Wednesday morning we slept in, we did not have to board the bus until 8:15! After the late night partying last night I think we all needed that extra 15 mins and we did not have to pack our bags because we were returning to the same hotel for a second night. It was also our turn to ride in the front of the bus, every day we rotate seats so that every one gets a turn in the seats with an unobstructed view out the windshield.
When we boarded the bus we were met by Tobi, our local specialist.
Our first stop was the TV tower where we went up 200+ meters for a 360 degree view of Berlin.
Everything looks pretty small from the tower. Brandenburg gate and the Victory Tower can be seen in this picture.
The Berliners love their donuts. Everyone talks about the Berliner, a jam filled donut, but frankly June and I did not find them in bakeries, but we did not stop in any of the donut shops.
After the TV tower we drove to a section where the Berlin Wall still stands now as a museum and reminder of the past. This section of wall is painted with government approved graffiti.
In reality there were two walls, the area in between was called the death strip, seeing it is very sobering.
There are some famous paintings on the wall. This is one of the most famous, the Fraternal Kiss which depicts Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a socialist fraternal kiss, reproducing a photograph taken in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic.
In the Mercedes Plaza across from the graffiti wall was a very interesting piece of art. It reads the same thing from both sides, very creative.
Our next stop was the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, it is a monument to the murdered Jews of Europe. It is very plain, so interpretation is left up to the individual. It consists of 2700 randomly sized blocks of concrete.
We also stopped at the location of Hitler's bunker, there is nothing more there than a plaque. There is no historical marker due to the fear that it would become a place of worship for those that still follow his twisted beliefs.
Our final stop with Tobi was checkpoint Charlie. Tobi was a great guide, it was really interesting to get his perspective since he grew up in East Germany during the cold war.
Checkpoint Charlie today is smack in the middle of a growing city but the guard shack is still there for us tourists.
Nearby there is a wall with many pictures of the era and the confrontation that nearly started WWIII in October of 1961. The Cuban missile crisis followed this, it was a very tense time.
The streets have a row of cobble stones that mark the location of the Berlin Wall, they are everywhere in the city.
After Checkpoint Charlie we returned to the hotel for a short break. When we returned to our bus we met our next Local Specialist, Vivian. She also grew up in East Germany. Having local specialists that grew up in East Germany during the cold war does provide one with a unique perspective. Tobi described it as, we were never hungry, but we did not get things like bananas but once a year and you had no trust in the government because it was just continuous propaganda. Vivian said when going from West Berlin to East Berlin it was like going from a color movie back into an only black and white world. She related this as the description people that came from West Berlin gave her since East Germans were not allowed to travel to the west.
Our first stop was the location of the Wannsee conference where 15 of the top Nazis planned for the 'Final Solution'. It is just unfathomable that educated people would get together and plan the murder of millions. The minutes of the meeting are posted for all to read, they literally discussed how much of a Jewish bloodline was too much, it is just nuts. The location itself is idealistic, beautiful and on a lake.
We walked across the bridge and into Potsdam. From the bridge you could see several palaces. Potsdam was the jewel of Germany and attracted the wealthy who built lavish summer residences.
While in Potsdam we visited the Prussian place of Sanssouci which was Frederick the Great's summer residence. I think this Frederick would also be comfortable there...just saying.
We walked and walked and only covered a very small portion of the grounds. I guess being a King has its perks.
After the palace tour we drove through the forest to a secluded restaurant on a lake, Wirtshaus Moorlake.
We also said our goodbyes to Vivian. We very much enjoyed her sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm about German history. I found it interesting that Vivian described East Germany as lacking color, being in black and white, yet she was dressed all in black. :-)
The restaurant was in a picturesque setting looking out on a lake surrounded by forest.
The meal at Wirtshaus Moorlake was excellent. I had Venison and June had Trout.
After dinner we set back for the hotel arriving a bit after 8PM. June and I wanted to go see the Victory Tower (Chick on a Stick) up close and since it was only a 20 minute walk, we set out for it. Unfortunately, they close the monument at 7PM and even turn off any lights on it. It was still a good walk.
It was a long but fulfilling day, tomorrow we make our way to Dresden.
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