Last Days in Berlin

(with pix to follow...)

We are on a train heading for Prague. The question is, what do we most want to see and experience in one and a half days. Probably we will heed advice and head to a few popular sites at night and in the early morning to avoid some of the throngs of tourists—The Charles Bridge and old town area tonight, Jewish Quarter tomorrow morning. Beyond that I have 10 pages of blog photos and tips to cull through and select from. If any of you ever do a 5 day trip to Prague I think I will have a plan for you too!
We are travelling through fields of corn and wheat and Queen Anne’s Lace, with church spires and wine turbines spinning in the background, visiting with our Hamburg car partners about their plans to train travel to the border of the Czech Republic and cycle back—sounds like great fun! Slowly the landscape moves into small forested landscapes as the gentle motion lulls Sierra to sleep.
This morning we said goodbye to Savannah and headed to the train, kindly driven by our host’s son Johannes. What a great trip we had in Berlin—a blend of visiting and activities -- from taking in the holocaust memorials and the Berlin wall history, to experiencing the vibrant, diverse, and fascinating blend of East-West Germany. I liked what the Time Out Guidebook wrote: Berlin is the “capital of cool”…an insistent and often surprising fusion of different trends and traditions where crossing boundaries is part of what makes Berlin unique. Yesterday we flashed onto novel delights: a playground complete with outdoor table tennis and a trampoline; a restaurant that simultaneously sold clothes and offered up live DJ minimal techno music.. a wire mannequin sculpture outside Alexa mall, to the donair stand that picked out the meat accidentally placed in my vegetarian donair and threw it on the floor---see, there was no meat…what was Savannah complaining about! I had a final run in the local park, past the grand architecture of the Soviet monument to their dead soldiers, and went to the Reichstag to view the city through an amazing eco friendly modern dome atop an old roman styled parliament building. And from the fabulous outdoor exhibit on the history of unification in Germany wherein year after year writers, church groups, peace and environmental moments, human rights groups, the populace and even the East Berlin government staff themselves protested and organized despite danger--against control, oppression and violence. While Hersh and I read the exhibit Savannah and Sierra played in the square during Olympic Day.
The day before yesterday, we took a tour with our wonderful host family’s three adult children—past the amazing East Side gallery of wall art to the Jewish quarter with names of deported families on the sides of buildings to the Tacheles art house. On Saturday, we also toured Ka Da Ve and passed on the cavier bliny offering for over 130 euros, instead opting for (well you can probably guess), chocolate mousse and a 7 layer chocolate cake of sorts. While in line to buy some chocoloate, a man asked Savannah and Hersh “where in Canada are you from?” Hersh asked him how he knew we were Canadian’s: “Your [Mountain Equipment Co-op] backpack gave you away!” Savannah: “Have you been in Berlin long?” The man, (kind of out of the side of his mouth) “I’m the Canadian Ambassador to Germany… I’m in disguise today.” And then, he quickly spirited himself away…
Top Berlin Highlights:
Hersh --
1) the fresh smell of the air, after the rain;
2) Tacheles Art House;
3) Mauer Park bearpit karaoke;
4) The sense of hope and aliveness with this constantly changing city, that has come through such such repression;
5) Time with family – ours, and our new home exchange familys
6) Sitting on the balcony, sipping wine with Savannah (Catherine had tea), by candlelight
7) Jewish Museum

Sierra—
1. Time with Savannah
2. Bowling
3. Car ride with Joey
4. Friends (Season 1 for the 5th time)
5. I had wifi!
6. Swimming at the beach


Catherine (many have been listed---here are others!)
1. Time with Savannah running in Corrina and Dieter’s local park
2. View from the top of the Reichstag
3. East Side Gallery (tour with Eva and Joey)
4. Walking in Tiergarden with Hersh
5. Meeting all the people that have nurtured Savannah