A recent trip at the end of March took me to Berlin Germany. I left early on the 27th of March and was planning on being in Berlin for most of the weekend, returning on late Sunday night.
During my time in Berlin I had a weird feeling. For those of you who are aware of some WWII history you know that it was bombed during the war. Later the city was the first and really only to separate itself apart with a human made wall.
When walking through the sites I got to see monument that welcomed people and some that still showed the affects of the war and separation. The first site I saw was their parliment house. Here housed one of the best places to get a 'bird's eye' view of Berlin. However, I didn't want to wait in line for 3 hrs so I decided to keep walking. The next few sites I got to see included the Berlin Dome Cathedral, TV tower, many churches, Berlin University, German and French Churches and museums on "Museum Island." As I continued to walk around I came to probably one of the best and most "interesting" places in Berlin, "The Berlin Wall."
Now I understand that we all know that the Berlin wall separated many friends and families for many years. We have all seen pictures of the wall, and know how bad it was. The biggest thing that I felt when I finally saw it was a strange eire feeling. Reading about the wall in history books gives you the facts about it, but being there seeing what is written, what it stood for, and all that pain and suffering that it brought to so many, is just a feeling you can only get when you are there seeing it in person.
When mixing the feelings from the wall and the bombings, Berlin made for a very interesting city. Seeing that there is only one place that you could pass between East and West Berlin (Checkpoint Charlie) really makes you appreciate all we have in our great country. Having seen the buildings that still showed signs of a bombing really makes the WWII seem more real. Also one thing that I did not mention is that where the wall stood they left pavers marking it all the way around the city. It would be marked with the name of the city section and years on it, but again it made the events of the Berlin Wall even more real.
Berlin was a great city and I would love to return to see all of its amazing sites. However, on my first visit I was overwhelmed by the feelings created by the markings on the buildings and the remnants of the Wall. These put together leaves you understanding the suffering that went on in Germany for so many years, and makes you really appreciate everything we have at home, no matter how crazy things get.
Overall Berlin was a short and sweet trip, that definitely left an impression upon me and I plan to return someday to take in more than just the wall.
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