NH Voltaire Potsdam

... we set off for Germany north towards Berlin. I had been to Berlin 23 years ago when the wall was still there so seeing it reunified will be good. I recalled my horror of visiting closed East Berlin and my depression headache as Giselle and I visited on a day pass across the west to the east side and how those poor souls were trapped there in a communist half of a city. We drove on through the border to Germany and arrived in massive Berlin where we drove miles south ...

... site where they are building a huge memorial museum, the Topography of Terror, on the site of the old SS headquarters. In the meantime along the side of the wall is about 100 yards of photographic displays of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. A very moving experience, and many looking at these were reduced to tears. Nearby was Checkpoint Charlie, so named because it is there to make a ...

When Jerry and Maria found out that Berlin was only a 3 1/2 hour drive, they decided we should do a road trip. So, we got up early, hopped in the car, got the GPS situated and off we went. The only hitch in our plan was... snow. We hit some fairly hard falling snow along the way, which slowed us down, but we still made it in fairly decent time. We got to Berlin, parked the car, ate some lunch, and went straight to the touristy ...

... prendre l'autobus. Donc on embarque sur le bon numero et puis on va s'asseoir, whatever. Elle savait ou debarquer alors c'etait bin bon. Arriver la, on debarque mais il fallait prendre un autre autobus. L'aventure n'etait pas terminee. hehe. Donc on prend le bon numero encore, et puis on attend d'arriver en face de sa maison parce que c'est la que le bus arrete habituellement. Tout a coup, on regarde dehors et l'autobus etait arrete dans un stationnement. On etait comme ...

... all this way, across the oceans, across the mountains and deserts, across the centuries, because we are made of sugar candy?" At least for today, we are (weak-willed Americans made of sugar candy, that is). Hoping for better weather tomorrow, we plan to renew the assault. (Jack) After yesterday's stress over the train ride, we were ready to continue the storming of the ...

... allowed one small plot of about 2000 sq feet. Families are allowed to build a tool shed, some of which become rather fancy. Although forbidden, many families live in these fancy "tool sheds" to save money. Others just use these cottages as a weekend retreat. The other side of Wittenberg is seen in abandoned buildings. They dot the landscape throughout the city. High unemployment (20%) depresses the economy throughout the ...

... goes to take our order, and says... "No, you drank all of that beer last night... I have no more." She wasn't kidding either, we really had. We have a few drinks and laughs and then we head over to our hotel. As soon as we step back in the hotel the same motorcade from earlier flies past the window. Someone yells, wow... looks like someone is getting pulled over. I slap my forehead and look forward to the next day since tomorrow is our big train ride to Prague.    

Wow! It's been a long time since my last posting. I've been covering a lot of ground in Central and Eastern Europe over the past two weeks and haven't had a chance to put together a quality post. So let me apologize and continue on with my stories... After Munich, I decided to the head East to Salzburg (Austria) for some much needed recovery. I checked into the Yoho hostel sometime in the afternoon and then made my way to the park to enjoy the beautiful day. It was a ...

I was very excited about being back in Berlin. There is a lot that I want to see that I didn't get around to last time. Had a quick shower and walked to the train station with my ****** map supplied to me by the hostel. I had to catch a train on the S-Bahn and then the U-Bahn. Was quite confused about which direction the trains were going, hoped for the best and ended up at a major station ...

... East Berlin, part of the city, which is too put it bluntly ugly. The Communists liked concrete and so have put as much of it around this part of Berlin as possible, covering parks, replacing old buildings and generally making things ugly. Sometimes they would just knock a building down and never replace it so they became wasteland. When they weren't using concrete they were designing really bad buildings. The aim of these was to show the west how attractive the east ...