Berlin Sights

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Our first Berlin experience, as with most visitors, was in the main Berlin train station, or Haufbahnhof (Berlin HBF). This is a place where you could spend hours shopping, eating, and people watching. It is basically a 5 story mall with high speed ICE trains, S-Bahn (commuter trains), and U-Bahn (subways) coming in at every level all from over the country. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, but we did stay long enough to get lost, which isn’t a bad thing. My advice is to pay close attention to directional signs to make sure you end up on the right level for your connection. It may be obvious that the subway is at the lower level, but sometimes the S-Bahn commuter trains come in at different levels above ground along with the long distance ICE trains.

Two S-Bahn connections later dropped us off within a block of our hotel, the Park Plaza Berg Berlin. This location was kind of in the ‘burbs, but within seconds of the ring S-Bahn and many street trolleys, which made it a very good location to start off in the morning. Alex especially enjoyed watching the bright yellow trolleys roll by from our room. The hotel had a special welcome packet for each kid with a yo-yo, coloring book, and other trinkets, which made them feel special. Another advantage of this property was that they had 1- and 2-bedroom suites, which is uncommon for Europe. We had a 1-BR suite, which was adequate for 3 kids, but one had to sleep on the floor. We actually received a complaint from the staff for not alerting them of the ‘extra’ kid (the room was booked for 4 people) due to a requirement that they have a record of people in each room for the fire code.

The next morning, we walked to the deli/bakery around the corner and picked a selection of croissants and pastries for breakfast. The kids really enjoyed picking their own treat from the large assortment. This ended up being a regular ritual for me every morning while the kids were getting bathed and dressed for the day. It was a cold morning (it was still Winter in Germany, after all), and so we hurried onto a trolley headed toward the Brandenberg Gate, our first tourist stop of the day. As usual, we prepped the kids with history of some of the major sights, and so they knew about how the horses had been carted all over Europe in various feuds. I am proud to say that Brecklyn can now identify the Brandenberg Gate.

The next planned stop was at the Reichstag, or the German capitol building. Jessica reserved tickets and a time online to walk to the top of the building, which features a picturesque glass dome. Unfortunately, we were turned away due to construction this time. While waiting in line, Grace counted the 96 slates placed as a memorial to the members of Parliament in opposition to Hilter whom were killed. There were endless 'teaching mements' such as this which allowed us to explain a little bit of history which is normally pretty graphic. We stopped by a few times again and finally were able to get in the Reichstag late in the afternoon. The tour was basically an elevator ride to the top of the building where you could see a great 360 degree view of Berlin. Watching the giant cranes perched throughout one half of the city, we explained to the kids that East Berlin was still being rebuilt after years of stagnation. By this time the kids were pretty tired, so we got some pictures, and headed back to the ground.

Of course, you can't go to Berlin without trying to find 'The Wall', which turns out to be pretty much destroyed with the exception of a few historic sights. Our first experience was walking around the Reichstag, where we found the 7 White Crosses on the River Spree, a memorial for those who died at the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. You can actually follow a brick trail shadow of the wall throughout the city, but we chose to focus on some key spots to keep the kids interested and energized. There was another memorial which preserved a section of the wall along with several mock-ups of the protective neutral zone between East and West Berlin. This was great to show the kids (and ourselves) how it wasn't just a wall, but an entire armed security force, that kept the two sides divided. On another site near Checkpoint Charlie, there were pictures, maps, and inscriptions describing the political history of the wall. This went a little beyond the interest of a 6 year old, so we didn't stick around to see the museum.

Another somewhat out of the way sight is the Olympic Stadium, sight of the 1936 Olympics, which were held while the country was under Nazi power. The stadium is reachable via Bahn train - 30-40 minutes from the center of Berlin. Here, we saw the 100,000 seat stadium, fields, and swimming facilities along with some of the historic statues and plaques celebrating the German Olympic team, old and...not as old. While we weren't able to access the fields, the concourse areas surrounding the stadium were a great place for the kids to race each other, Olympic style (and burn off some energy!)

Berlin isn't all about history, though. The city has been in a phase of modernization and, in some cases, rejection of it's own history. One of the more fun activities for the kids was to find the Buddy Bears. Buddy Bears were first created in 2001 as an art exhibition--life-sized bear statues were chosen as an artistic medium because of their cultural significance in Berlin as a symbol of acceptance and peace. Now, there are over 100 bears scattered throughout the city at tourist spots, restaurants, in subway stations, and basically anywhere you wouldn't expect to find a 7 foot painted statue. The girls made a game of getting their picture in front of (almost) every bear we saw, and it was fun for us to get up close with each bear.

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