BERLIN 2024

 BERLIN 2024

So, the kids and I had a rare block of time when we were all available for a trip.  Realizing that this is going to be the new normal, we took advantage of it and set off for Germany.

Reichstag

Brandenburg Gate

Checkpoint Charlie

Divided East and West Berlin

Berlin TV Tower

Boat ride through central Berlin

They call this building "Jimmy Carter's Smile" and the name fits perfectly

We were able to meet up with Hansi's niece who's in medical school in Berlin.  She was super nice.

Berlin Victory Column

The world famous Monkey Bar

Erin had to play around with old age and overweight filters

The Monkey Bar had a lot of beautiful cocktails to offer.

AROUND BERLIN

We were lucky to have a grocery store across the street from our Airbnb, so we had lots of good  "snackage."

SACHSENHAUSEN CONCENTATION CAMP

What a somber, eye opening experience.  In addition to forced labor, this camp also did a lot of horrendous medical experiments on prisoners.  These experiments included sterilizations, castrations, insertion of infectious materials i.e. hepatitis, potassium cyanide, phosphorous, etc.  

They also experimented with drugs to sterilize people who carried diseases and congenital conditions that could be passed down to their children.

Sachsenhausen also forced prisoners to walk many miles per day in various items of footwear i.e. shoes that were too small, too big, ill fitting in all types of conditions from heat to snow to rain in order to determine how much damage was done to their feet so as to better design footwear for their soldiers.

The autopsy room at the camp.

This is an execution trench where prisoners were shot.

Crematoria 

This was creepy.  The guards forced the cooks to adorn the walls of the kitchen with artwork.  This mural depicts potatoes being washed.  It was said that the kitchen always had an almost unbearable stench due to all of the food that was rotting.  I can see the underlying pain in this piece.

THE BERLIN WALL

The Village of Spreewald, Germany

The kids went out together one night and found this cool bar.

Erin asleep on the plane

This was a really fun trip.  There are no two people I'd rather spend time with than my sticky young children.  I only hope we can do more trips together in the future.