Fall of the Wall

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down.  There are only a few sections of the wall still intact- part of it is actually fenced off to keep visitors and tourists from tearing it down.  The city wants to keep it up as a reminder of the division that once held this now vibrant city.  There are also double rowed cobblestones throughout Berlin that show the exact location for the remainder of the wall.  

Part of the Wall near Potsdamer Platz

Near Checkpoint Charlie

Cobblestone line of the wall

The wall basically went up overnight in 1961.  Sad to think they needed a wall to keep people in instead of keeping people out.  It was originally barbed wire and then overtime became what you see here.  There was an area on the left border of the wall known as the Death Strip - the wall wasn't actually impossible to climb over, but it was after you made it over where the difficulty came in.  There were watch towers every 150 meters which were given direct orders to shoot anyone in this section.  I can only imagine how terrible life was on the East side as so many people attempted to make it to the West side.  Some actually made it over the wall (or barbed wire) and others used clever antics to confuse or outwit guards at Checkpoint Charlie.

Berlin

The first day in Berlin, Ben and I were exhausted.  The overnight train from Lindau didn't seem as relaxing as I thought it would be.  We both felt a bit of motion sickness the next day, almost like we had been on a boat all day instead of a train.  We took it easy - just checked in and walked in the nearby vicinity without checking out any major sites.  

The second day in Berlin, we took a bus tour around the city.  The tour didn't allow us to get out and take pictures, but it provided us with a great background of the city and some of the historical sites we wanted to check out on foot later.  The tour guide explained because we couldn't take pictures she would provide us with a CD full of the sites we passed....well she was FULL of it - there seem to be no pictures on the CD I received.

Luckily, Ben and I toured the city on foot the next day and on my last day I took a bike tour.  I have found that I like Berlin much more than Munich.  It might be because so much of the history of the city is so recent.  It actually boggles my mind to think that only 20 years ago, this city was such a different place.

Including all pictures in the next post.

Technik Museum

Visited my 3rd technology museum as part of my grant...pretty sure anything in comparison to the Deutsches Museum in Munich is going to suffer.  The Technik here in Berlin is impressive, but doesn't have nearly as much to see.  There were plenty of interactive exhibits which provided the youngsters entertainment and gave me some great ideas for project ideas with my own kids at school.

Touch Screen allowing you to scroll through all of the items in the room 

and get a deeper understanding of how they work and what they are used for.

Computer Games / Programming Room - the kids were ALL over this!

Go Speed Racer!

On our last day at the lake, we decided to rent an Elektroboot. We expected the boat to take us to speeds of around 20 mph, sadly it only went a whopping 3 mph.  It was still worth it, and it was a great way to see the lake.

Just a small vacation home!

CoCo loungin' it up on the boat ride

Ben taking over at the wheel

Mainau, the Flower Island

Mainau is an island on Lake Konstanz.  We took a ferry over to the island, which took almost 3 hours.  It was very nice....not like the ferry from Galveston to Bolivar.

Three Amigos! on the ferry ride to the island

Just a glimpse of what the island is all about

Sitting Lakeside

We took a little detour, by way of recommendation from a friend who used to live in Germany.  Lake Konstanz is located on the borders of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  It was GORGEOUS!!  We stayed in a quaint little town called Lindau.  There was a little promenade with restaurants all facing the water.  The harbor area was perfect.  I became a bit obsessed with a lighthouse in the harbor - I have never found lighthouses pretty, but for some reason this one was, so I had to take like 50 pictures of it in every type of light!  There were tons of little towns all around the lake just like this, which you could reach by ferry or train.   I think the town we chose to stay in was the best....just seemed much more quaint than the others.

View of Lindau from the ferry

My beloved lighthouse

Part of the harbor....isn't the water beautiful?!

View at night from our fave restaurant

Harbor from atop the lighthouse

Fave new restaurant - Mar Mor Saal

Finally got to eat different food - chicken tacos and chicken fajitas!  

They certainly weren't TexMex, but they hit the spot.  

We ate there once all 3 days we were there.  Plus they had free wifi.

We loved the area so much we extended our stay a night in order to relax for an extra day.  I forget how much traveling and sight seeing can wear you out.  

Dachau = Draining

I remember being in school and learning about the Holocaust.  It was hard to grasp the idea of how something so terrible could really happen.  Visiting Dachau was an unforgettable experience.  It evoked so many different feelings and questions.  Trying to imagine what life was like for prisoners of the camp can't even compare to what you see and feel once you are there.  Although, I did feel a sense of pride knowing that the American troops set the camp free.

We watched a documentary when we first arrived. Some of the images in the documentary were so graphic, it made me sick. There was a museum on the property that housed a detailed timeline of events, with supplemental newspaper clippings and short videos.  This building with the museum was the first place all of the prisoners visited upon arrival at the camp.  This is where they went through the degrading registration process you have probably seen in films or movies.  It was sad to think that in this very place all of the prisoners basically lost their freedom and for so many their lives. 

We walked around the grounds and listened to our audio guides which explained about how the camp worked and gave personal accounts of what life, if you can even call it that, was like for a prisoner. I have put a few pictures here, but they can't capture the true emotions of the day.

When this building was in use as part of the camp,

 there was writing on the roof in white paint that read - 

There is a path to freedom.  It's milestones are: Obedience, Honesty, Cleanliness, Sobriety, Hard Work , Discipline, Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Love of thy Fatherland.

Crematorium

Shared facilities for the prisoners

Entrance Gate to the Camp: Work Will Set You Free