My 4 Months in Dublin: Trip To Berlin!

Well I just did my first international trip to Berlin over the weekend and it was a huge success. I got to see so much in just two days but I still wish that I could have seen more and stayed longer. My friend Stephanie and I flew in on Thursday morning. The flight over there was pretty quick only a little less then two hours. When we got there the first thing that we had to do was look for the train into the city center which was a little complicated since we do not speak German. Sara had given me some great phrase tips, so thank you Sara for those. Even though a lot of people speak English there is still a huge language barrier.

When we got into the city center the first thing that we did was grab lunch at a really authentic German place, Burger King. Then we walked around a lot and tried to get our bearings in Berlin. The map we bought at the airport was completely falling apart at the end of the trip. One of the things that we saw was this memorial to the murdered Jews, it was really sad to see, the memorial had all of these stories about people who were killed in the Holocaust. It was so sad to see.

On Friday we went on this awesome free walking tour of Berlin. Once of the first things that the tour guide pointed was the hotel that Micheal Jackson dangled his baby out of, it was right by Brandenburg gate, I found the gate so gorgeous. One thing that really impressed with is the large amount of changes that the city has been through in just my lifetime. Stephanie and I stayed at a hostel in East Berlin which is amazing because 20 years ago an American would not be able to stay there. It is almost like my children or grandchildren going to visit North Korea sometime. This article from the times for the 20th anniversary shows the changes that Berlin went through in the past 20 years.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/09/world/europe/20091109-berlinwallthennow.html It makes me really interested to learn more about the reconstruction period.

Some other cool sights that I got to see was the sight above Hitler's bunker which is now a parking lot. The bunker is still underneath but it is not open to the public in fear that it would attract the wrong people. I also got to see what remains of the Berlin wall which was really exciting to see something so historical in person. I didn't see the East Side Gallery which is the largest remaining portion of the Berlin wall. I saw the former site of Check Point Charlie, everything original from it has been torn down but they have now built a complete replica at the sight. The area around it almost has a times sq affect.

After the tour we wanted to go to see the East Side Gallery but we were so cold that we needed to go inside, luckily we were right by the German History Museum and we went in and got to see this exhibit on Hitler that is only open till the end of February. It was pretty chilling some of the things that I saw, such as this telegram to order to order all these pieces for the gas chamber in the concentration camp which totally gave me chills. What also gave me chills were the things that showed the propaganda especially the ones aimed towards kids. There was this one that showed a video of Hitler meeting and greeting younger children and they seemed so ecstatic to see him, they seemed just so brainwashed and it's so weird to think that these children may still be alive. I also saw these dolls and toys aimed at children to spread Antisemitism.

Overall I feel like the biggest thing that I took away from this trip was all of the History that Germany has. The country definitely does not try to hide their history which I can respect. Though it is just amazing how much the country has changed in such a short amount of time.