A Flavor Of Berlin...

Berlin, Germany

July 29 – August 2, 2014

When my trip to the Ukraine was canceled, Berlin was suggested as an alternative. This is a city that was not, initially, on my radar to visit. I'd been to several places in Germany many years ago and I wasn't inclined to return; nor did I want to visit the city of Hitler's rise to power; I didn't want to see it nor did I want to go near it. What I had forgotten, however, is that an understanding of history is not only gotten from books and movies; one has to go to the source...to see the buildings and walk the streets...to close one's eyes and imagine the sights and sounds. And I did all of this in Germany's capital city...I experienced history and learned about myself in the process.

Berlin is big, beautiful, sophisticated, and very cosmopolitan. The first written records of towns in what is now the city come from the late 12^th century and, now, this largest of German cities, is a setting of culture, politics, media, and science. It is the home of famous universities, orchestras, museums, and a fascinating, eclectic array of architecture as a result of its tumultuous history.

The Tiergarten, designed in the early 19^th century as a hunting ground, but now home to parliamentary and governmental institutions among its acres of trees, shrubs, flowers, and walking paths; the Brandenburg Gate, commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace, but later used by the Nazis as a party symbol; the remains of the Berlin Wall and the bricks in the road that delineate what was once East and West Berlin-a separation not only physical, but with emotional and mental scars as well; the Kufurstendamm, one of the most famous avenues in Berlin and full of shops, houses, hotels, and restaurants...all of these are unique and seemingly unconnected, but, for me, each is another piece of the historical puzzle of this intriguing city.

My stay here was non-stop...emotionally difficult and thrilling at the same time. I remember the angst of seeing the Brandenburg Gate for the first time, the tears I shed at the Holocaust Memorial, the sounds of a protest demonstration I chanced upon while walking back to my hotel one afternoon, and the pain of going to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp on my last day...

I remember the peaceful gardens, the inspiring architecture, the remarkable museums, the progressive energy, the remembrance of the Holocaust Memorial, the pride of visiting the charming sanctuary of a small  synagogue, the awe-inspiring Jewish Museum, the thirst-quenching beer, and that glorious pastry eaten at KaDeWe, Berlin's most famous trademark department store...and, from all of it, I learned and became better from the experience. Berlin is no longer off my radar...