Virtuo-Euro Trip 2020 - Day 3 - Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Escaping into Freedom!

Waking up earlier than usual is a habit for me on Eurotrips.  I usually don't fall asleep until about 2am and I set the alarm for about 1.5 hours prior to the time our Tour Director tells us that we are leaving.  I usually get up at about 5:30am regardless.  Sometimes I catch a little extra sleep, but today was not one of those days. It was another beautiful day.  I made the phone calls to the kids waking them up and then I headed out on a morning adventure to my favorite coffee place.

My first visit to Berlin was in 2007.  The discovery of a Dunkin on that trip was a great way to connect where I was to home.  It is an experiment that I still have kids do...basically, go to a place that you know from home when you are away and compare it with the foreign location.  Most often, I take the kids to a McDonalds.  The cleanliness, the attitudes of the employees, and the various menu items can all be culturally significant.  The Ostbanhof Dunkin Donuts is a train station coffee shop, but it was clean and the young man serving Mr. Jones and I was very pleased to meet some Americans.

Our order complete, we walked back to the Ibis to meet the kids and have the hotel breakfast.  In Europe, hotel breakfasts are often much more than what people are expecting.  Usually, you can find some hot items (sausage, eggs, etc), cold cuts (I make sandwiches), and yogurts or cereal (Which I often mix).  Most of the kids start traditional, but by the end of the trip, they are trying new things...often Nutella emerges as a quick favorite.  My advice to the kids is to eat a hearty breakfast because it is free.  Lunch is not!

This morning's breakfast was sponsored by
Strawberry yogurt over granola, salami &
Cheese sandwich, eggs, and bacon.

Karl had us meet at the front of the hotel at 8am.  We walked towards the train station, but met Franz and our bus along the way.  The morning's adventure was a bus ride through the city.  Our local guide was named Jim.  I have been on four of these local tours and Jim has been my guide three times now, lol.  He is an American who moved to Germany to study architecture. Each time I experience his tour, I learn something new.  Jim is also able to relate to the kids, throwing out American pop culture references.  I think I heard of the kids say his tour was lit.  We drove through the city.  Jim referenced places where the Nazis held massive rallies and book burnings. He also explained how the "new" Berlin has grown in multiple phases.  We are in the midst of the most recent boon to the Germany economy.  The EF Tour video for the Berlin Experience shows quite a bit of what we have seen today, so I thought I would include it: You even see our hotel...

One of the highlights for the group was our tour of the Topography of Terror museum.  The museum showcases the rise of Nazi power and Soviet occupation.  It is a powerful example of how a place can resonate with its own past.

After the museum, we visited the Brandenburg Gate, it is in the video posted above, but Jim took us on a walk to visit the Berlin Holocaust memorial.  It is a stark reminder of the horrors that surround the history of this place, but I tried to remind the kids that it does not define Germany or Berlin.  The Holocaust memorial is one of my favorite locations in Europe and it is a precursor to what we will see in a few days.  

These stones are all different sizes. 
The brutality of the design really hits me when I visit. 
I think the kids feel it too.

 To lighten our mood a bit, Jim also took us to Berlin's most prestigious shopping district called the Kurfurstendam.   We did not get out here, much to the shagrin of the kids, who wanted to experience Berlin's version of Rodeo Dr. and the Champs Elysee.  It was "Not Gucci" as one youngster proclaimed...but we had a schedule to keep and it was near lunch time.  We left the bus near Checkpoint Charlie.  It was a disappointing location for most of the kids, realizing quickly that the place had become a tourist trap.  It is centrally located, however, and kids were able to go off and buy lunch from one of the many quick service places nearby.  I bought noodles with chicken...I think it was chicken.  Yeah, chicken.  Definitely.  It was actually really good for something I could not identify, lol.  A few kids bought tickets to the Berlin Hot Air Balloon which rises high above the city while tethered to the ground and others ran off into the chocolate store.  After lunch, we took off towards the Berlin Wall.  

There are remnants of the Berlin Wall all over the city.  You can see impressions of its former location on sidewalks and across boulevards.  At some points, it is reminiscent of the Freedom Trail.   We went to the longest remaining section of the wall and posed for some necessary photos with the iconic structure.

Mr. Fontanella explaining the German flag colors to the kids.

After changing quickly, Mr. Font posed for a group photo.

Every few years, the City paints over the artwork and hires
new artists to convey their thoughts on Freedom and Oppression.

After what seemed like over 10 years of Berlin Wall pictures, we went to dinner.  We had schnitzel and it was amazing!!! I forgot to grab a picture of it, my b.  We had a little bit of free time in Alexanderplatz for souvenirs and ice cream.  I like to see a city lit up at night and Berlin, while modern, is still a great spot for seeing European life.  We decided to take the Metro back to the hotel and found an interesting phenomena...the picture might describe it better than my words.

It was a vending machine that sells French Fries...behind it is one that sells Sausages.

Returning to the hotel after a wonderful day/evening is always the highlight of these trips. Asking kids their favorite experiences and reminding them to journal their thoughts always makes the long nights worth it.  I am sitting here wrapping up the blog with another cup full of ice (It is the same night staff at the Ibis).  A couple of the kids are hanging out for a bit here on the WiFi...they think it is stronger than in their room (it is).  We are chatting as I write and I love how excited they are for the rest of the trip.  We have a travel day tomorrow.  We are off to Prague via Dresden.  It has been a while since I've visited Dresden and I am looking forward to see if it has changed at all.  It will be the kids first glimpse at what "old Europe" looks like even if it isn't really that old, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Mr. Lavoie, working hard to remember where all of his previous Berlin photos were stored...I think I found them all...can't wait to take new ones next year!