berlin, germany

Europa Center - Philharmonie - New National Galerie - Jewish Museum - Checkpoint Charlie - Remains of the wall - Prussian Parlament - Potsdamer Platz - Friedrichstreet - Gendarmenmarkt - German and French Cathedral - Konzert Haus - Nikolai Quarter - Berlin Town Hall - TV Tower - Alexander Place - Museum Island - Berliner Dom/Cathedral - Lustgarten - Old Nationalglarie - Crown Prince Palace Unter den Linden - Brandenburger Tor (Gate)- Reichstag (Parliament Building) - Bundeskanzleramt - Palace Bellvue - Victory Column - Kudamm



As you can see from the list above we saw a LOT in Berlin. Half the stuff I can't remember but maybe some of you will recognize some of the names and be able to relate to what we were seeing.

Germany was a beautiful country. That morning we docked in Warnemunde and took a 2 1/2 hour bus ride into Berlin. I am embarrassed to say that before our trip I didn't really know much about the history of Berlin. I knew of the wall and had heard Reagan's famous words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall", I vaguely knew of Checkpoint Charlie and what it was, but other then that I was clueless. I'm sure it was my fault for not paying attention in history but I was sad that I didn't read up on it more before visiting this amazing city.

Our other ports were beautiful and full of lovely sites but Berlin was more of a history tour and we had the best tour guide to teach us. My mother and I loved to sit at the front of the bus so that we could get the best shots of the city as we drove and so that we could pay attention to the tour guide. Stephen, was our tour guide for the day and it felt like he was speaking directly to my mom and I throughout the entire tour. Stephen was born in East Berlin and was very open about sharing his struggles and experiences and what it was like growing up with the wall and the division between East and West Berlin.

Once again I was embarrassed that this was all recent history and I knew nothing about the hardships and struggles that took place, the separation between families and how, to this day, many Easterners have been brain washed and still believe that they are separate from the West. Luckily they are slowly becoming unified but our tour guide believes it will be several more years before they are truly one again.

We drove past many sites and made our first stop at the Brandenburg Gate which is the site where both President Kennedy and Reagan made their famous speeches. It was one of the few remaining structures after WWII and was used as a symbol to the Nazis. Next to the Brandenburg Gate is Hotel Adlon, the famous site where Michael Jackson flung is hooded baby over the balcony for all of the fans to see. Isn't it sad? We are in Berlin where so much history took place and the tourists are wanting to see the hotel where Michael Jackson made a fool of himself.

After listening to the stories of the events leading up to the destruction of the wall we walked down the street to the Holocaust Memorial. The Holocaust Memorial consists of a 4.7 acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs (that vary in height and size) arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. According to Eisenman's project text (the architect), the slabs are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. The Foundation for the Memorials official English tourist pamphlet, however, states that the design represents a radical approach to the traditional concept of a memorial, partly because Eisenman did not use any symbolism. Nowhere inside the memorial, or around it, does it say what it commemorates. Some think that this is a deliberate attempt to encourage visitors to reach their own conclusions. At first I thought they could have built a more honorable memorial for the victims of the Holocaust but after walking around it for a while I began to appreciate the architects design and loved that he left so much to the imagination.

Next we boarded the buses and saw the government buildings in Berlin along with several Churches, Cathedrals and embassy buildings. Our tour guide wanted to show us the difference between the neighborhoods of East and West Berlin. While the West side was very modern and new, the East side was older with a lot of Russian influence. We also drove past a portion of the wall the is still standing so that we could see what it actually looked like. Several sections have been divided and artists have depicted scenes of unity to help reunite East and West. In one of the waterways that divides East and West Berlin is a very large statue of three men coming together, to symbolize the reunification of Berlin. We were shown where the walls stood and the section between the walls known as the "death strip" (isn't that an awful name?) where Russian soldiers were instructed to shoot anyone that set foot in that section.

Before our stop at Checkpoint Charlie we stopped for a traditional German lunch of different kinds of meats and sauerkraut at the Sony Center. Once again not very much German beer was consumed in our group. I have never dared to try sauerkraut but I have to say that this sauerkraut was very good.

Our last stop of the day was at Checkpoint Charlie, were we saw a replica of the original checkpoint. Along the streets we were able to view a storyboard of pictures that captured the building and destruction of the wall, the passage between the east and west at the checkpoints and how some tried to creatively escape East Berlin. Above the checkpoint a picture of an American and Russian soldier is displayed to signify the reunification. The American soldier faces East Berlin welcoming them to the West and a Russian soldier faces the West side, welcoming them to the East. Unfortunately, our time was short and we didn't get to read and see all that was there but I am so glad that we decided to make the trek to Berlin so that I could learn of the history behind the Cold War and all that took place in Berlin.

We said goodbye to our fun little guide and headed back to the ship. Before we got back we had a little scare with our crazy German bus driver. He couldn't speak English and none of us could speak German so it became a problem when we had no AC and couldn't communicate to him that we were dying. After getting a little frustrated and speeding along the Autobahn and pulling off to the side of the road, the bus driver finally got it figured out and we were able to enjoy the rest of our ride in comfort. I will say as we were driving we saw several cars fly by going faster then I've ever seen a car go on a regular highway.

Brandenburg Gate


The Hotel where Michael Jackson pulled the crazy balcony stunt


A famous statue in the lobby of one of the local banks


Holocaust Memorial






The Wall




The Unity Statue


Checkpoint Charlie (I don't know the people in the picture)


The American soldier facing the East


The Russian soldier facing the West


A quote from JFK inside Checkpoint Charlie


Some of the photos on the storyboard




A German police car (my mom thought they were cool)