May 28th - Berlin



The Berlin Wall

     So after some confusion on traveling back to Berlin, we all finally made it to Berlin, Germany on the evening of May 27th.  We stayed in ther Mercure Hotel which was a very nice hotel.  We woke up the next morning and headed out for a guided tour of Berlin.  The morning started off a bit interesting to say the least.  Since people in Europe are all about public transportation, we hoped on a bus that was to take us to the first stop of the bus tour, so we thought. There was an accident on the bus involving a stroller and an very small baby.  According to Jon and Chris, apparently the baby was not strapped into the stroller, the stroller was weighted down by all the shopping bags (something we all do) and when the bus moved the baby was shot out of the stroller like a basketball.  Baby screaming, woman beside herself (as any woman would be) After about 5-10 minutes we were all ordered off the bus.  Not sure what happened to the baby, when someone lifted it up, it appearted to be ok on the outside but have no idea how they were on the inside.  I pray and hope that the little one is ok.
  Ok so moving on, we decided to get on another bus and got off and would you know it, the main street was blocked off for an American car show (ugh) So it took us a good hour or two to find the bus and get on the tour.  We finally got on the top of the bus and began to enjoy the sights of Berlin.
  At first I wasn't that impressed. I mean not that Berlin wasn't beautiful in its own right, but it was a big city, similar to Phoenix. We drove thru the parts of town, seeing the sights of different museums and churches, then we hit Checkpoint Charlie.

Check Point Charlie

     Here is a photo of Check Point Charlie.  This was the allied (US) check point for people to pass between Eastern and Western Berlin when the Berlin was erected in 1961. It was the most famous (AKA Checkpoint C) border crossing during the standing of the Berlin Wall.

The sign upon leaving the American Sector

     Once we passed thru checkpoint Charlie, we got off the bus to see the only original standing piece of the Berlin wall.  Once the wall came down in 1989, about 90% of the wall is gone now.  This part was saved and turned into a Memorial to honor those who lived and died because of this wall.   With all that being said, here are some of the great shots, of the city of Berlin.

Marker at the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

World War II Memoral

  In addition to the Berlin Wall Memoral, there was also a time line regarding the rise and fall of Hitler and the Nazi's.  It was so amazing and scary at the same time that one man could rise so quickly and brain wash so many, and kill so many innocent people.

I believe this goes around the city where the wall was

Cathedral and Concert Hall

Parts of the Berlin Wall that were moved and painted by world Artists

Hotel Inn and TV Tower

Jon and I at the start of the boat tour

Connor at the start of the boat tour

Red Town Hall

Humbolt University

Victory Column in the Grosstern Roundabout

Cheesy Mommy!!

After all the craziness of the morning, this trip around Berlin did turn out to be pretty cool. Alot of the buildings I have no idea what they are for the guilded tour was a bit off because of the auto show, but all in all it was a great adventure.