Of course it wouldn't be travels without some mishaps – after some play in the park at a reststop, Zoe decided to wrestle a thornbush and unfortunately came out on the losing end. A few bandaids and multiple countings of the holes and scrapes on her arms and legs and she was back at it and ready to go.
We arrived late Saturday night and checked in at the Holiday Inn in East Berlin. It's an older hotel and the rooms are dispersed in random order throughout the floor of the hotel, which is then divided by doors, staircases etc... the lifts would take you to a certain floor, but then you have to go up 3 stairs, go through doors etc...it was a bit of a maze, but a fun challenge nonetheless. Our room has two double beds basically pushed together and a full bathroom. We're happy to have such a place, as many of the hotels insist that only 2 people per room and children would have a separate room and not necessarily beside us.
Sunday August 1st
Today we spent the whole day and evening touring through Berlin. We started in the Eastern part of the city at Alexanderplatz and walked along Unter der Linden and were amazed at the incredible buildings built during the 17th and 18th century which made Prussia a political and economical centre of Europe.
When we reached the Bradenburg Tor/Gate we all had chills as we had our papers stamped with all of the appropriate stamps from the 4 Allied countries who controlled Berlin following the war. It's all for tourist fun, but to think that in order to cross the wall you needed to have a visa and be checked by armed guards...it really was something. Oliver was here 20 years ago in 1989 when the wall first came down and we were amazed to see the growth and change to the city. A wall memorial runs throughout the city and where it was destroyed are some of the most modern and beautiful buildings at Potsdam Platz.
The girls were trying to understand it all, but how can one explain a city that has memorials from World Wars I and II, the Holocaust, the Berlin wall, and Soviet occupation? We told them to take a European history course as it was just too complicated to explain.
We also visited Checkpoint Charlie and a memorial church tower that was bombed in WWII, but a modern church was built around it to make sure people never forget the devastation of war.
Overall, Berlin is an incredible city of history and culture and one could spend weeks exploring. Out of all the cities we've visited, it's also the most modern and cutting edge in terms of fashion, architecture, and culture in general.
M – the wall and all the graffiti on it
Z- Bicycles that could fit 7 people on it – go on the road too
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