Historical Berlin

Ahhhh, Berlin. A monumental city with history around each corner and at the center of each plazza. Whether it's dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum,

the statue of physicist Max Planck at Humboldt University,

the Berliner Cathedral,

or the Brandenburg Gate, designed as an arch of peace, this city holds myriad wonders and memorials. One week was not enough time to do the city justice. We will return.

Remembrances of War

Each of these slate slabs is a memorial

to a politician who was murdered and persecuted 

since he opposed Chancellor Adolph Hitler. 

There are 96 slabs.

A former member of Tabor Heights UMC

was a cabinet maker in Berlin during World War II.

He recounted how every tree in the city was cut

to make coffins. Tiergarten, a 400-acre park

now nicknamed the "green lungs of Berlin",

heralds the return of the trees.

A reconstruction of Checkpoint Charley is,

in Rick Steve's words, "a Cold War freak show."

Two actors play American guards who

pose for photographs. However,

a photo exhibit lines the sidewalk and

spotlights historic moments featuring

Churchill, Franklin, Stalin, Truman, and Kennedy.

And let us never forget the unforgettable Kruschev.

Segments of the Berlin Wall vividly remind 

one of the city's divided past. 

These crosses commemorate those individuals

who lost their lives attempting to escape

from East to West Berlin. The first in 1961, the last in 1989.

Berlin - Modern Day

This was the neighborhood where we spent

one week in Berlin, a place

of contrasts.

Some sites are neglected.

Others, like the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz,

show development in full swing.

At the Potsdamer Platz underground station

Alexander Polzin's sculpture reminds

passersby of Giordano Bruno's ultimate sacrifice.

 Born in 1548 near Naples, Italy, 

Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic on February 17, 1600.

A late afternoon rainbow graces Berlin's skyline.

Change of Mind

On Wednesday of this week Roger and I

returned to Switzerland's "City of Roses"

(Rapperswil) to enjoy the town's

shoreline boardwalk. 

In the distance is a former castle,

now a Polish Museum. 

Autumn along Lake Zurich -- only

the Eurasian Coot seems to move.

This site is only a 40-minute trip from Zurich.

It's too beautiful to visit only once.

A local Sister walks before us.

Wall Art

Wall "art" thrives in the small towns along Lake Como in Italy. Whether it's graffiti, an age-old fresco or a ceramic Madonna and Child, exterior walls reveal symbols of faith, historical profiles, and creativity. 

On a home -- 

in a botanical garden --

and on a business in downtown Menaggio.

My least favorite -- but perhaps the most creative -- on a wall of an abandoned school. It is titled "Angels."