Mon. July 25: Discovering Berlin,Germany

A 5:13 AM sunrise welcomed us to the port of Warnemunde, Germany on the Baltic Sea. Founded as a fishing village at the mouth of the Warnow River. It's sandy Batic beaches are a summer lure for Germans and Northern Europeans. Today was an unusual stop. Instead of exploring an area where we docked, we were escorted to a private train where we journeyed for three hours through the German countryside to Berlin, the energetic, historically rich capital of Germany, torn apart into East and West Germany during the Cold War era.

A bus took us on a panoramic tour through Berlin, once divided by the Berlin wall. The wall was constructed in 1961 to separate West and East Berlin. The wall came down in 1989 and the two Germanies were reunited. We saw a section of the wall where holes were punched in it and people took pieces of the wall as mementos of when the wall came down. Most of the wall is gone but some remnants still remain for their historical significance.

Immediately after the wall came down, artists from all over the world gathered to make their mark on the monstrous east side of the wall which was untouched by graffiti (unlike the western side).  Today the street art stands as a symbol of unity and freedom from repression.

Our guide pointed out one of the most famous paintings called "The Fraternal Kiss". It shows Leonid Brezhnev (leader of the Soviet Union for most of the wall's existence) kissing the East German Erich Honecker in 1979. It is based on the actual photo of the 2 Soviet leaders kissing at a meeting. It is intended to show the disgust the artist had for the Soviet manipulation of the East German satellite.

We visited the Brandenburg Gate, a famous landmark as well as symbol in Germany, with over 200 years of history. To get a sense of how massive the columns are, look for David with his arms outstretched!

We saw several other sights in this vibrant city including the glorious Reichstag crowned with a galss cupola intended to symbolize the government's commitment to transparency.

We walked around Berlin on our own and found Checkpoint Charlie. This was the crossing point between West and East Berlin and is historically maintained on the street at the same spot. Checkpoint CHarlie (there was also Checkpoint Alpha and Checkpoint Bravo) was the gateway where East Germany allowed allowed Allied diplomats, military personnel, and foreign tourists to pass into Germany's Soviet sector. It was just a tiny prefab shack and sandbags with a few military guards that monitored the traffic and provided information to those going into East Berlin. After passing through the checkpoint and the no man's land, the East German checkpoint had towers, armed guards, and frequently searched vehicles for fugitives as no one from the East side was allowed to leave.

 We read the street exhibits which told about the wall and the brave East Germans who tried to escape including 18 year old Peter Fechter who was shot after climbing over the wall (his friend made it) and left to bleed to death in the "no man's land"- a strip between the East German checkpoint and the Wall which provided a clear firing zone for anyone escaping East Germany for political asylum. A few made it over to the west but most who tried were killed.  US military men were prohibited from helping any East German escapee; so tragically, Peter was left in pain to bleed to death for 45 minutes while horrified West Germans looked on helplessly. A section of the wall was on display along with panels along the street telling the history of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie.  Later we saw sections of the rebar still sticking out after the concrete was removed in another wall memorial.

 We found the Berlin food trucks and  some great sandwiches and took a break for lunch. Some of us tried the Berlin local street food specialty- Currywurst. You could get East Currywurst or West Currywurst- two different types of wurst, grilled, cut up, slathered with a BBQ type sauce then sprinkled with curry powder.

We wandered around some more and found an amazing chocolate store with chocolate recreations of iconic landmarks and objects in Germany, including the Brandenburg Gate, Titanic, and an airplane.

We left Berlin, entertained by an organ grinder on our way to the train, and headed back to port on another 3 hour train ride. We were served a snack that consisted of a German pretzel stuffed with butter. The pretzel part was good but we decided we could do without the butter stuffing!

The sun set at 9:22 as we headed to Copenhagen, Denmark.