Today we are doing one of our favourite things, a guided tour. This morning we are walking around the heart of the central power of the Nazis and later drama of the Cold War. Luke is our tour guide, and somehow we found another Canadian. He’s originally from Toronto but has found himself in Berlin for the past 13 years. We are his second tour that he has given – ever. He even has study cards for his notes with him.
With grey skies, we are ready to start our tour of Berlin and the Third Reich.
We start at Brandenburg Gate – a gate that has stood the test of time and one has seen emperors, kings and other notable leaders pass through it. And at the top, the Quadriga. A chariot pulled by four horses that initially symbolized peace, but in contemporary times has become to represent victory.
Other stops today include the parking lot sitting atop where Hitler’s bunker is/was, Checkpoint Charlie, a section of the Berlin Wall that still stands, the Topography of Terror, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Our final stop is the plaza between Humboldt University and the Berlin State Opera. This is the spot where thousands of books were burned by the Nazis that were deemed to be written or have content by undesirables.
By now it is 2:00, and well past lunch time and before we both get hangry we make our way back to Checkpoint Charlie to eat at the epitome of Western cuisine – McDonald’s. I mean…we just have to!
But wait! Before we reach McDonald’s, there’s a Christmas store we duck into. Ornaments of all sorts of sizes, colours, themes. How do you pick just one?! By price…that’s how you only pick one. Talk about sticker shock.
After lunch we walk through the Topography of Terror as we only walked by during the tour. Wow, you could spend hours and hours there reading everything they have to say. They take you through the rise of Nazism from the early 1930s, the atrocities before and during the war, and then bringing the perpetrators to justice in Nuremberg. And with 90 minutes going through the exhibit, our brains are full.
To lighten our mood we found the German Spy Museum. Yes, another museum…but this one is not only informative, but interactive! And fun! Sure you get to learn all about espionage, how secrets are kept and lost, but you also got to try the lie detector.
They also had a safe you needed to crack, and also a Mission Impossible worthy laser obstacle course. Janelle passed, but I got lasered. I’m no Ethan Hunt…but, James Bond? Maybe!
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