A Lego Built Berlin

When In the German capital, if you feel the need to feel 'ripped off' *ahem*, I suggest you head to the Legoland Discovery Center located just off Potsdamer Platz in the Sony Center.

The Sony Centre - the architecture was amazing

After passing over an arm and a leg, we entered the display via lift, due to having the stroller. It was a 'basement' exhibition, full of a couple of ordinary children rides, big Lego blocks for the kiddies to use, a handful of construction tables, a small cafeteria, a 4D theatre showing something-a-rather, a hundred German children, but the best part was the 'Mini Berlin' they had on display. We felt that the arm and leg we had passed over at the paying counter were partly paid off.

It was pretty awesome...

A Rock Concert on the grounds in front of the Reichstag. (parliament)

The Brandenburg Gate, complete with the Berlin Wall - which electronically opened...

Checkpoint Charlie - I personally loved this.

Checkpoint Charlie

We enjoyed the 'Mini Berlin' but the rest of the Centre was pretty ordinary.  Monet thought it was 'good' and Lily was asleep the whole time....

However, it did get Monet to show interest in Lego and she was fortunate enough to have a father who is a sucker for the blocks himself, so she gained a box of 'girly' Lego a day or two later as a reward for the kilometres and kilometres she walked (without much complaint) over the days spent pounding the pavement in Berlin.

Twenty Eight Thousand.

Something very significant happened here in 1933. 

It was here, under Hitler's rule, that he ordered over 28000 books be burnt and it happened right there at that stark square called Bebelplatz.  It was the first (of many) book burnings that happened across the country.  Any books that were deemed 'un-German' and especially ones that were written by Jews, Communists and Pacifists, were taken from libraries, people's homes, and burnt.  It was part of the 'cleansing' of Hitler's rule.

Now in the place where this happened stands a lone window pane,  down in the square, of a white room, each side having multiple book shelves - all of them empty.  Designed by Michael Ullmann, it is called 'Empty Library' to commemorate the event.

As you can imagine it is difficult to photograph.

As you can also imagine, it was pretty hard for a 6 year old book-lover to understand why anyone would want to burn books. =(

Berliner Mauer

One thing we had noticed around Berlin, was this double cobblestone line, on the ground, that we would randomly spot. The penny dropped when we spotted this sign, literally less than 100 metres from our apartment...

The cobblestone path follows where the Berlin wall once stood. ...

There was a section of a couple of hundred metres away from our apartment.  It was quite spine shivering to see, especially when we learnt that behind this section the Gestapo headquarters and the SS central command of Nazi Germany were housed there.  All that is left of that evidence is empty shells of the original building with an exhibition...  Scary stuff.

Very strange to remember that Berlin was once divided and run by two different governments and not that long ago; communism and capitalism.  The city now is so vibrant and has a special warmth and unity about it that we really liked.  Despite all it's horrific and 'cold' history, it is hard to believe that the past had happened on the grounds we had walked and visited.

I particularly like this section of wall below, housed on it's original standing at Potsdamer Platz.  It is dotted with...chewing gum....noice.

The wall which divided the city ran for 150 kilometres.  There were times that MrL and I got confused which section was west and which section was east as the wall zig-zagged around the streets.

We knew a visit to the East Side Gallery was a must.  It is the longest section of wall still remaining (1.3 kilometres) and is drenched in over 100 colourful murals, which make it the world's largest open-air gallery.  It was painted by a big handful of international artists who each translated their own vision of the era. The whole thing got a total makeover in 2009, 20 years after the beginning of the gallery, and after years of people signing their favourite picture, but now looks as good as it ever has apparently.

A short train ride and we were there.  And it was worth visiting...

We were glad we got there early, so we only had to share 'the wall' with a few other people and not bus loads of people...

The following mural seemed plastered all over Berlin, printed on tshirts and magnets.  A pretty famous image...

I love this section of the following section of wall I spotted...all in all, you're just another brick in the wall...

