Today was a veerrry long day. We left the ship at 7:00 am and didn’t return until 9:00 pm. We docked in Warnemunde, Germany and took the train to Berlin - a 3-hour train ride. There were three other people in our compartment and we all endured the straight-backed, lightly padded cushions. The good news was we received a breakfast snack (ham sandwiches with Gummi bears and sparkling water - interesting breakfast snack) and there was lots to see out of the windows. We had a fabulous time in Berlin. Our guide is a former East Berliner who had some interesting views to share on the reunification. We were challenged with questions like “who are the victims? The people who were killed trying to escape or those who endured the abuse by the Russians?" I’m not sure any of us really had an answer but it was definitely food for thought. The highlight for me was not just seeing the Berlin Wall, but seeing the Wall, no-man’s land and the second wall all at one time. As we went through the city, seeing the sights and especially the marks in the streets and along the sidewalks identifying where the wall stood was made the whole idea of East Berlin and West Berlin come to life. I can‘t imagine what it must have been like to live in the East and know that freedom was so close yet so far away.
Throughout the day and especially on the train ride to and from Berlin I was surprised by the amount of graffiti on almost every flat surface that could be found - from the planned “graffiti” on the Wall, to buildings, to pipes, to buildings and everything in between. I thought it was bad in Southern California - we got nothing on the Germans!
It is now Tuesday, June 23 and we leave the ship in the morning. I know, I am way behind with telling the story of this trip. My hope is tomorrow evening in Amsterdam I will have access to the internet and be able to share more - perhaps even pictures. If not, I promise to catch up when I get home. “Toodly-oo!”
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