February 05, 2008

Eastern Europe 2007 - Berlin - Hitler and Soviets

More sights from Berlin -

This is on the block where Hitler's bunker stood.
Now it is mostly rubble and a few brick walls.


This is Checkpoint Charlie, the main security line between the American side and Soviet side of Berlin during the Soviet occupation. The guide told us that this isn't the original spot, which is really a few meters away. There is a resistance museum right by there where we learned about the Soviet occupation and some of the ways people tried or did escape.


Just a sliver of East Berlin bland architecture.


The massive reconstruction needs money and buildings get sponsorships like this one.

February 03, 2008

Eastern Europe 2007 - Berlin - museums and hospitals

We spent a large part of one of our Berlin days doing museum touring. Here's Dad in front of one of the great cathedrals in the main part of the city.
The Pergamon Museum... wow. A tremendous display of ancient Greek and Byzantine art and architecture. The Pergamon was a temple in ancient Greece. Read more about it here. The museum houses many pieces from the alter.
Replica of the alter ^


Goddess killing Mother Nature's son with
Mother Nature pleading on lower right. ^

Hunky Apollo ^

Bunch of gods killing their way up the staircase to the alter. ^

Just so the Byzantines don't feel left out...

The museum was really incredible. I would have loved to spend more time in there, but with Dad not feeling up to snuff, we needed to go back to the hotel or take him to the hospital. We did manage to have a nice lunch at the museum cafe. They raviolis were excellent. While we waited for Maggie to go with us to the hospital, I had the fortune of speaking with a French tourist. He didn't speak English but with my really bad French I was able to talk with him about the weather and Eva Longoria's wedding. It was really nice to communicate (albeit poorly) in another language. It made me want to take French when I returned to Burlington.

Dad being stubborn, didn't want to believe he had a problem with his foot, but we finally got him to the hospital. Maggie was a blessing and a help. The wait wasn't very long and they bandadged him up and gave him some pain medications. He was fit enough to continue with us on our excursions, albeit needing to take it a little slower than the kids in the group.