The below image was plastered over Berlin too!  It was printed on bags and magnets to everything in between.  It is a 'Trabant Car', or Trabi as they are fondly known as, there in Berlin...

And here are your three girls - one was particularly unhappy at the time, but she got over it. ;)

No visit to Berlin is complete without having a wander alongside the Gallery.

Checkpoint Charlie

One thing about planning, budgeting and then booking your own holiday, is that you're never 100% sure what they place you've booked will be like. It is daunting enough (but also exciting) visiting a foreign city, let alone choosing a hotel/apartment/bed. Being a family of four there is no way we could have all of us in. one. room (ie. like a hotel) so we usually budget for an apartment.

The next thing you have to decide when on after you choose what type of accommodation is what area you are going to stay in. In the city centre? In an inner suburb? Close to all the hot spots?

After umming and ahhing about Berlin, we settled on Checkpoint Charlie Apartments.

Checkpoint Charlie Apartments, the grey building.  Our apartment was on the right hand side, four windows up.

The Apartments weren't called Checkpoint Charlie for nothing.  It was literally around the corner from this;

Thanks for MrL for this pic he took on his camera...

That's the now-kitschy, Checkpoint Charlie, awash with tourists.  (Us included.)  For those of you unsure what exactly this is, it has to do with the Berlin Wall.  Shortly after the wall was erected, US President Kennedy ordered three border control points along the wall.  Checkpoint Charlie became the most famous as it was the only one designated for foreigners, diplomats and members of the Allied Forces.

There isn't much left of the original point.  In it's place is a small gate house (I doubt it is original), a row of sandbags and some actors posing as US Military, whom you can get a photo taken with, at a price of course!

We actually saw a guy 'planking' on those sandbags. =)

It is pretty impressive to see and to remember the Cold War. There is huge murals near the Point explaining facts about the Berlin Wall and of Checkpoint Charlie itself. Quite Educational.

MrL and I did have a giggle at one point as we were looking at a map of what we were looking at. As we were looking at the marker point which read 'You Are Here', Monet became quite confused. "How does the map know we are here?" Maybe you had to be there but that had MrL and I quite close to tears.

Time To Relax Those Feet

We walked a lot on that first day.  (And second and third and fourth....)  There are certain things one must indulge in when on holiday and after walking many, many kilometres.  And when one spots a place that looks lovely, you must enjoy the moment.

Like we did, when we spotted these inviting deck chairs, placed facing the Spree River and opposite the Berliner Dom (which was built in 1905 and serves as a house of worship, a museum and a concert hall!)...

Our feet were tired and our thirst needed to be quenched.  As Lily was napping in her stroller, Monet being satisfied with a chocolate milkshake, I chose for myself a beer with a difference...

A lovely Raspberry number.  It was still AM, after all.  And for us, that's what having a holiday is all about. ;-)

The Berliner Dom

After Miss Lily woke from her nap, she was easily amused and played happily with the packets of sugar on the tables at our feet.

Then onward on our exploring we ventured...

Fuhrerbunker

Literally 100 metres down the road from the Holocaust Memorial, lies Hitler's Bunker. I'm not 100% sure what I was expecting when we walked down there that morning, but I knew I wanted to see 'it', what ever it was.

 The bunker was indicated on a few maps I had and when we got to the intersection where it supposedly was, there stood a sign in front of a dirt car park.

It was one of those moments when you thought 'Oh My God' and a shiver went down my spine.  Written in both German and English, the sign explained that the site where we were standing once housed the Bunker where Hitler lived and 'worked' from.  There was a detailed picture showing what the outlay of it looked like, and where it exactly was in indication to the current lay out of buildings.  It indicates the room and the place where Hitler ended his own life.  As the building was initially buried, bar a roof was visible, it ends up that the roof was torn down and the rooms all filled in with dirt and sand (walls left standing) and now in its place is the sandy, dirty and stoned filled car park, with a cobblestone path and a grassed edge.

