2nd Day in Berlin

Our second day in Berlin gave us much better impressions of this city! First we went to the train station to make some reservations for our upcoming train rides. Emily and I already made a reservation for our overnight trip from Vienna to Venice, so we do have a sleeper car! We had a small change of plans… the train ride from Berlin to Prague is not an overnight trip, so we are just going to have an extra night in Prague, which I believe we are all excited about, and considering our last experience with the overnight train…

Then we went to Gendarmen-markt which is a huge square in the older part of the city. There were so many French living in the city at the time these were built, in the 1600’s, that they actually had their own cathedral. On one end of the square there is a French Cathedral and on the other a German Cathedral. In the center of it all is a grand theater. We overheard a tour guide explaining that the cathedrals look much newer than they sound, and that is of course because they were damaged during WWII, so they have been rebuilt/restored to great extents. She also said that Hitler knew he was going to be bombed, so he had the statues taken off the churches, so the statues are original, because they were put back on the cathedrals during the restoration.

We also visited the largest chocolate store in Europe, which was just off the square. It was pretty incredible! Complete with boo-koodles of types of chocolates, different boxed sets, slabs of chocolate and elaborate chocolate sculptures.

Next we headed off to the Brandenburg Gate. It was built in 1791 and is the last surviving gate of the Berlin wall. The gate was unused for nearly 25 years while the wall was sealed, but now it is a grand symbol and remembrance. On top is a sculpture of a four-horse chariot with the Goddess of Peace guiding the horses. Napoleon actually stole this when he conquered the area, but after the Prussians defeated Napoleon, they brought it back to the city.

We walked down Unter den Linden, a famous and beautiful street. It literally means “under the limes.” The street is surrounded on both sides by trees, I believe they were originally lime trees, but are no longer. Along the way we stopped at a little street stand to enjoy some local cuisine! It is hard to describe, so bear with me. A small stand with a huge hunk of meat inside that is turning around, cooking. When we ordered our sandwich, all the man did was the “shave” some of the meat off of it and put it on a sandwich – incredible!

It began to drizzle, but we made it to the German History Museum in perfect time. I am so glad that we went to this museum. It was huge, and perhaps too much information to absorb in just a few hours, but it was very well done and I learned a lot! The coolest thing that I saw there was Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. I don’t know why, but when I studied this in high school, it always amazed me and caught my attention, perhaps to think that Protestants wouldn’t be who they were today without this bold move. It was believed that Martin Luther wrote these 95 statements about things he thought were wrong with the Catholic Church and then nailed them on the door of the local church. His action started the revolution, the movement away from Catholicism. What I read in the museum said that it is now believed that it was not nailed to the church door in the middle of the night, that it was intended for discussion with local monks and priests, but no matter what, at that time, it was a very bold move.

Besides that, I believe that we all learned that Germany has really not ever been stable for any length of time and that it is a country always attacking, or at the center of a war. So many battles and wars! There was, of course, a huge section of the museum dedicated to Hitler and WWII. I remember visiting the Holocaust Museum in Israel, when I was only 12, but I still remember how horrific some of the images were. This was no different, but I believe this time I saw things with a different fear. I feared how one many could take such incredible hold on people and make them do whatever he wanted or whatever he thought was right. How does one man gain such power? He must have been absolutely brilliant! He even had “youth groups” that children and youth were forced to join, which starting cultivating the loyalty to him. He made Jews wear a yellow star whenever they were in public to identify themselves and often set themselves up to be murdered on the street, but if that wasn’t bad enough, the Jews had to purchase their own stars and sew them onto their clothes. I am thankful that that point in the history of the world is over, and that we all recognize it as wrong, but I worry about what is still going on today in other parts in the world.

After exploring this museum for several hours, we walked around the “Museum Island” and saw the Berlin Cathedral in all of its glory. However, it was closed, so we hope to go back another day!

We wandered around for a bit, exploring, getting lost and searching. We ended up in a little pub/restaurant where a Germany soccer game was being shown. The Euro Cup is going on right now, so all of Europe is glued to the TV’s in the evening. It was fun to be a part of the cheering in a local place. Unfortunately, Germany did not win, but we still enjoyed our time there. We especially enjoyed some local cuisine. I ordered “potato soup with wieners.” I have to admit that it was delicious, despite the appetizing name!

We wandered around some more and ended up at a nice restaurant, the oldest supposedly in Berlin. We had a drink and a delicious poppy-seed bread dessert in this restaurant where Napoleon had dined. Amazing!

The thing that stood out most to me on our adventures was the people we encountered. Everyone was so friendly, out of their way friendly. I was very impressed! We really did not encounter many rude Parisians, but this is still a big difference at how out of the way people go to be friendly and helpful.

Now we are off to explore the city again, it is raining now, but we hope it clears up soon so that we can visit one of Europe’s best zoos!