We celebrated our arrival to Berlin by stopping at a German pastry shop (called Mr. Minch) that we found on a list of top 100 bakeries in the world. The chef has worked in Chicago so we of course felt a personal connection to him. 🙂

Our hotel is actually in the former East Berlin (Mitte) so it is fascinating to see the development that is occurring. I remember watching the fall of the Berlin Wall on TV (I was a news junkie even as a kid!). After we checked in, we rode the U Bahn (Subway) to the Charlottenburg area (part of former West Berlin). While there we went to the Ka-Da-Wee department store, which feels a bit like Harrods. This was a fruitful shopping trip as we found our second clothes line so we can air dry more clothes now. We are sure that most Berliners go shopping for clothes lines here! 🙂

While in the Charlottenburg area we also visited the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. The Church was mostly destroyed during WWII but now stands as a memorial of remembrance. The Church is currently undergoing massive reinforcement so we couldn’t see the outside, but we did go into the new Church next door.

Several of my German co-workers kept telling me to have flammkuchen when I was in Germany. It is funny that this keeps coming up as it is actually a French type of pizza (tarte flambee), but it is served all over Germany. We found a local place with flammkuchen that was quite good! The pizza is a very thin crust without tomato sauce. We tried typical varieties with leek, cheese, and prosciutto.

The second day we visited historical sites around Berlin. We started by visiting Tränenpalast – The Palace of Tears at Friedrichstraße station. The station gained its name as it is where East and West friends/families had some ability to shortly meet but led to horribly tearful goodbyes when they had to separate again.

The museum was thought provoking and moving. It went through the entire timeline of the Berlin Wall and the separation of families and friends that occurred for almost 30 years. It is so hard to believe that the wall was still standing during our lifetime and that .

When we got near the site, we asked a local (in very broken German) if he spoke English and if this was indeed the museum’s location. He started started crying and said he’d always speak English for an American. He thanked our country for standing for principles that freed Germany and eventually reunited Berlin. Wow, this made us feel so grateful for what we have.

The next stop was Checkpoint Charlie which was one of the most famous border crossings between East and West Berlin. The area is commercialized now (some company has “American Troops” with whom you can take your picture …), but it was interesting to see. We then went on to the Topography of Terror Museum a former SS headquarters and the border of the Berlin Wall.

The Museum was very well done and fully explained the events leading up to Hitler’s reign and the atrocities that occurred from 1933 onward. We took the opportunity to go on a guided tour which was quite informative.

Our final stop was the Reichstag, Germany’s Parliament building. I found out that you can get free guided tours in English if you reserve several weeks in advance. The entire operation was quite impressive. We checked in and then had to provide confirmation that we were expected visitors. We then went to a second stand where we had to show our passports. Next, we went through airport style security. Finally, we were walked to the actual Parliament building by a guard where they again checked our identity! Wow!

Today the building has been completely restored. During the restoration graffiti was found on the walls belonging to Soviet soldiers that liberated Germany so it was preserved as part of the city’s history.

There was also an interesting art exhibit showing bricks for each democratically elected parliament member. You’ll notice, however, that there is a black box in one photo which signifies the horrific Nazi reign. The tour completed by visiting the dome on top of the capital which has a great overlook of Berlin (although it was raining!)

We stopped by to have coffee with Angela at her office

Impressive – even the do not enter ropes have the country’s colors!

On the walk back to the hotel we walked past the Brandenburg Gate which was neat to see as well!

Our next stop is the Neuschwanstein-Hohenschwangau Castle.

PS from Emily: Ryan must look like a technical expert in all countries. Maybe it’s because he gets out an iPad with a hard drive, a USB hub, and a cell phone everywhere! 😉 We’re sitting here at a cafe and a lady from Greece out of the blue asks in broken English (first in Greek… then English) why her phone isn’t working. I’m thinking… how on earth is he going to know?! Sure enough, he was able to help them! She wasn’t dialing with the correct country code prefixes.

In Prague he became the technical expert for two people who couldn’t get into their gmail account at the hotel. It’s quite funny… he must just look like he knows what he is doing! I’ve been so thankful for his technical workarounds as it’s been taking herculian efforts (and lots and lots and lots of workarounds!) to get our pictures backed up and loaded using our iPad!