(retro post based on popular demand)

In November 2009, it was the 20th anniversary of the fall/collapse/destruction of the Berlin Wall.

I was very fortunate to be able to visit and join the festive celebrations. Stay tuned…I will talk about this event a little later below…

But let’s start with exploring greater Berlin as there is so much history and architecture like the  Brandenburg Gate.

The US embassy is almost adjacent to this landscape, but more importantly is the very moving Holocaust memorial.

Not very far away from the above is a bare spot of land that is for some reason highly visited and nothing is built on this spot. Does anyone know what it is/was?

It was Hitler’s Bunker. It is somewhat sensitive as we never want to promote or recognize the Nazi’s, yet this was a very significant location and historical event.

One of more pleasant discoveries on the first time I visited Berlin was the park in the center.

It is great for walking and running with wide paths!

It is also not far from “Checkpoint Charlie“. Everyone knows what that is right?

It was the actual border crossing between East and West Berlin and opening in the Berlin wall that was controlled by the American Army.

Speaking of the wall…how do you where the former Berlin Wall used to be? You can look at various markers on the sidewalks and streets.

and there are painted lines where it used to be as well on the major roads.

There are even a few places where portions of the historical wall remain.

The highlight of the trip was the pseudo wall stones that were painted and placed along the former path of the fall to hold a anniversary celebration of the fall of the communist government. The wall “pieces” were places like dominoes and were all toppled to be a symbol representation of how the horrible regime was toppled overnight.

In closing, Berlin is a great place to visit and if interested, you can see another posting I have on Munich Germany if interesting in exploring the country further.