Ambling Ramblings #18- Berlin Blunderings and Broodings

As a city that, in its current modern and united state, is only as old as me, Berlin has always been a place that I have wanted to visit and experience for myself (being the setting of one of my favourite books 'Stasiland' may also be a contributing factor!). Although the transport system in Berlin wins the prize for having the most confusing network of any capital city in Europe, we still managed to see quite a lot while we were there. There were numerous times when I was completely and utterly mystified as to the whereabouts of both my location and my destination! The system is not as clearly colour coded as it is in other cities, and the underground and aboveground lines overlap and merge and cross over on the map and in the stations and to change trains you have to go up two levels, cross a street (or walk around the block), go down one level, walk down a tunnel (the stations are like rabbit warrens, with tunnels everywhere!), go down more escalators, around a corner and along another tunnel and then hope that you choose the right side of the platform to get on the train going in the direction you want to go! For someone that is navigationally challenged-to put it mildly-I spent most of the time in Berlin completely disoriented and bewildered, but thankfully we made it to a few of the major icons of the city and back to our hotel in one piece.
In Berlin we saw the standard sights-government buildings, skyscrapers, historical relics, parks, shopping districts and monements including the Reichstag, the TV Tower and Brandenburg Gate. The two most impacting moments for me were seeing the Holocaust Memorial and the East Side Gallery. The Holocaust Memorial consists of rows of large cement blocks of varying heights (many of them are a lot taller than me) and wandering between and around them was quite sobering and chilling as we reflected on the loss of so many innocent lives all in the pursuit of an ideal. The sheer number of blocks and being surrounded by a maze of rows of cold hard cement and only just being able to see the sky through the top helped me to grasp a deeper understanding of the scale and heartlessness of the Holocaust and to reflect on the horrors of it. Experiencing that has made me convinced of the need to respect all humans, regardless of their race, religion, culture, language, background, physical condition, social and economic status and to ensure that human rights are protected in order to prevent such tragedies occurring again. There certainly are valuable lessons to be learned from history if we would only listen and stand up against injustice.
Visiting the other iconic landmark of Berlin, the Wall was another impacting moment for me. The longest remaining section of the Wall is known as the East Side Gallery and was painted by artists from all around the world after the Wall came down as an expression of the joy and freedom that people felt. One of the artists, Fluvio Punha, painted this quote on the wall, and I felt that it summed up the significance and symbolism of the Wall in modern Berlin:
"I painted over the wall of shame, so freedom is ashamed no more. Inferno ruled too many years, until the people chose the light. I put my faith in you Berlin and give to you my colors bright."
It was quite remarkable to be standing next to a wall that completely divided a city for so many years and is a very visible reminder of the stark realities of the Iron Curtain and Communism in Europe. Berlin was certainly a noteworthy place to visit as there is so much recent history with visible reminders of it scattered throughout the city.
I was able to put my four years of high school German to good use one evening in Berlin as an elderly lady stopped us as we were walking and asked for help to get her trolley down the steps as it was too heavy for her to lift and she didn't want it to fall-I was very glad that I was able to understand her and respond appropriately and to be able to help! Another highlight of our time in Berlin was the buskers everywhere-even on the train! I loved hearing music everywhere (predominantly accordions-like Hans in 'The Book Theif' another of my favourite books set in Germany!) but we were pleasantly surprised to get on the train one afternoon and hear a violinist playing incredibly well in spite of the jolting and bumping of the train! Another of my favourite things in Berlin was the pedestrian traffic signals-the green and red men have hats on!