Ok, so I made up that last one, but really, we all had a great time there. I have only a few small complaints...we sat through a couple of not so interesting films, the weather was frightfully cold, and we witnessed an intoxicated and/or crazy girl piss on the floor of the train station only moments before sitting down to eat our fish and chips that we were purchasing only 2 meters away from her when it happened. Ugh...I don't think I can ever eat fish and chips again!
But anyway, let's change the subject!
The Reichstag is a really cool building. It now houses the parliament of Germany. When they rebuilt it after the war they added a dome on top of the room where members of parliament gather to...do whatever it is they do. The dome is open to the public from 9am to 10pm. So at any given moment during the day there are people walking around the ramp that leads to the top of the dome. I love the idea of it because it is a metaphor that is supposed to remind parliament that the people are "above" them, that they are there to serve the people.
Here are some photos of the the Reichstag, now and in the past:
This is what the building looked like after the war...not pretty.
This is what it looks like now.
And this is what it looked like after Christo and Jean-Claude got their hands on it...only for two weeks, but that's quite an accomplishment!
Now, our tour guide told us a really interesting story about how the Berlin wall fell. Apparently, it was not supposed to come down when it did. Unfortunately, for the DDR, their spokesperson got their facts mixed up and accidentally told a bunch of reporters (on live TV) that they were lifting all travel restrictions between east and west Berlin...effective immediately. Obviously, upon hearing this, the public was ecstatic, and the DDR was not happy. The people of east Berlin rushed to the wall and demanded to be let through. After a lot of pushing and bickering with the guards, they finally got through...they were greeted with hugs and kisses and free drinks from all the local pubs! There is a great video on youtube of this spectacular event...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSnkJXBq_dk
Check out the videos of people running through the gates and tearing down the wall too...there is so much emotion in these videos...so much happiness. This story reminds me of the power of words, and how they shape our history.
Here is a pic of Kent and I in front of a piece of the wall.
