The Tale of Two Cities .....

We ventured out to Berlin, Germany this past weekend, and I was amazed at this beautiful, and at one time separated, city.

First off, the drive out there, nearly 5 hours, was absolutely beautiful!  Not many "castles" to see, but beautiful, rolling hills, the tallest and straightest pine trees I have ever seen, and beautiful German villages, nestled in the countryside.   The picture I took of these tall pines didn't turn out well, so I went onto google images and found one that resembles these amazing trees, perfectly:

We arrived at our hotel around 4pm, after a late start leaving Wiesbaden (which isn't really surprising)!  :)  We quickly checked into the hotel, and got back into the car to drive to the city center. Before we could even bet to the city center, we were struck by the beauty of the drive into the city (since our hotel was 18 km from the city).  There really wasn't anything "spectacular" about it, yet for some reason the houses, the people, the streets.....there was just "something" that made it beautiful, as we drove in.  Possibly, it was just the thought of life bieng "normal" after a city was separated for 23 years?  Possibly, it was the simplicity of life?  I'm not really sure, but here are some pictures we took.

Our first stop was the Unter der Linden area, where we could "Chart Berlin's History in One Street".  Our first stop was The Brandenburg Gate, which would mark Prussia's capital city in 1791.  Also known as the "Gate of Peace", held a great celebration when the Berlin wall came down.

After the Brandenburg Gate, we decided to walk to the Reichstag, which is the German parliament building.  We were told we could go for a tour in it, and that it was free (which, when there's 6 of us, is always a PLUS).  So - we went over, and found the line to be quite long (almost an hour), but decided it woiuld be worth the wait.  Well, we were really excited when the young lady came up to us to ask the ages of the kids.  When we mentioned that Rebecca was 6, she smiled and said they had a separate entrance for families with children, under 7 - and, get this.....NO WAIT!!!  So, we were all happy, and Rebecca was tickled that her being "little" was a good thing!  :)

The Reichstag is an impressive building with a "playful glass dome at the top, in which a funnel of mirrors sheds light on the workings of democracy below".  We could walk up a spiraling staircase, to the top, and get a 360 view of Berlin.  It was absolutely beautiful from there.....

These are the spiral "walkways" going up the dome - amazing

On one of Alex's XBox games, he conquers this exact building (which is kinda cool that he actually learned history without even knowing it - I love it!).  So this is his "conquering" stance!  :)

After leaving the Reichstag, we started walking to find the actual remnants of the Berlin Wall.  Along the way, we came across a large park, filled with large concrete slaps, of varying heights, and we couldn't figure out what they were.

Well, after researching, I found out that it is the Holocaust Memorial, "cccupying about 205,000 square feet (19,000 square meters) of space near the Brandenburg Gate and just a short distance from where the ruins of Hitler’s bunker is buried.  It is made up of 2,711 gray stone slabs that bear no markings, such as names or dates.  The slabs undulate in a wave-like pattern. Each is a five-sided monolith, individually unique in shape and size. Some are only ankle high while others tower over visitors. The paths that are shaped between the slabs undulate as well. The U.S. Architecht Peter Eisenman hoped to create a feeling of groundlessness and instability; a sense of disorientation."  Well, it worked....we definitely had all of those feelings.

 As we continued our walk, we decided that it was time to eat, so we stopped at a restaurant, and had some wonderful steaks!  As we sat and ate, the end of the World Cup Quarter-final happened, and Germany beat Argentina (I believe) 4-0, so there was MUCH partying in the streets!

Alex even joined in the celbration, as he found a German flag on the ground, as we walked!  :)

(Seems strange to have it hanging from his pants, but there were MANY who wore it this way, and the girls wrapped it around them like a bathing suit cover - very strange)

As we continued, we made our way to see the remains of the Berlin Wall.  It's hard to describe in words, how we felt!  We have feelings of joy that the wall had been torn town, allowing everyone, including families that hadn't seen each other in years to see one another;  we had feelings of sadness at just thinking about what those years must have felt like for the citizens of Germany (east and west); we felt like we had a weight on our shoulders, as we thought about all the many freedoms we have as American citizens, and yet we, as citizens, find time to "grumble" about so much - and yet, in reality, it's miniscule in relation to the World!!!  We are a blessed nation, UNDER GOD, and I pray for our nation, our leaders and our citizens to step forward and make a change (not just complain).  We are a country where so many are given SO MANY opportunities, and these opportunities are simply thrown away, because it takes alot of work, or because people don't appreciate all our country has to offer!  Okay, sorry - enough of my soap box.

Since I can't quite explain the feelings, here are some pictures...

The last stop during our trip to Berlin was to "Check Point Charlie", which from 1961 to 1990, "was the only border crossing point for the Allies, foreigners, employees of the Permanent Representation and officials of the GDR. Today, the checkpoint is commemorated by a border sign and a soldier's post."

We really enjoyed this area, because the entire street, Freidrich Strasse, has turned into a street of history.  All along the sidewalks, lining the street, are large billboards showing a piece of history.  Though we loved it, there was one part that we didn't care for, and took offense to.  There were German men (boys, really) dressed in American Class-B military uniforms, carrying American flags, having people pay 2euro each to have a picture taken with them in front of Check Point Charlie.  We didn't have a problem, necessarily, with being charged for picture, but rather we were offended that they would wear OUR uniform, unshaved and in regular shoes, carrying a tattered, dirty and torn flag, that they had dragging on the ground.  This complete lack of respect for our Flag even made Samantha ask "why don't they care about our flag, and why are they wearing our uniform if they're not in our army?"  When the 10-year old asks those kind of questions, then there's a problem.

Though the wall was torn down, there is still a constant reminder of the life that once was!

(this is where the wall was removed, but they filled it in, and made it a memorial along the roads)