Wow. It was so much fun going back to Germany. Since the port, Warnemunde, was alooonnng way away from Berlin, we had to ride in a van for 3 1/2 hours. We woke up at 6:00 am, had a very hurried breakfast, and left on our van. Because it was morning, the ride to Berlin was quite pleasant. I love the German countryside. There were German farmsteads, windmills, fields of rye, and lots of cows. Our driver knew no English, but luckily mom knew German so she could communicate with him. After about an hour and a half we took a bathroom break. Because it was at a popular tourist rest stop, Sumner and I for something to drink and mom got her favorite kind of chocolate that is only found in Germany. After the stop, we got back in the van and finished our ride to Berlin. I mainly read and listened to music. Unfortunately, they was a miscommunication between the driver and the guide, so we rode around for an additional 30 minutes trying to find the guide. Finally we found her, and we walked to our first destination. Heidi, or guide, had a dog who was so stinkin' smart. Daisy, the dog, would stay on one side of the rode until Heidi said, "okay, you can come over now." Daisy was off leash most of the time, and just wandered here and there. She [Daisy] stayed with us the whole time. Anyway, our first stop was a checkpoint between east and west Germany. We actually stood in the "no man's land." To get from one side to the other you had to get a special ticket that, if you were lucky, could get in maybe 6 weeks. The houses surrounding that checkpoint actually had prison cells built in the basements. Once you got permission to cross, you climbed over the first wall into a space where barbed wire was literally in your face and at least 4 guards had you with guns ready. For the guards, there was this sand stuff. If you were caught with footprints in the sand while on duty, you were charged with helping someone. If a soldier was caught walking on the sand while raking the sand or just on duty, the soldier was considered an escapee and was labial to be shot on the spot. After that... Oh so joyous spot, we left and headed to lunch. We just had to grab some lunch because we lost some time while looking for our guide. Mom and I went to a bakery, and Sumner got a bratwurst. After lunch, we walked around the center of Berlin. We went to the spot where thousands of books were burned. We also got to see the difference between building structures on the east side versus the west side. After the memorial of all the burned literature, we went to checkpoint Charlie. There was actually a 3 floor museum that we walked through. It was interesting because I got to read stories from people who had managed to escape. After checkpoint Charlie, we walked to a memorial for all of the murdered Jews. It was interesting because it was a square full of hollow cement blocks. It was kinda built as a maze, but the farther you went towards the center, the lower you went. There are many stories behind this memorial. Our could represent the uniformity of the Jews... Shaved heads, uniformed outfits etc. It could also represent the progression of the war. It starts off at one level, barely recognizable. At the center, where the blocks tower over your head, could be the climax of the persicution of the Jews. When it returns to level ground that could represent the death of so many people. After the very, reflective memorial, we walked to the Brandenburg gate. We were on the opposite side of where Roosevelt made his oh so famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" Speech. *translation at the end* after the gate, we went to a memorial where artists already painted signs of freedom on remaining blocks of the Berlin Wall. Because the ride back to the ship was roughly 4 hours (with some leeway) we headed back. The ride back seemed a lot longer than it actually was. We returned to the ship at 8:30, so we missed dinner. Luckily the buffet was still open, so we got to eat there. After dinner I went to a Russian acrobatic show in the main theater. Now it's almost 1:00 am. Tomorrow is Fredericia Denmark. Sorry for the delay of sending my blog posts. Internet was a little noon existent in Germany.
Güten Acht
~Hannah ~
* translation
"I'm a jelly donut."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
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