
However, we discovered not only a different Berlin, but a shockingly modern one. Of course most of its buildings were destroyed in the war, so the architecture was modern, but what shocked me the most was the complete spackle job. You know when you accidentally poke 5 nail holes in the wall while trying to hang that picture and then you have to get the white spackle and fill in your mistakes? Well, spackle- meet Berlin. The city is trying desperately hard to cover up not only WWI and II, but also the Berlin Wall and everything unpleasent the country encountered over the last 100 years. I can't blame them, but amazed at what a good job they did of it. Hitler's bunker didn't even had a sign marking it, the bullet holes in many building had been covered with advertisements and the streets cleanly paved.
Checkpoint Charlie
Remnants of the Berlin Wall
The monument erected after defeating Napoleon
The walking tour we took was the same one we had taken in Dublin and Paris and did not disappoint.
We started at the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz. The Platz is the home of Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson dangled his baby. Also, it's named Pariser Platz because it celebrates the defeat of Napoleon when they came to invade. The statue above the gate was changed (after Napoleon stole the original) to face France... saying: back off!
The Jewish Holocaust Memorial was more like a giant maze than a memorial.
Bebelplatz was the site of the Nazi book burnings. Books are now sold on the outskirts of the platz, many of the books were those that were forbidden. Under the square, rows and rows of empty bookshelves serve as a memorial.
German cathedral
Museum Island
Some German/London graffiti
The Reichstag- we climbed the dome on the top. The dome is open to the public and is supposed to remind the goverment officials below the see-through dome that they are below-therefore serve- the people.
The view atop the Reichstag- the giant pole thing is the Fernsehturm- the television tower
The weather was gorgeous- hello European summer.
However, we discovered not only a different Berlin, but a shockingly modern one. Of course most of its buildings were destroyed in the war, so the architecture was modern, but what shocked me the most was the complete spackle job. You know when you accidentally poke 5 nail holes in the wall while trying to hang that picture and then you have to get the white spackle and fill in your mistakes? Well, spackle- meet Berlin. The city is trying desperately hard to cover up not only WWI and II, but also the Berlin Wall and everything unpleasent the country encountered over the last 100 years. I can't blame them, but amazed at what a good job they did of it. Hitler's bunker didn't even had a sign marking it, the bullet holes in many building had been covered with advertisements and the streets cleanly paved.
Checkpoint Charlie
Remnants of the Berlin Wall
The monument erected after defeating Napoleon
The walking tour we took was the same one we had taken in Dublin and Paris and did not disappoint.
We started at the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz. The Platz is the home of Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson dangled his baby. Also, it's named Pariser Platz because it celebrates the defeat of Napoleon when they came to invade. The statue above the gate was changed (after Napoleon stole the original) to face France... saying: back off!
The Jewish Holocaust Memorial was more like a giant maze than a memorial.
Bebelplatz was the site of the Nazi book burnings. Books are now sold on the outskirts of the platz, many of the books were those that were forbidden. Under the square, rows and rows of empty bookshelves serve as a memorial.
German cathedral
Museum Island
Some German/London graffiti
The Reichstag- we climbed the dome on the top. The dome is open to the public and is supposed to remind the goverment officials below the see-through dome that they are below-therefore serve- the people.
The view atop the Reichstag- the giant pole thing is the Fernsehturm- the television tower
