Our first day in Berlin started early with a trip to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächnis Kirche. This church was built in the 1890s but was badly damaged during World War II. The main spire is still damaged, but the rest of the building has been restored and used as a museum space. The second photo is the church that is currently used. Both were very beautiful!
Before and after World War II, followed by a photo from today.
Soon after, we headed to the Ka De We – an abbreviation for Kaufhaus des Westens. Ka De We is a huge department store with 7 different levels. It was filled to the brim with every item you could ever think of. We spent a lot of time watching soccer on a huge tv that cost 34,000 Euros. Unfortunately, we did not have enough money to pool together to buy it.
In the afternoon, we had a three hour bus tour that stopped at some of Berlin’s most famous sites such as:
The Brandenburger Tor: This was the gate marked the start of the road from Berlin to Brandenburg and is a symbol of unity. When the Berlin Wall was up, this was used as a gate into West Berlin from East Berlin, as seen by the famous footage of the night of The Fall of The Wall
The East Side Gallery: This mile long stretch of the Berlin Wall is decorated by artists, all surrounding the idea of abolishing walls internationally. Unfortunately, it has been graffitied quite a bit.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: This memorial is 2,711 concrete blocks of varying height with paths that slope and dip throughout. It is meant to create an uneasy, confusing atmosphere. It was a little difficult to stomach the thought of the 6 million Jews who were killed once inside the massive, unexpressive concrete slabs.
We drove past many museums, the government sector, the embassies, and many more sites that we will be visiting later this week.
Dinner was Berlin’s famous currywurst, a bratwurst in curry sauce along with a potato salad and coleslaw. We had a dessert of ice cream with a fruit sauce. All in all, it was a great day!
Loved this post!!