The name Berlin has always reminded me of the Berlin Wall. I vaguely remember hearing about the fall of Berlin Wall one year when I was still small. It was on the day of my brother's birthday. I knew that this wall ran through an entire city and I was always amazed at how determined the people were to separate Berlin into two.
The Berlin Wall is a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. People were generally overjoyed when the wall start to fell in 1989 and they turned up with sledgehammers and other tools to help demolish the wall! Eventually, industrial equipment were brought in to remove the remainder of the wall and its million-plus tons of rubble!
In the year following the fall of the wall, Germany was officially unified and Berlin once again became the capital.
Nowadays, only several segments of the wall have survived. We were staying at the IBIS near the Ostbahnhof and it was only a few minutes walk from one of the three remaining long section of the wall, the The East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom and it consists of approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted on the east side of the Berlin Wall following the fall of the Wall.
This segment of the Wall is a 1.3km long. Standing in front of the wall, you will suddenly realise the fragility of freedom. These 4-metres wall has separated many families and friends into two totally different world.
A few stations away, you can visit one of the most famous border-crossing - Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces. The name Charlie came for the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet, as it is checkpoint number three.
The Berlin Wall is a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. People were generally overjoyed when the wall start to fell in 1989 and they turned up with sledgehammers and other tools to help demolish the wall! Eventually, industrial equipment were brought in to remove the remainder of the wall and its million-plus tons of rubble!
In the year following the fall of the wall, Germany was officially unified and Berlin once again became the capital.
Nowadays, only several segments of the wall have survived. We were staying at the IBIS near the Ostbahnhof and it was only a few minutes walk from one of the three remaining long section of the wall, the The East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom and it consists of approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted on the east side of the Berlin Wall following the fall of the Wall.
This segment of the Wall is a 1.3km long. Standing in front of the wall, you will suddenly realise the fragility of freedom. These 4-metres wall has separated many families and friends into two totally different world.
The symbol of freedom against the symbol of isolation
Some comments from the Chinese.
Some more comments from the Chinese! I wonder who wrote on it first!
A short history on the Cold War.
Veni, Vidi, Vici. (arrghh. this is a terrible photo. I look half asleep here!)
The bottom line says "No more wars. No more walls. A United World.". The drawing look somewhat familiar to the logo of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Perhaps the artist get his inspiration from the Wall?
A few stations away, you can visit one of the most famous border-crossing - Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces. The name Charlie came for the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet, as it is checkpoint number three.
The Checkpoint booth is a replica. The original is at the Allied Museum in Zehlendorf.
There is a great open-air exhibition on the Cold War and the Berlin Wall near the checkpoint.
Replica of the famous sign at the former East-West Berlin border. "You are leaving the American sector"
Photograph of an American soldier. He is known as 'Charlie'.
On the other side, a photo of 'Sergey'. A Russian soldier representing the former communist country.
These days, Sergey has become a capitalist and he is willing to accept Euro for posing in photos. If you pay enough, he won't mind standing next to Charlie either!
During the long years of the Cold War, the US has put up Christmas trees at various points along the wall as beacons of hope and peace that the citizens of both parts of Berlin could be reunited. After the fall of the wall, the practice is continued as a symbol of freedom.
I have come into close contact to the German people during this trip and I have learnt about the impact of WWII and the Cold Way on the Germans. There are countless memorial and monuments around the city for freedom and peace. These people are constantly remained about the dark side of the history.
Nevertheless, after this trip, I have learnt a great deal more about other people's struggles in the past and I value freedom even more.
SP and I both love going to the French food markets. We had a great time at the Bastille market last time. This time round, we revisited the Bastille market but we also went to a different market near the Eiffel Tower - the Saxe Breteuil market. 
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