Berlin

Check-Point Charlie

August 2010
After settling back in Vienna and taking some time to recover from jetlag, we decided to take a trip to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, and to getaway once again before baby. We headed to Berlin, Germany's capital. We stayed in the center of the city in a flat-like hotel. Our "room" was bigger than our flat in Vienna with a nice sized living room, kitchen, and glorious king-sized bed. In a quilted robe, Ciara melted away in the big plush pillows and down bedding. Our hotel was close to Gendarmenmarkt, a historical square bounded by twin churches and a concert hall that hosts outdoor cafes. We ate lunch in a symmetrical surrounding and watched people as they hopped on-and-off tour busses and walked by snapping photos of the charming square.
In the days that followed we explored unique, fascinating, and disturbing sights, historical landmarks, museums, and neighborhoods. We walked down Unter den Linden which was one of Eastern Berlin's grand boulevards that was lined with a thousand linden trees of Prussian Berlin that lead up to the Brandenburg Door. The historic Brandenburg Gate, crowned by a 4-horse chariot and Goddness of Peace, has undergone years of survival. It is the center of old Berlin and the backdrop of the happy day in 1989 when the wall started to fall. Close to the Brandenberg Gate is the Reichstag, the German Parliament building with its huge glass dome. We checked out the Haupbahnhof, the main train station made of all glass, a known engineering feat.

Check-Point Charlie

In much of which is walking distance we made our way to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews-a Holocaust memorial consisting of 2,711 gravestone-like pillars. The Topograhpy of Terror, the site of Hitlter's Gestapo and S.S. The museum telling the cruel history and of its victims during Hitler's era. And to the Jewish Museum that portrays more celebration of Jewish life and some of the holocaust.

Brandenburg Gate

In other parts of the "cheery" city, we explored Potsdamer Platz, the "Times Square" of old Berlin, Alexander Platz, a commerical shopping area and square, Kaufhas des Westens (KaDeWe)  the biggest (and very swanky) department store in Europe, and went to a trendly and lively neighborhood called Prenzlauer Berg. From the Berlin Cathedral, the Rathaus, and to the stretches of the wall that are still standing, we made the most of our time and of course made sure to indulge along the way. We went out to a fun Cuban dinner, a nice anniversary dinner along the canal, and found our way into some of the chocolatier shops in the city.

Jewish Memorial

"Fallen Leaves" at the Jewish Museum

Part of the remaining Berlin Wall

This marked the end of an amazing summer before it was back to the grind! We are blessed to have had this much time off together, something that would not have happened if we didn't take this leap in our lives. Everyday we walked around together since the beginning of summer, we would stop and think how lucky we are to have this time.