Briskly in Berlin

We briskly walked and walked (and walked some more) through Berlin today (9/4) but we wanted to see The Wall, The Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial, you know, all the things that remind us of the possibilities of humans to hurt each other. It is an apt time in our current life to be reminded.

As one walks through the city, a line of bricks in sidewalks represents where the wall once was. There’s a place in town where a short version of the original wall still stands. One side covered with graffiti, the other pristine. Photos of those who lost their lives trying to go over it. It’s all just quite sad that it once even was.

Berlin is a vibrant, friendly city. The architecture is a cosmos of different styles. We ate good food.

But we must never forget, yes?

a few images….

Let me add here that on a previous day, we were given a thoughtful tour of the Stutthoff Museum in Gdańsk, Poland, the site of the first concentration camp outside of Germany. The original buildings still stand. They have done a stellar job recreating the horrors of these atrocities. Below is a memorial onsite. And below that, the shoes. All sizes and ages.