The Real Berliner

Can we say we <3 Berlin? We were originally going to stay here for 3 nights, but added another night because there was just so much to see.

We had a bit of an adjustment period coming into Berlin...we can't really read German, you know. But after spending the last few days here we really got the hang of it all. The transit system is so efficient! Made it so easy and affordable to get around. This amazing city has really grown on us and we're sorry to be leaving tomorrow.

Colin and I spent the last few days taking in the whole German history of WWII / Nazi Regime / Holocaust. We really have a profound respect for this city and country for owning up to such a heinous past. The massive numbers of memorials in one form or another dispersed all over the country are overwhelming to say the least. We found ourselves in awe upon the realization of the sheer epic significance of the land upon which we stood--this is the epicenter of WWII, where the world began to reshape into what we know of it today. This is where the word propaganda obtained its negative connotations. Where the term anti-semitism was born. Where one man with an incredible speaking ability was able to manipulate an army of otherwise intelligent and empathetic people to commit such horrendous crimes against minorities.

We have learned so much these last few days, returning to our hostel each night mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. On our first day here, we took a walking tour with a company called New Berlin--where our tour guide, George, an American who moved to Berlin 3 years ago, taught us all about Adolph Hitler from start to finish. We absolutely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Berlin. It was affordable (some are free) and extremely informative--way exceeded our expectations. He gave us the run-down at each location we visited, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten, Reichstag (Parliament Building), the site of the Former SS and Gestapo headquarters, Goebbel's Propaganda Ministry, and the site of Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide (now, appropriately, a parking lot). Most of the city of Berlin was destroyed in the Battle of Berlin during WWII. The few remaining buildings and structures were repaired and you can still see where they were riddled with bullet holes and hit with bombs and shrapnel.

Yesterday, we took a ride out to see the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On our way out, we met a couple of other travelers on their way to the same place: Izac from Australia (Perth), and Victor from Mexico. We lost Victor at the camp, but ended up going through the entire place with Izac. Wow, you really have to see it with your own eyes and physically experience it to be able to even slightly understand the horrors that occured there.

Today, we visited Treptower Park, the site of a 30-metre high memorial dedicated to the more than 20,000 Soviet soldiers who perished in the 12 days of the Battle of Berlin. 7,000 of these soldiers are buried there. We also revisited the Holocaust Memorial to see the museum there--I was brought to tears seeing the photographs during that time. It is a brilliantly presented memorial.

On a lighter note.....we have had an excellent time here. Everyone has been so polite and friendly. And the cars actually stop for you! We were quite pleasantly surprised, especially after having been nearly run over multiple times in Amsterdam. Just kidding...only once or twice. ;) Everything is so much cheaper here too!! We completely blew our budgets in Amsterdam, but made it all up in no time here.

Tomorrow, we go to Leipzig where we will visit the Bodyworlds exhibition and check out the site where Napoleon lost the Battle of 1813.

At Checkpoint Charlie - we did the tourist thing and paid them 2 Euros each for a picture.  We had to do it.

A Beer Bike!  So you get 10 people to sit on the stools, get served beer, and pedal around the square...we thought it was hilarious.

"The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe" - No explanation...just a huge field of concrete blocks of different heights. 

The remaining foundations of the SS and Gestapo building--this was where they brought people to question, torture, and murder.

The longest piece of the Berlin Wall left standing.  This is to protect the foundation that was uncovered (picture above)./

This is Izac from Perth.  Was nice spending the day with someone other than each other ;)



The Death Strip at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.  The barbed wire in the background is electrified.  Where Colin is standing, he would have been shot, and the soldier who shot him first would get a bonus for it. 



Sachsenhausen - "Pathology Building" - where they performed all the autopsies



Sachsenhausen - one of 3 large rooms in the basement where the piles of bodies were thrown



Soviet Memorial at Treptower Park



The area leading up the the 30-meter bronze memorial at Treptower Park



That's Colin climbing the stairs up to the memorial...just to give you an idea of how giant this thing is.



Trees lit up at night on Unter den Linden - downtown Berlin



Lit up Brandenburg Gate



This is Currywurst.  Pretty much just curry ketchup on weiners...some sort of fad here in Berlin.

This was our hostel room at the Grand Hostel Berlin.  It was pretty much like a hotel room.  In fact all the hostels we've stayed at here in Germany have been like hotels...go figure?