Monday, February 16
Walking the wall
You may not be able to sit on the fence, but you can walk the wall. We've spent the morning walking through Berlin on a guided tour, mostly in the Eastern sector, tracking the history of a city that has seen a lot of turmoil. The wounds of the past are still healing here. We're glad we came to Berlin.
Shards of German have been appearing in my mind and casting slivers of light on various situations as we encounter them. Bronwyn is relying heavily on me and probably learning less local language than on past trips to other countries — she says learning nothing. That's all right — she'll be on speaking Czech when we're in Prague in seven weeks! : )
The weather has been cold but has not disrupted our plans. Cloudy yesterday gave way to fog today, which is at least more atmospheric. There's plenty to do here and it is merely a case of balancing fascinating-museum fatigue, sore legs from walking past historic sites, and mental over-stimulation. It's a tough life.
Bronwyn's Berlin
My turn to do some blogging...
Monday. Waking up in the lap of luxury with those down pillows and looking forward to a decadent breakfast. I have to say, I have been quite pleased with myself that I have been the one who has had the U-Bahn system sussed and stopping Duncan heading in the wrong direction on more than one occasion! I am very impressed with his German — he rattles things off and people actually understand him. Sometimes he even understands a bit of what others say too!
I was really looking forward to our walking tour. It is just the perfect thing for me to do on holiday. It is cheap, it is exercise, it involves passively taking in interesting information and the possibility of meaningful interactions as well! Boy it was cold standing around sometimes though. We toured around buildings and monuments that were erected by centuries of Royals and governing bodies, hearing how many times certain places had been rebuilt due to bombing. Some places still have very obvious bullet holes in them.
We walked past the site where they are constructing a new memorial to the six million Jews that were murdered in WWII. The word “holocaust” is not used because this memorial is only for the Jews that died and not other political prisoners. It basically will be a collection of large concrete blocks in varying sizes. I was surprised at the strong reaction I had to the memorial — how human beings can be remembered by something so angular and inorganic is beyond me. 
Another much smaller and more general memorial we visited, for the victims of tyranny and oppression, consisted of a large room with a single sculpture in the centre; a young man being cradled in his mother's arms. I found this more meaningful. The installation at the Jewish museum last night was the most striking — a large room with a tall ceiling and the floor piled level with loose slabs of iron faces. Walking upon the faces was a jarring experience, each step clanging and clunking.
Another part of the tour that stuck out was our visit to Hitler's bunker. The area is unmarked and is now a car park, but three stories below the ground the bunker is still there. Our tour guide suggested that no one actually is comfortable commemorating this site, and that German tours would not bring people there. People would rather that it be forgotten? Apparently various authorities tried to get rid of the bunkers some time ago, with dynamite and so on, but with no success. At ground level they are now sealed off completely.
It was funny when Duncan first suggested going to Berlin — I had completely forgotten about the Berlin Wall. Suddenly it was the major attraction. So when we finished our walking tour, I had our guide tell us how to get to the longest remaining section of the wall — I was all keen to walk the 1.6km. After an enormous midday Schnitzel dinner we set off for more walking and I managed to pull Duncan along! It was good to get a feel of what it might have been like to walk past this every day and the separation and pain that it caused people. The best thing about Berlin I feel is the strong sense of people appreciating life, the feeling of new found freedom and unification — still lingering after a decade.
