Monday, June 17, 2013

Berlin by Ms. McCutcheon

Hallo,

Ms. McCutcheon here.  We have been running into quite a few technical difficulties with the blog, but have been trying to piece it together better the last few days.  In the meantime I would love to share a little bit about our whirlwind weekend in Berlin and will hopefully have some more blog posts to share at a later date.

We left for Berlin Friday morning.  Our trip was uncertain due to the flooding, but we managed to catch a train on a different route.  We travelled most of the day and arrived at our hostel in time for dinner and a late night walking tour of the city.  We visited the Holocaust Memorial, Brandenberger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), the Bundestag and walked along Unter den Linden.  The kids were excited about a Bugati Dealership.  My first impression of the city was this overwhelming feeling (in a good way) of being in a place of incredible historical significance.

The 2nd day in Berlin was a day trip to Potsdam for a historical biking tour.  Many centuries of history can be experienced firsthand in Potsdam.  We toured the palaces of Prussian kings, visited the location where Truman first learned of a successful atomic test and stayed during the Potsdam Conference, and crossed a bridge that was divided (and painted two different shades of green) between the Soviets and the Americans during the post WWII occupation of Germany.  

We ended our day with a walk through Berlin again.  Our route took us along the East Side Gallery.  I think that the experiences varied for each person as we walked along the remaining portion of the Berlin Wall.  It seemed that there was a portion of the wall, or a certain image that each student found a connection with and stopped for a moment of reflection.










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