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Published: August 18th 2013
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Berlin 2
I promised I'd say more about the Berlin wall. Warning...the first 4 photos are from Art's camera and from my perspective didn't load correctly. I can't see the final published version and I'm crossing my fingers that the published version looks k.
If you recall, I have a definite problem with getting maudlin. This is going to be another one of those times. For those of you who don't know, I was extremely lucky to spend my junior year of college abroad studying in Vienna, Austria. The program wasn't an exchange program, but rather a program set up in conjunction with my college to allow students to experience life in a foreign country. As part of this program, the Vienna staff of the "Junior Year Abroad" administration set up several tours of various places in Europe. One of the tours I was on was of Berlin. We couldn't take a bus there as the road to West Berlin passed through Russian occupied Germany and I don't think the powers that be wanted a bus load of teenagers / early twenties to be in communist territory that long. Instead of being bussed in, we were flown into Berlin into
Tempelhoff (I think) airport, and that in itself was an experience. It's one of those airports in a city that makes it difficult to land because of all the buildings. ANYWAY, back on track, one of the highlights of our tour was to cross into East Berlin, passing through Checkpoint Charlie. And here is where I begin to get emotional during this trip. I was a silly "just turned 20" girl then, and really didn't understand the import of what I was doing. I do remember noticing the East German tour guide carefully leading us away from certain areas in a museum. She bragged about the beautiful new residential buildings that I thought were awful...boring, gray, and all the same. I did have a moment of enlightenment when we were taken to a cemetery and shown a memorial to their fallen soldiers. When I saw the statue of the Russian soldier I realized that soldiers are soldiers no matter which side they fight on. They're just young guys who do what they're told. It's the people much higher up that are responsible for the wars. I also remember being very frightened when we were leaving through Checkpoint Charlie and we
were all forced to leave our tour bus. Our passports and visas were checked carefully and anybody who wasn't an American Citizen was given extra trouble. Long flat mirrors on wheels were pushed under the bus to be sure we weren't smuggling anybody out of the Russian sector. Quite an experience.I'm sorry for the reminiscing, but honestly, it lays the groundwork for a couple of things I want to say about my Checkpoint Charlie experience now. Since I am older and (hopefully) wiser, I look back on things and now feel the depth of what they meant, even if I didn't at the time I experienced them. When, last Sunday, I stood on the former Eastern side of Checkpoint Charlie, I was immobilized remembering what I'd experienced, and what the checkpoint and wall really meant for the people of Germany and the people of all the world. I relived the awakening I had to the horror of war and that no side is a winner...all sons and brothers and fathers are killed indescriminately. I felt again the fear of having the guards with machine guns checking our papers, and searching our bus, inside and out, and wondering if we'd be
allowed to leave. I remembered being so flippant about the liviing conditions I found on the East side compared to mine because I was so dumb about what was really going on in the world. I lived my experience of 20 years ago as if I were my age today and it brought me to tears.
There, I got that out, and thank you for putting up with me. I was embarrassed on the tour bus after I'd told our guide, Paul, about how I'd found the buildings so gray and depressing. He was born in East Germany and told a story about his parents or grandparents living in an apartment building in which for heat they had to carry coal up from the basement and an entire floor of apartments shared a single bathroom. His parents/grandparents were overjoyed when they were able to move into a brand new apartment building with central heat and a private bathroom - all the modern conveniences. I'm sure they had been moving into one of those drab gray buildings I'd described as depressing. We always need to know the other side of the story, don't we?
I bet you never counted on that
Soviet Soldier's Memorial
I think this is the memorial that made me think about soldiers on both sides being killed. diatribe, did you? With me, you never know what you're going to get.
We visited the Brandenburg Gate, site of the famous "Tear Down This Wall" speech given by Ronald Reagan in 1987. The picture shows a carriage drawn by 4 horses. It's ironic that when the wall was up, it was directly in front of this gate. If you look at pictures of Reagan giving his speech, all you can see is the back end of the horses!
Well, dear friends, you've put up with me long enough this time. I didn't get much of Berlin discussed today, but I talked a lot about me. I still have to tell you about St. Petersburg and Amsterdam which we visit tomorrow. Then the jig is up, sad to say.
I'll do my best tomorrow.
Carol
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Jamey
non-member comment
Really liking your blog
Just letting you know that your blog has been great, I really enjoyed your reflection of the trip from so long ago, amazing to hear what\'s stuck with you after all these years.