Our time in Berlin has been a step into the future, to a certain extent. Here, in Berlin, the world has been transformed as recently as the early 90's since the fall of the Wall in 1989. It's amazing to think that in 1989 (in our lifetime - in times where we can still recall what was going on in our lives), Berlin was going through a re-birth.
The result of this is a city that combines both the old and the new in more ways than we've seen. It's just not the really old and the new, but the old new and the new new, with the old old and the old new. Hmmm... not sure that made sense.. But you see various stages of history in Berlin.
What is most striking is how modern things are and how the Germans in their planning have taken the time and thought to engineer functionality with design. Perhaps that's why consumer flock to their products, because things not only work well, but they're cool. (i.e. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc.). Even the cabs here are all Mercedes and fairly nicer vehicles, equipped with GPS and cabbies who charge alot, but don't try to rip you off.
The country seems like a well organized machine, with its youth, exhibiting sort of a rebellious attitude (lots of varying styles being exhibited), but nowhere in this country do you feel really unsafe. Even the transportation system, is run with swiss precision, as the trains and buses (despite traffic) always to seem right on time. If you're not there to catch it, it's gone.
The architecture is amazing here, while appreciating the old (which I'll get to later), the new is really new, in the sense that when the wall came down, (November 1989), Berlin experienced a rebirth and the design and architect gods took over and really made Berlin an architectural mecca.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY...
Despite the new face of Berlin, the citizenry, who have all but forgotten its previous scars, the Germans still appreciate and remind us of the past, including the activities of the former Nazi's. Throughout the city we see reminders of the war, and we visited the historical places where two very important historical events occurred: 1) the Nazi's and WWII, and 2) the Cold War. Two events that really have shaped where we are today.
We visited the Reichstag, the common day parliament headquarters, where in the 1940's Hitler once stood in his display of Nazi power in front of the world. The former Olympic Stadium, where the 1932 Olympics were held, and Brandenberg gate, symbolic of the times of Kaiser Wilhelm (WWI era), and where the Allied forces eventually took over (WWII).
What's most striking about the WWII era, is the Church sitting in Charlottenburg and quite close to hotel. This church, was extensively bombed, what's left of it, still stands as sort of a reminder of the war. Half the church tower is gone as is half the church grounds itself. What remains is a small atrium, but the tower, which goes up about 8 stories with his blackened and charred face, reminds us of war. To think of the allied forces finally marching into Germany backing the Germans into their home front, is clear by looking at the bombed out church, an innocent casualty of the war.
Next, the Cold War. So after the Germans lost, the country is divided and the Soviets cut out East Germany and East Berlin, leaving West Berlin, a virtual island (but free). So we visited Checkpoint Charlie, the famous border crossing where some lost their lives trying to go from the East to the West, in hopes that they would not be under the Soviet Rule. We visited the museum where we saw evidence of hundreds of people trying to go from the East to the West to escape the Soviet rule.
We also went to see what's left of the wall, and saw tons of pictures of how life used to be. It's tough to imagine life in that situation... it seems so long ago, but it was only less than 20 years ago...
Finally, in 1989, after Ronald Reagan's plea, the Soviet block relented and the citizens of Germany reunited. Funny, seems like history appears to be still relevant today (i.e. N and S. Korea). Ronald Reagan's famous speech was made in front of the Brandenburg gate, where you see no evidence of the former Berlin wall, except for a demarcation along the street.
OUR TIME HERE...
What's been born from this lesson in history is a city reborn. Jill and I had a great time here, we enjoyed German cuisine whenever we had the chance. We'd venture out to BFE to visit a restaurant recommended on the internet and sometimes we were disappointed, but most of the time we were pleasantly surprised. What's funny is that lots of these restaurants are in random locations out in the middle of some neighborhood. The streets are absolutely dead, and then there's a restaurant full of life, full of folks enjoying themselves.
We ate German and Austrian food whenever we had the chance, and enjoyed every moment, except, we are a little sick of potatoes... anybody have some RICE? Noodles? Pho?? I've just about eaten a pig and all its parts by now...have eaten more veal than I ever have in my life, and drank more beer in the past week than I have in the past year. But with that, we've enjoyed the real "German experience" in my opinion. Even Jill drank a whole .5L of Beer, in the spirit of the Germans.
Oh, and the street food.. I can't say enough. We went to the Saturday morning farmer's market in one of the small districts, and had a blast seeing how the locals do it on a weekend. All the street vendors were selling one thing or another, from churros, to fresh juices, to bratwursts, to roastwursts, to fried meatballs, to breads and croissants. We ate whenever we could and didn't feel stuffed just to get our taste.
One of my favorites? CURRYWURST. Yah, it doesn't sound great, but it's basically a juicy sausage/wurst covered with a ketchup/curry combination that made the sausages a little sweet with a hint of curry to it. It's the typcial streetfood and vendors are everywhere. With some bread, fries and a beer/coke, and you have a great afternoon snack, while walking the streets of Germany in your sightseeing adventure.
Jill and I braved the public transportation system and found our way throughout the city, saving ourselves about 30 Euros, since we found the secret to Berlin which was to ride certain public buses which went on the same route as the private sightseeing buses.
I am pretty proud of how we've handled our adventure thus far. We've splurged on the things worthwhile, and haven't wasted any money unnecessarily. We might have had to decipher the complicated transportation system a little bit, and figure out what bus routes went where, but in the end, we've figured out where the local markets were, paid local rates for most things, and really got to taste what it was like to be a Berliner.
This is a visit we would love to return to spend more time at. With the exception of the language, and the 10-15 character words they have here, I think we could get by just fine here.
p.s. there are lots more asian faces here... and more asian restaurants, although we still refrained as we didn't come to Europe to eat what we could get at home every day.
:)
We are off to Amsterdam to visit my cousin Jen today (travel day). So we'll report from there. Hope all is well with everyone. We miss you all!
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