Leaky Charm: Birthday in Berlin! 2018

Birthday in Berlin! 2018

This year I asked Spencer if we could keep trying to get to some of these amazing places I am so excited and hopeful to see. Berlin was at the top of my list! So away we went. THEN to top it ALL off, we invited Buck and Claire McKeon to come with us and they said yes! It was a really fast, fun, fabulous trip! Berlin is an amazing city, dripping with history, memorials, diversity, phenomenal food and the wonderful German vibe I adore.

First stop...the Berlin Wall

The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world,

painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to separate West Berlin and East Berlin during the Cold War. All the differences between the countries made it a perfect place for people to express their opinions, especially on their preferences and dislikes. In the 1980s, the wall was reconstructed and made 14 feet tall. Graffitiing on the wall became popular for artists from all over the world and a place where tourists would go and admire the artwork. The West Berlin side of the wall had artwork completely covering the wall, while the East Berlin side was kept blank because people were not permitted to get close enough to the eastside of the wall to paint anything.

The Oberbaum Bridge is a double-deck bridge crossing Berlin's River Spree, considered one of the city's landmarks. It links Friedrichshain and Kreuzber.

Buck and Claire have become some of our dearest friends. Their entire family has been a complete inspiration to us. We just love them and this was such a fun weekend together.

Iron gates with love locks at the East Side Gallery is an international symbol for freedom.

Berlin's most beautiful square...Gendarmenmarkt

BIKE TOUR!

Fat Tire Bike Tour Berlin

Yep! This was the name of my bike! (I just dropped the mic :))

Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall)

Bebelplabtz

The plaque in Bebelplabtz where the Nazi's burned over 20K book.

Tragic event just outside the city's University, Opera House and Cathedral.

On this plaque it reads: a line of Heinrich Heine from his play, Almansor (1821) "Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." (in English: "That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people"). (100 years prior to the horror that took place the next century). Students at Humboldt University hold a book sale in the square every year to mark the anniversary.

You can still see the bullet holes on the top portion of this building from WWII.

This was our seating arrangement every time we entered an Uber!

Looking into East Berlin and Checkpoint Charlie

Brandenburg Gate

The former city gate

And the outside this monument, US President Ronald Reagan said, "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

The people of Berlin loved Ronald Reagan.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe

There are two thousand, seven hundred and eleven gray concrete slabs - (a prime number.)

No two markers are the same.

The Victory Column is a monument, designed by Heinrich Strack, after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War,

I believe this was the Moltke Bridge, It was stunning.

GDR Watch Tower for an East Berlin Soldier to keep watch at. Over 200 of these were built around the city to keep people form crossing over the Berlin Wall. Such a stark reality.

This is so sad...this is the dead zone behind the Berlin Wall on the east side.

Many people lost their lives here trying to escape.

The stunning Reichstag Government Building

This is where the Nazi's set fire to this building which started a cascade of unfortunate events that lead the democratic government leaders out and the communist or Nazi party members in.

I loved this bike tour SO much. In four hours, we learned and saw more, and understood more than all the books articles and movies I've ever seen. It all came together on how the tragic events of WWII took place. It was one of the best tours I have ever been on.

The Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag is a memorial in Berlin, Germany. The memorial is located in front of the Reichstag building, and commemorates the 96 members of the parliament who died "unnaturally" between 1933 and 1945.

Rausch Schokoladenhaus