We’ve enjoyed our three days in Berlin and we’ve seen all the tourist sights. We walked from the Brandenburg Gate all the way across the Spree River. We could not get in to the Reichstag, we did not make reservations, and none were available for several weeks. If you plan on coming to Berlin and you want to see the dome, make a reservation well in advance.
You may know that Volkswagen owns a lot of different automobile brands, Porsche, Audi, Skoda and many more. We stopped in their Drive VW showroom which was impressive and I’m not much of a car guy but, this was just too much to not take a picture of. 1600 HP of Bugatti sexy!
We left some money at the Galeries Lafayette, saw the French Church and the Book Burning Memorial. Across the River Spree, the Alexanderplatz is probably one of the most chaotic and confusing public spaces I’ve ever seen.
Having had enough German food, we ate at a very nice Italian restaurant, Vino & Basilico, some of the best Italian food I’ve had outside of Italy. I had Fusilloni with speck, radicchio, rocket and pecorino cheese. Outstanding! Two glasses of wine washed it down nicely.
Our second full day was a bit more somber and it was a reminder of the horrors of WW II and the Soviet occupation, there are still lessons to be learned from this period Mr. Trump.
Our morning was spent at the Berlin Wall Memorial which still has sections of both walls built to try to keep East and West separated. It didn’t work then and anyone who thinks building a wall in America is smart or effective, it’s neither.
The memorial tells the story to the history of the wall, how it evolved in a continuing effort to divide the city, the killing fields between the walls and those who died trying to escape tyranny.
Ultimately, we know of the total failure of the wall and the regime that used it as a weapon against free people. I will repeat, it did not work, and it is now seen as an abomination and criminal.
We continued our tour by going to Check Point Charlie, now only a re-creation but, people of my generation grew up with this as the focal point of the Cold War, we all knew what it was and what it looked like.
We finished our tour by visiting the Topography of Terror museum which unlike many exhibits, this one tells of how the horrors of the Nazi’s became a reality. It shows and documents a very deliberate process of demonizing groups deemed inferior and blaming them for all the ills the German people felt as a result of losing WW I.
It documents how people followed blindly as their neighbors were first ridiculed, then robbed of their possessions and finally relocated…another word for worked to death or out right murdered. They themselves participated in the Master Plan, the execution of millions of people all over Europe, by turning a blind eye. Never questioning their leader who could “shoot someone on 5th Avenue and still be elected”.
Lessons to be learned now, eighty years after a monster named Hitler came to power by promising all will be well and only he can lead them to a better life. All you must do is mistrust the press, allow me to divide the country into those who are worthy and those who are not and to say nothing as the country turns on itself and becomes isolated from the world. Ah yes, many lessons indeed. Martin Niemöller I believe said it best:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Sorry, probably got a little heavy there but, these things happened and, they can happen again. Blind faith, denying truths and choosing to believe “alternate” facts that only serve to reinforce your beliefs is a dangerous path to follow.
My next post will be more positive as I plan to discuss lessons not learned from the American Civil War…just kidding…maybe.
World Cup tonight! Go France!