** Today I had the opportunity to be a small member of the 'pay it forward' club. Yesterday a number of locals went out of their way to do the right thing for me and just as I suddenly realised that I was walking by the 'Wall' and taking some photo memories I heard a USA couple with weak English trying to get some directions. They were looking to purchase a Sim card so I let them use my phone to track down a local supplier. My way of saying thankyou to the amazing stranger yesterday
** Broke my own "food rules while traveling" this morning. I finally bought a pre-made fried egg on half a roll to eat with my coffee. I was quite hungry as I realised I really had had nothing to eat yesterday. I will know within an hour or so if this was a good idea.
** The Wall. I was 8 or 9 when the 'Wall, started to be constructe. It became a concrete symbol of the division between east and west; it split a country, a city, and it split families. It caused JFK to stand in "West Berlin" and announce "Ich bin ein Berliner" in a similar way nearly 60 years later when the free world proudly announced "Je Suis Charlie". The Wall barely lasted 28 years but it took and destroyed the lives of so many. And in the end it fell, as in the words of T.S.Elliot, 'not with a bang but with a whimper'. It signalled the dissolution of the old USSR, and ended the Cold War. We honestly thought we were safe again. But we now realise there is always a Putin type figure hiding in the shadows.
I found the Wall whilst walking down the Willemstrass. I ask a man on a bike which side was the east and the west. The response from others on bikes, just waiting for the lights to change, was tremendous, with many calling out with joy that the road they were on was the old East Berlin. I had a friend who just happened to be wandering around the night the Wall started to fall. He wrote that it was such a momentous feeling to be there as a witness to history.
West side of the Wall
East side of the wall
My feet straddling both sides of the wall in solidarity with both pre and post 1989.
** The Brandenburg Gate. This was built in the 19th century by the Prussian king to celebrate the crushing of a Dutch populist revolt against the House of Orange. It became a major symbol both for the 3rd Riech and the split Berlin during the Cold War.
The view from East Berlin
The view from West Berlin
The two building abutting either side of the gate are strongly reminiscent of the Roman Senate building in Rome.
** The Holocaust memorial. One of the most emotional places I have ever been to. It is a strong reminder of the loss of humanity during those dark years, and the almost total destruction of six million human beings only because of religious differences backed by 1700 years of lies & hatred, fed by both the Roman and proteststant churchs as well as jealousy and fear of those who appear different. Antisemitisn was used and abused to deflect the real causes of evil in Europe but in the end it was the blind ignorance that allowed a whole nation to get behind one of the greatest evils the world has ever known. And I have stood there and felt the ghosts of the 200 to 300 plus family members who never saw the light of peace and understanding at the other end.
** I have had people come up and chat to me because of my teeshirts, my hat, my age, my walking stick but the best has been a middle-aged chap who stopped me, smiled , pointed to my hat & said 'Australia' and then shook my hand and pointed to himself and said just one word, 'Ukraine'. Some metres further down the Strasse I came across an anti Russian monument to the dead children of the Ukraine
** Finally made it for the first of three trips to Museum Island. Quite a set up they have. There about 6 museums in this one area and without realising it I chose the one museum that holds two of the three items I am so desperate to see.
The first artefact is located in the Schleimann section, that includes the work he did at both Illius and Mycenae. I watched as visitors, students and teachers just walked past the so called 'Face of Agamemnon'. In Homer, Agamemnon was the leader of the pre-greeks who attacked Illius for ten years.
When Schleimann found the mask he sent a telegram to the king of Greece saying that he had looked upon the face of Agamemnon. Well today, so have I.
The second artefact was the bust of Nefratiti, the wife of Amenhotep lV, better known as Amenhotep, the pharoah who tried to abruptly change the religion of Egypt. No evidence exist to say what happened to Nefratiti at the end of her life. But what we have is her bust and it still retains colour that was applied when it was made.
Some further images from the Egyptian and Schleimann collection
Statuettes of a 5000 year old Egyptian family.
The jewellery from Mycenae.
** I ended my day buying some wine and a small plant as I had accepted an invitation for a meal with the person who helped me the previous day. It always amazes me how very occasionally ships in the night just manage to click. The evening and the food was very pleasant and I more than likely overstayed my visit as there was work and studies for them the next day.
And as happens so often the journey home seemed to take half the time of the original journey there. This invitation gave me an opportunity to see people living in the suburbs, what homes look like inside, and how amazing friendly and open strangers can be.
And to my astonishment I managed to get home without getting lost once. First time not only in Berlin but possibly since I started travelling in Europe.
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