Very chilling indeed.

Holocaust Memorial.

One of the most harrowing places we visited in Berlin, was a memorial dedicated to those who were killed in the Holocaust. It is located literally around the corner from the Brandenburg Gate. This is the first view you get of the memorial...

A sea of coffin-like concrete blocks.

It is very deceiving when you first lay eyes on it.  At first it looks like they are all set up on a hill.  They are not.

They get taller and taller.  Being in the maze is actually a little terrifying, which is the exact feeling you are meant to get.  And more importantly, it makes you think, makes you remember and makes you grateful.

It is amazing to see it and to walk it.  There are 2711 concrete blocks covering an area of 19000m2.  The following is taken from a brochure we collected;

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is the centre of the Holocaust memorial for Germany.  It has its origins in a citizens' initiative that was facilitated by journalist Lea Roash and historian Eberhard Jackel at the end of the 1980s.  On 25 June 1999, the German Federal Parliament took the decision to build the memorial according to a design by Peter  Eisenman and to establish a Federal foundation to run it  Construction began on 1 April 2003 and the memorial was opened to the public on 12 May 2005.

I think it is one of those places that will stick with me.

A U2 Connection In Berlin and Bears!...

Many years ago, in the early 1990's, I lived with my sister in a two bedroom flat in a Melbourne suburb. She was U2 mad back then (and still is) and when she moved to Brisbane I found I missed U2 booming from the stereo. It was 1994 and I went and bought U2's latest at the time, 'Zooropa' on disc.

I fell in love with 'Stay (Faraway so close)' and adored the film clip.... (stick with me here...) Here's the link to the video.  Filmed on location in Berlin, I never thought I would see the Brandenburg Gate (at the very start of the video), nor the statue Bono falls from (Siegessaule/Victory Column) for myself.  Obviously I was wrong.  Very wrong.

Victory Column is directly ahead, as I look through the Brandenburg Gate

It is an impressive gate, one that led from the old West Berlin, to East Berlin.  The Berlin Wall was built about 20 metres from the gate, towards the Victory Column.  But the gate was around a long time before the Berlin Wall went up.  It was built in 1791, but was used as a major gate (there were 18 along the wall) to cross from east to west, after 1961.  It was here most video footage was taken when the wall was torn down in 1989...

With a bit of courage, we used the underground train system that Berlin uses.  It is one that uses more of an honesty system, rather than other undergrounds we have travelled on in different cities in our time.  We thought we'd do the right thing and buy tickets for ourselves at a vending machine.  It was very pricey (heck!) but we felt better knowing that we weren't cheating the system.

The train line we caught was the U2 line.  Yep, that's what the underground line is called, I kid you not (and no, not after the band.)  They have many train lines and it just happened that we needed the U2 line.

And just where were he headed?  But 'Zoo Station' of course. (You'd have to be a U2 fan to appreciate this. ;-) )

I was thrilled, MrL was not so thrilled with me banging on about U2, but he was thrilled that we navigated our way on the underground to our selected destination.... (and no, we didn't go to the zoo!)  Instead of the zoo, we headed to Kurfurstendamm (try saying that in your best German accent!), which is equivalent to your local High Street.  However, unbeknown to us, we turned right instead of left and walked down the glitzy part of the street, with all your Prada and upmarket shops which we dare not set foot in.  (And besides, they're a dime a dozen in our section of the world.)

However the girls were more than thrilled to find Bears.  Big sculptured Bears, displayed on the street.  I am pretty sure these bears have toured the world and this year they have found place and home in the German capital.  They are scattered everywhere through out the city and the girls, especially Lily, loved to point them all out.  The ones along this road were from all corners of the world.

The Aussie Bear by Ken Done.

Not only did Lily love to point out all the Bears, but at one point she gave every. single. bear. a hug.  You should have seen the smiles and giggles we got.

The girls hugging the UAE Bear. Cute.

More travels in Berlin to come...