Berlin Tour

Wednesday 23rd September 2009Berlin Tour Hallo NZ!!!! WOW!! Another exhausting but immensely exciting day. Today we strolled through the magnificent city of Berlin and indulged ourselves in a potent concoction of history, politics and warfare. First we caught a train to the famous Brandenburg Gate which is a symbol of Germany's victory over France. After a furious spate of camera clicks, we met our extremely knowledgeable and energetic tour-guide called Summer. She started by telling us about how Germany conquered France, and hence the square on which the Bradenburg Gate stands is known as the Pariser Platz. As we turned around, we saw the Hotel Adlon at which, Summer said, Michael Jackson performed his highly controversial baby dangling act. As we had all previously assumed that it had happened in an American hotel(for some strange reason), this fact quite surprised us. Next was the Holocaust Memorial, where lie the thousands of unmarked Jewish graves. Walking amidst the rows upon rows of brooding graves, the temperature trickled to a clammy chill. The air was silent, grave, deprived. The light dimmed mysteriously and the atmosphere was eerie and desolate. One could almost hear the frightened, heart-rendering cries of the Jews long gone, and feel their pain. The footsteps I took sounded like staunch men in boots were marching behind me, coming after me. I quickly turned around- no-one.... As the graves grew taller, we grew more intimidated. But as the end neared, our footsteps became normal again, and we positively craved the glorious warmth of the sun. It almost felt as if we had escaped a concentration camp to freedom, light and joy. It really made me appreciate my care-free life. It was a deep experience, one never to be forgotten, and one from which, somehow, we all matured, as the noisy rambling walk previously taken to the Holocaust Memorial disappeared. Summer then told us about a museum nearby where the names, ages, method of death and a few other basic facts about the 6 million Jews killed are recited continously in the background. Guess how long it would take to finish? 6 years and 7 months.....I felt a shiver of absolute horror tingle down my spine and goosebumps emerged. For the first time, I fully realised the enormity of all the deaths. What a terrible, terrible tragedy it was!!!!!!! Next we stood 11m above Hitler's personal bunker. After the story of how exactly Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide there, we saw the old headquarters of the ‘Luftwaffe’ (air force), which is now used as a tax office for the people of Berlin.We then finally caught a glimpse of the long-awaited, famous Berlin Wall. With pieces missing and crumbling here and there, it was not exactly the impressive structure we had anticipated. However, as Summer described the guards and protection previously placed there, we saw a vivid image of an almighty, powerful, stern wall in our minds. Afterwards, we went to Checkpoint Charlie before stopping for a lunch break there, during which I bargained in German, mind you, for a magnificent Russian Army Cap. Satisfied by the €10 reduction in price(Haha!), we proceeded onwards. We then went to a square called Bebelsplatz where 10000 great German books, written by well-known authors , were hurled into a raging bonfire and destroyed. We then ended our tour at the Berliner Dom, after which Summer left and we celebrated our successful tour with chocolates. Yummy!!!!! All in all, it was a highly memorable day, and the experiences will never ever be forgotten by me nor anybody. With LOTS of LOVE, Aparajita Goswami PS- Sorry that this is SUCH a LONG blog entry, but I enjoyed myself SO much that I got slightly carried away. Ok, VERY carried away..... Tschüsiiii :)