Berlin Excursion

Servus!

We have spent the last four days in Germany's capital, Berlin. It was a very busy couple of days with so many things to see and do.

Monday was our first day of adventure in the historic city. Our first stop was at Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. The checkpoint is still in its original form and lies in the once American Sector of Berlin. It was a big history lesson for me, which I am always very keen to learn about. It's one thing to hear about the history of World War Two and the Cold War but to actually stand in the place the event occurred is completely different. It's absolutely mind blowing for me!
We also looked at the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was an information overload! So many stories and facts.

Unfortunately, some of us were gullible enough to fall for a scam that was taking part at the popular tourist destination. I know it may seem like a strange thing to report in a blog, but it highlights the differences between our life in Bright and the life in big cities like Berlin. I ended up losing 10 Euros to some people that pretended to be deaf, others lost 15 to 20 Euros!
I've never experienced tricks such as these in Bright or cities like Melbourne. But apparently, they're very common here. But I can say I have learnt from my mistake! We ran into more scammers during our time in Berlin and I didn't give them more than a sideways glance.

We also visited the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor in German) It was built in the 18th Century and suffered damage during WW2, but has been restored.

A short walk from the Brandenburger Tor is the Holocaust Memorial. 2,711 concrete blocks lay over the sight, in memory of the millions of murdered Jews of the Holocaust during World War Two. It is a very simple yet effective idea. Personally, it made me really stop and think. Think about the horror of war, the discrimination suffered by the Jews, and how such a tragic and awful thing could ever occur.

Overall it was a great and fascinating day. I learnt so much and yet still curious to find out more. Thanks for reading!

By Elly Jenkins.