Our big city experiences in Germany were in Cologne and Berlin. We toured Cologne with Mark and Bernd as our tour guides and went to see the legendary Tutankhaman exhibit. What a treat it was to have them decipher train schedules, transfers and show us around. Anke was our guide in Berlin. It was a bit further - a 6 hour drive - thank goodness for audio books. We were museumed out so we joined up with a historical walking tour. It was fascinating, even keeping the kids attention for several hours. The wall was built in 1961 to prevent the brain drain from the east to the island of freedom - West Berlin. The stories of East Berliners trying to escape were incredible. JFK made an important visit to West Berlin in the 60's and the Germans loved him for it - even built a museum for him in Berlin. The city today is actually mostly new construction b/c everything was destroyed during WWII. There is a moving Memorial for the Murdered Jews and the location where Hitler killed himself is a parking lot. As a city, Berlin has been through hell, and yet again it is literally rebuilding itself. Definitely worth a visit.
Farewell to Germany - thanks to Anke, Bernd (and dad), Kristin, Mark (and parents), Hannah, Runi, Christeanne, Rinehard, Malu and Finnian for showing us an unforgettable time.
Germany photos here