Well, here is the surprise...Both Andy and I decided to fly to Berlin, Germany as we felt that we needed the extra weeks to take advantage of our Western Europe Euro-Rail passes before they expire on June 26, 2007. The reason why we want to do this is that because we have paid 750 CDN dollars and if we use all 10 traveling days, we would exceed our savings by a enormous number making the whole Western Europe traveling a delightful and cost effective experience.
I called my old Hanoian co-worker friend who from Newfoundland (Please insert your newfie joke here) who is teaching elementary music at the International School of Berlin. Kirsty who has been living there since August 2006, was happy to hear from me as it has been a long time. She asked me when I was coming to Berlin and I said: "Tomorrow night". I swore I heard the phone drop through the speaker portion of the phone.
When we arrived, we took a taxi from the International Airport and within 20 minutes we found ourselves in the biggest and most obvious Gay district of Berlin. When Andy and I were walking towards Kirsty's apartment complex, we could feel the pressure that we were being watch or better yet scoped. Oh well, part of the city life here.
We spend the whole week in Berlin as we both know it has many years of history for the WWII battles as part of the Third Reich that Adolf Hitler was part of. Another major aspect of the historical life of Berlin was the famous Berlin Wall that was known as the Iron Curtain.
The first part of the week, we explore the historical landmarks that were related to WWII and where the famous decisions by the Third Reich leadership were made for various major battles between the Axis and Allies, Jewish concentration camps, Air Raid bombing plans and the Air force and of course the U-boat & the Atlantic Navy operations. One big part of the Third Reich tour we did was the exploring of the torture / interrogation building that was the home of the famous SS Police offices. Our Aussie tour guide (Don't ask) was completing his PHD in German history and was an incredible source and knowledgeable about the topic. Click here to view the passionate traveler's photos related to the Third Reich...
The next day, we went back down to the trendy tourist area and investigated the Jewish Holocaust Memorial which was dedicated to millions and millions of people whe perish or affected by the Nazi's destructive regime from the late 1930's up until 1945. I have included some photos of the memorial as the dark black cement colours blocks represent X number of people who were murdered. Click here to view these photos...
The last biggest thing we did in Berlin for Historical purposes was that we explore the history and facts behind the "Iron Curtain". The Berlin Wall was a physical and most clear example of the political and economical seperation between the communist nations centrally controlled by Moscow and the Western nations that was centrally controlled by United States. The horror stories and pictures that both Andy and I saw was a true representation how bad and severe the situation for the people of east Germany who suffered under Stalin's Iron Curtain. Click here to read more about the history behind this well known and documented event. Also here are the passionate traveler's photos of various locations in Berlin showing the famous wall and the remains it has left.
We spent the rest of the time in Berlin eating and drinking beer, and spending time with all my old Hanoian co-workers (Kirsty, Kate and Paula) who used to be elementary school teachers at United Nations International School of Hanoi.
Click here to view the rest of the Berlin Photos...
