LONG day in Berlin. This isn't a very pretty city; bombed heavily in the war and then rebuilt with ugly communist architecture...However the history makes up for it.
After a tour through the city where we visited what is left of the wall and the Holocaust Memorial, among other sites and memorials along the way - such as where Hitler's bunker was and where he committed suicide - and a memorial to a man who almost succeeded in changing history by planting a bomb under Hitler's desk .
After a yummy lunch and walk through what has started to become the Christmas Markets, we spent a few hours at Checkpoint Charlie, the checkpoint at the Berlin Wall where the American and Russian forces almost started WWIII in a faceoff in the 60's. The history of the war, humanitarians, the communist regime, the rising of the wall, the escapes, the deaths and the many, many stories of those involved was overwhelming.
This city is still very much affected by what atrocities occurred in this country, and over the last 23 years progress has been slow, but forward moving - and Berlin will regain what they lost one day.
Remnants of the wall and graffitti
Part of the THE WALL display of modern messages on the original wall
The Holocaust Memorial
Checkpoint Charlie
