Berlin - Days 7 &8

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More gray and cold. Ugh. Though the weather hasn’t been great we have been fortunate that our time in Belgium has prepared us for this sort of climate. And of course it just brings me back to my time here in 1995; it has felt like October for the past two days. Jonathan was voting for a trip to Pfaueninsel (peacock island) despite the weather. I think I overruled him however and it was a good thing. It was a cold and windy day and once again everyone had multiple layers of t-shirts to try and stay warm. We decided to go to the puppet museum which sounded really cool with the exhibits and shows. It took three train transfers to get there (though it was just more time out of the cold and it was making good use of our 7 day transportation pass). And once we arrived we found the sign that said they were on summer 'pause' until the second week of August. The kids took in stride and we decided that since we were so close to the East Side Gallery we would take them there.

This trip, as with most of them I suppose, has really served as a history lesson for the kids. We have talked about World War II and the Cold War in about as much depth as an almost six year old and four year old can handle. A lot of our conversation about the Cold War has revolved around ‘the wall’. The East Side Gallery is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall. Standing next to the Spree River, the 1300 meter section is an open air gallery originally created by international artists in 1990. It was partially restored in 2000 but much of it has been vandalized by graffiti artists. This was inconsequential to the girls who liked all of the graffiti and artwork equally and were very concerned about how people were stuck behind the wall. I remember being struck by how thin the wall was and yet it was still able to stop thousands from leaving. At the gift shop the girls were able to get their Germany country patches for their backpacks. We ate our sandwiches on a stretch of the wall over looking the river and then headed to the Ostbahnhof train station at the opposite end of the gallery. We took lots of funny pictures along the way, though camera boy had opted to leave his photo equipment behind for the day and had to cope with the pocket camera for documentation purposes.

We took the train to Alexanderplatz, the former hub of the East, and a stones throw from where I used to live! The girls really wanted to ride a double-decker bus so we decided to take the 100 which goes from Alexanderplatz across the center of the city, past many of the major sights and ends at Zoologischer Garten. We passed by Humboldt University where I attended classes and ended up getting off at Unter den Linden in front of the Brandenburg Gate. I hate to admit it but I really wanted a Starbucks coffee. We had coffee and the kids had a cookie while we rested. We also stopped at the Peugeot Museum (free) which is at the bus stop. There were all sorts of cool race cars and they had free postcards that you could fill out and they would post them for you, so we sent a few to some boys we know who like fast cars. We got back on the bus and rode past the Reichstag, Bellevue Palace and the Victory Column (Siegessaule) and decided to hop off and climb to the top, even though we really should have headed home for Eliza to nap.

The kids really dig climbing up towers so we went up the 288 steps to a great view of the city. The Siegessaule commemorates the successful 19th century Prussian military campaign over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1871). It used to be positioned in front of the Reichstag but the Nazis moved it to its current location in 1938 and added a base so that it now stands 67 meters high. After that trek everyone was waning and it was 4:30 so we caught the 100 bus again and took it to Zoo-Garten where we caught the U9 to the S1 home. Eliza, of course, fell asleep as we were making our last train connection. We have lots of leftovers and groceries to finish up on our last night in Berlin. It has been a wonderful and relaxing week.

August 1, 2007

Our last day in Berlin and the first day of August. We got up and got to work cleaning the apartment, washing sheets and towels, disposing of trash and recyclables and finishing perishable foods. We did a good job at each task and were able to be packed up by 11am. Our subway passes had run out the day before. It turned out to be an even better deal that we thought because of the amount of trips we made and because we didn’t realize that the price of the daily pass had gone up so much. The public transportation in Berlin is on the honor system, but we did get asked once by the undercover agents to produce our passes, which makes you glad you bought them. We bought four one way tickets for our travels today, each good for 120 minutes. We brought our luggage with us to Friedrichstrasse and put it in a locker. I carried the laptop around in a backpack and Jonathan had other valuables, namely his camera and our passports. We had coffee and then headed to Prenzlauerberg.

I used to live in this part of the city but we didn’t go near my old haunts. I brought Jonathan up here to see the Jewish cemetery. It is an impressive place no matter where in the world it is located but more so because it survived here in Berlin during the second world war. It was created in 1827 and the last burial took place in 1976, though the majority are pre world war one. Bombs and Nazis did cause some damage but not enough so that it couldn’t be restored. Abigail was particularly struck by the names on the gravestones, especially when she found ones that bore the names of her sisters and best friend, Sophie. Jonathan wanted to go around the corner to see the Synagogue and so I took the girls to the playground at Kollwitzplatz. The Synagogue was very nondescript and not open so we got back on the train and went to Friedrichstrasse for our farewell meal. What else but a doner kebab. Yum.

We grabbed our luggage and took a long train ride to the Schonefeld airport. All was uneventful and we caught our flight home to Belgium at 5:15. It is so easy to get from the airport to Leuven and we were home by 8pm with the kids in bed a little after 9pm. Everyone had a great time. It was such an easy trip for us for so many reasons but definitely the enthusiasm of the kids played a big part. They are great little travelers and enjoy so many little delights that it is a joy to be with them. Of course it didn’t hurt that since we had a free place to stay we indulged all of ourselves a little bit extra, but it was worth it!

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Photos

The Berlin Wall 1
(Emma's photo) My hand being bitten off!

The Berlin Wall 3
Abigail peeking through the crack in the wall.

Siegessaule
The Victory Column.

Siegessaule 2
We climbed to the top and could look up the angel's skirt.

Comments

[Lindsay Drake]

Hey
Sounds like you are all having so much fun and are learning quite a lot. Eliza is getting so big. She is already learning how to use the potty!! Emma looks like she is already losing her teeth too. CRAZY. They are so grown up. They must have so much to talk about with everything that they have seen. Maybe I will come and visit later this year, I will have to put in my request chit to take time off. I have to experience what you are all talking about and what your pictures are showing. I hope all is well and the weather is brighter for you. Tell the girls I said hi.

[June]

Vunderbah!
I'm loving your travel blogs and pictures. You get an out of sight mark for all the interesting happenings with the girls and how you travel. What a great planner you are dear Kara. Who knew the girls would be such troopers? Looking forward to more of your family experiences.