Berlin: a city that has overcome so much

Sorry everyone, blogging takes a bit of time and regular computer access. I haven't had a ton of each in recent days. This will be brief, but I'll cover the important things.

Randall, Sarah, and I left Peter's house to make the drive to Berlin, all the way across the country. It took us 8 hours because we hit a ton of traffic. The Autobahn going from west to east was under a lot of construction, however the radio stations we picked up along the way played far better music than those of the south to north. We arrived pretty late and just ate dinner and saw some stuff along the way, the Brandenburg Gate ate night is really cool. We also stumbled upon an "international bar" run by some crazy Irish dude. There are pictures of us standing behind the bar haha.

The following day we took the New Europe walking tour through Berlin, which was free and really great. The tour started in Pariser Platz, named for German victory over the French which is a common theme, in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. The gate is such an impressive structure, very dominant and imperial, one of my favorite parts of Berlin. The tour also took us to the Reichstag, Museum Island, the Berlin Wall(parts of which still stand), the TV tower, and the former Luftwaffe headquarters. The bunker in which Hitler committed suicide is covered up by a parking lot, sort of weird to see. Some of the buildings still had bullet holes from the battle of Berlin at the end of World War II! 90% of the city was destroyed during the war so the fact that nearly 70 years later some of them still stand and display the scars is mind blowing.

Waking up early to get to the Reichstag before the crowds didn't work out so well. When we did get there, it was a long, long wait(about 3 hours). The building is really cool though, as most of the business of government goes on inside its walls. Additionally, the roof gives some of the best views of the city and contains a dome made of mirrors and solar panels. The dome helps to power the building and allow the citizens(and tourists) to see inside and the members of parliament to see the people. Transparency in government is the the theme, one we could learn from. Waiting in line to get in was a ridiculous experience though. Some guy in a 18th century style suit with a top hat brought some kind of pipe organ type thing and sang a horrible song. It was complaining about the government and he really couldn't sing. I got a video of it, which does a much better job than I could to describe it. It was to say the least, hilarious.

After the Reichstag the next stop was about 30 minutes north of Berlin, a town called Oranienburg. Sachsenhausen concentration camp is located right in the town, which says something about the complicit nature if the average person in the horrors committed there. The site was overwhelming, emotional, but also very well done as a memorial to the victims. I won't go into the details, but it was not a fun experience by any means. I'm very happy I got to see it though, as a reminder of the atrocities man is capable of, and to pay my respects to the victims.

Upon our return to Berlin from Oranienburg, we saw the east side gallery. This section of the Berlin Wall was painted by artists starting in 1990. Some of the artwork is really incredible, and all quite different from each other. We had dinner and then began our drive to Prague, a ridiculous story which will be told in the next post.