Today I went back to examine the remains of the Berlin Wall. It’s not in good shape. It’s falling apart.
Parallel to the wall is a walkway with a timeline describing pivotal social and political happenings in Germany in the 30s and 40s. It wasn’t a load of laughs. Nearby is Checkpoint Charlie, which looks like the entrance fee kiosk of a lesser state park, except with more tourists. On the building overlooking the checkpoint was this love note to Vladimir P.
I also visited the East Side Gallery, a part of the wall decorated by artist. Unfortunately a lot of the art was defaced by graffiti, so most of the gallery had a chain link fence around it, ruining the effect of the different artwork.
Much of Berlin is covered similarly with stickers and graffiti.
I took several more shots of the East Side Gallery and a few of the checkpoint, but my wifi in this airbnb is weak and my high tech way of getting pictures from my phone to my computer–emailing them to myself–is not cutting it.
Berlin has been the most modern city I’ve visited but also the city most impacted by history. One particular message spray painted on a hotel wall read “The past is OVER.” Clearly people are not over it.
Tomorrow I travel to Dresden, which is a short (no layover) train ride away. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an “easy” day–let’s not get ahead of ourselves–but I won’t have to switch trains, and that is a welcome change.
paralyzedbynotcaring 