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Published: August 14th 2009
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Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. - Seneca
July 14, 2009, Tuesday, Potsdam to Berlin and back to Potsdam, Germany.
The location of this campground requires some effort and time to get into the city of Berling. From our readings, there simply are not any campgrounds closer. So we bike to the bus/tram station, take the bus to the train station, and take the train to Berlin.
No matter how much reading and map studying we do before we start off in a new city, step out of the train station and it takes a while to get orientated. Before long we are at Brandenburg Gate and history is alive. We are walking over what was the Berlin Wall! This once divided city has made major efforts in the monumental challenge of reunification, however, the work is far from over. During the past decade, Berlin has been a construction zone and many of the buildings that we see, that appear to be ancient, are replicas of what existed before Berlin was destroyed in WWII.
After a stop at the Tourist Info, we joined a walking tour of Berlin. Technically it is a Free Tour, however, the leader depends on the “tips”
to keep the system going. ( I noticed it is very popular with the young crowd.) Stephanie, our leader from New Zealand, is a history student so she has lots of information for us.
From Brandenburg Gate we walked passed the Reichstag Germany’s historic Parliament building topped with a striking dome. Onto the Holocaust Memorial we go. The concrete pillars that keep increasing in size create an eerie feeling. There have been some negative responses about this memorial.
A stop at an outdoor car park lot, seemed strange, however, below this spot was Hitler’s bomb shelter where he committed suicide. Continuing the walk, we viewed remains of “the wall” and a typical communist mural depicting happy Germans. It is positioned next to very real photos of an angry mob protesting the Russian Control in East Berlin.
Tourists and tour buses flock to Checkpoint Charlie, as we did, the famous border checkpoint between American and Soviet sectors. Our walk continued up Fredericksburg Strasse, now a fashionable shopping spot.
Outside Humbolt University is the infamous spot of Hitler’s book burning in 1933. If you look down into a thick glass plate in the sidewalk, you will see
empty bookcases, symbolizing the loss of knowledge.
Onto the French and Germany churches, a famous site in Berlin. We crossed over to a sculpture, a sad modern day, Pieta, a mother holding her young dead soldier son.
The tour continued onto Museum Island and the Museum and the Berliner Dom. WHEW! Four hours of walking.
Time to start home. Our campground has a very nice Restaurant/Biergarten, that will be dinner this evening.
July 15, 2009, Wednesday, Potsdam to Berlin back to Potsdam CG.
For our transportation and also for some discounts to museums, we got the “Berlin Welcome Card”. It allows us to use public transportation anywhere in Potsdam to Berlin, including buses, trams, and trains in zones A,B,and C. We chose the one for two days.
We did one last visit into Berlin. We wanted to climb up to the top of the Berliner Dome. It provided quite a panoramic view of Berlin.
The local tram took us to Alexanderplatz. There is an outdoor display of the history of the Berlin Wall, with photos accounting the events, documents, and short videos. It covers the before, during and after stages of “the
Wall”. This is the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall.
On our way “home” the conductor made a long announcement in German?? Seems there is track-work being done, we need to get off the train and get a bus… then get back on another train to Potsdam… then get the bus, to our bikes… to go “home!!”
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