auf Wiedersehen (al-vee-da-zane) Berlin!

So we flew to Berlin on 24th. I didn't know much about Berlin or Germany so I was interested to see what we would find. Goodness it's a cool city! Everyone rides bikes around the city and there were hundreds of them lining the streets. People in business suits even got on them! We took a free walking tour of the city. Our hotel was a short walk from the Brandenburg gate and some remains of the Berlin wall. The tour took 3.5 hours and we learned SO much about the history of the city. It was really fascinating. The next day we went on a paid tour with the same woman to a concentration camp outside the city. Very sombering. How one man could get thousands upon thousands of soldiers to do what they did to people...And for those who aren't aware, it wasn't just Jews in the camps. They threw in gays, political opponents, homeless people, gypsies, criminals, anyone who didn't fit their definition of normal and nice. Such horrors. But Berlin is a city of change. There are memorials to the victims of the holocaust around the city and the people don't deny their heavy history. But there is so much going on here that's good. They are very into green living. There are recycle containers everywhere, lots of restaurants are "bio" meaning they use only locally grown produce and free trade ingredients. Like I said people bike a lot and there is a really well developed public transport system that most people use. The city is so clean, no trash anywhere. I would love to go back and see more of Germany. I feel that way about most of the places we've been so far but hey, two days just isn't enough in these cities.