Berlin

So, the guests are all gone . . . what to do now? Not being one to let the grass grow under our feet, we took off for a long weekend in Berlin! We had heard so much about Berlin we were really excited to go. Plus, Sarah had been there only a couple years after the wall fell, so she was really interested to see how Berlin had changed since then.

On our first day, we ventured to the Reichstag the parliament building of the German capital. Once the wall fell and Berlin was once again the capital of Germany, the country added this amazing glass dome to the top of their classic government building. Travel tip with kids: if you want to visit here, bring your stroller. The line to visit was over 1 hour long, but having a kinderwagen allows you to take the disabled entrance and put us right to the front of the line. Thanks Will!

Here Sarah is feeding Will in yet another crazy location. The really cool part about this glass dome is the symbolism of it. Through the center, the people are able to look down on the parliament as they are making the laws. Conversely, the parliament knows they are always being watched and "looked down on" by the people. After WWII, the German's realized that transparency in government is important to not repeat history.

One really cool thing we felt in Berlin that was quite different from our experience in Munich is the focus on WWII events and tragedies. Sarah and I both feel like anything about Nazi Germany and the terror of this period of history is recognized in Munich, but not discussed. However, Berlin is interesting in that many of the city's monuments, from the Reichstag, to the Topography of Terror, to this moment above really recognizes the problems and issues within Germany during the WWII. Above is a good example. This entire city block of "tombstone" like block in the, "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe." As you can see, even the name signifies how directly the people of Berlin have recognized the atrocities and wish to never repeat them.

At the famous Brandenburg gate. Zabel family, I challenge you to come to this gate!

Sarah in Pariserplatz outside the famous hotel Adlon Kempinski. She wanted to dangle Will from the window like Michael Jackson did here years ago, but instead, she took the high road of better parenting and took him inside to change his diaper.

The next day we took off on our iPhone tour. We have enjoyed being able to tour the city at our own pace while still learning something by downloading audio tours on our iPhones. Here we are outside one of that largest remaining sections of the Berlin wall. The Topography of Terror exhibit at this section stands at the site of the old Gestapo SS headquarters and is really worth a look.

Of course, a trip to Berlin wouldn't be complete without a trip to Checkpoint Charlie. Today, Checkpoint Charlie is really like Checkpoint Capitalism. Who would have guessed a McDonalds lies right in the old death strip!

Taking a break from the cold and to allow Will some exercise, he practiced climbing the steps at the Westin Berlin. Watch out Nana Bubbles, your stairs are next!

The happy tourists outside the Berlin Cathedral.


Although we really did enjoy seeing the sights and tourist attractions of Berlin, I was feeling slightly dissapointed because so many of my friends had told me how unique, raw and hip Berlin is as a city. It has great art, cool shops and boutiques, neat restaurants, crazy architecture, etc. Until Sunday afternoon, we'd mainly seen another big city with the classic chain shops and western-like capitalistic feel. Then came the best audio tour of our trip and worth a download if you are going to Berlin. The BBC Berlin audio tour called "The Real Berlin," was exactly as advertised and my favorite part of the trip. It took us to some really hip neighborhoods in the former East Berlin. Above you can see one such neighborhood where a condemned building is right adjacent to a nicer apartment building and hip dance studio.

Above is another condemned building. We must be in the wrong part of town right?! After all, what kind of tour takes you to see sketchy neighborhoods? What was so crazy is literally just across the street and through a small driveway entrance of another condemned building, you find something like this below.

The KW or Kunst Werke is one of Berlin's most famous contemporary art schools and museums. Literally just behind old buildings you find this amazing, cool, arty place complete with a full glass cube cafe. Even if we were walking down this street, never would I think to look back here. Other cool places were a park with cool cafes and shops inside another run down set of buildings. Crazy cool!

After a great long weekend, it was back on the train home. Thanks for a fun time Berlin and we can't wait to go back. Finally, another tip for traveling parents. If you ride the ICE trains in Germany, they have a kleinkindercar. This car is especially made for small children. You can shut the doors and let them play about and some cabins even have small toys (like a rocking horse to ride). We can't wait for our next adventure!