We spent 4 days in Berlin. Our Airbnb was a comfortable 3 bedroom apartment, waterfront to the Landwehr canal. It’s a diverse city, with history that goes back much further than what jumps into my mind when I think of Berlin. For some reason, it reminded me of San Francisco. Much of the city was destroyed in WW2 & has since been rebuilt. I found myself drawn to the museums & sights related to the last 80 years. I remember feeling the same way during our trip through Cambodia a few years ago. The food was fine, but nobody here will remember Berlin for it’s delicious variety of schnitzel. I was one sweaty, glowing white Alaskan. It was much warmer than I expected.
Alex and I visited the Topography of Terror. This is a museum located at the sight of buildings that housed Gestapo/SS headquarters from 1933-to when they were destroyed by bombs in 1954. A section of the Berlin Wall is part of the museum.
Alex standing in front of “the Wall”.
Alex at Checkpoint Charlie- A name given by the Western Allies to the best known Berlin Wall crossing point between East & West Berlin during the Cold War.
The Gendarmenmarkt, a square in Berlin Built in the late 17th century. Mostly destroyed during the war & rebuilt afterward. Beautiful buildings.
Neue Wache- Alex and I stumbled upon this war remembrance memorial on our Memorial Day. The sculpture is of a mother embracing her dead son. It serves as the “Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship”.
The boys during our visit to the DDR Museum. This is an interactive museum that depicts life in the former East Germany (known in Germany as the Deutsche Demokratische Republik).
Hanging out with some naked ladies…Sawyer not to sure why.
More boobs, and more unsure Sawyer.
Pastries are a breakfast staple here.
We rented bikes for a day, that’s Zach with a big ass church in the background. (more respectfully, the Evangelical Supreme Parish).
Photo op with Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
More of our day on the bikes.
Bribe your kids with ice cream, it works.
We rode for quite a while at an abandon airport, in the city center, called Tempelhof Airport. Hitler ordered the construction during the 1930’s (think?). Now it’s a huge park that locals use to hike, bike & have picnics on.
More biking!
Brandenburg Gate – a well known monument in Berlin & Europe. Zach, Kelly & Sawyer bottom right.
Stopping for a rest under Brandenburg Gate, it was a long hot day.
@ the East Side Gallery, a long section of the Berlin Wall covered by painted murals.
Zach is known for his responses to my orders with a thumbs up. At the East Side Gallery.
Yay Berlin!
…the Wall at the East Side Galery.
Public transportation in Berlin.
We’re currently on our way to Paris, after 4 days in a little German town called Bad Wimpfin. Lots of cool photos to post on our stop there, coming soon.
I googled Tempelhof airport and see part of it (or was until recently) used as a refugee camp for Syrians. Did you see any of that on your bike tour of the place?
https://www.google.com/search?q=tempelhof+refugee+camp+2018&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8r_vRtrXbAhWIylkKHYQKCgIQsAQITg&biw=1023&bih=539
POP
It still is Pop. The camp is made up of dozens of 20′ containers built as minihomes. We rode our bikes by it and didn’t realize what it was until I stopped & used Google Translate on a sign that was posted on a fence/barrier. I will text you some photos.
All of the pictures are good, but the picture of Zach with the involuntary thumbs up painting is great!
Looks like a great trip!! Enjoy your posts immensely!! What an experience for the boys! Enjoy!
Hey Walton! Glad you enjoy them. I’ve thought about you guys a couple times. There is a huge cycling culture over here. Bike paths & lanes everywhere, in the cities and on the countryside. I’d live to come over here and tour sometime.