here are my snaps of berlin, germany. to help me cope with the 5-6 deadlines-a-week NIE life.
the very majestic brandenburg gate. site of many historic moments of germany.
constructed in 1700s, it survived 2 world wars and is still standing tall in relatively good conditions. it was site of the armies allied forces marching to meet the nazis, part of the berlin wall separating east berlin from west berlin.
there's a fascinating story regarding the brandenburg gate, the french embassy in berlin and the french. the square surrounding the gate is called pariser platz, which means paris square.
the statue at the top of the gate is victoria, the goddess of victory, which replaced the goddess of peace after germany defeated france in the prussian war in 1800s. and victoria is fixing her gaze on the building on pariser platz that is the...
french embassy.
plus a similar statue rests on an arc in paris,
just a stone's throw away from the louvre.
the arc du tromphe du carroussel.
i love the greek columns.
a silky terrier (?) on our walking tour.this little guy sits down and rests when our tour guide, rachel was telling us stories and historical facts. he got a little tired after awhile.
usually i forget why i take a photograph if it was something ordinary. but i never forgot this, 'cos it was where Hitler's bunker used to be. the very same bunker where he and his wife committed suicide by ingesting cynanide the day allied forces bombed berlin.now, there are no remaining monuments or historical artifacts that are related to hitler existing. the bunker was destroyed along with everything he owned. to prevent neo-nazis from building a shrine or place of "worship". what was scary was that on his death anniversary last year, somebody threw rose petals all over this sidewalk.
peeking into the former air force headquarters of the nazi forces.now the building is a government office, i think the ministry of tax.
standing in the former death strip, a strip of land between the 2 walls of the berlin wall.
snipers and soldiers guard this strip 24/7 and shot anybody who tries to cross it.
of course, there were a few success escapes.
the stories we heard from our walking tour guide immensely interesting.
i really couldn't type them all out here.
i remember one involving a guy who traded a west berlin girl (he picked up and romanced) to free his girlfriend trapped in east berlin, only to be thrown into jail (both of them) 'cos the traded girl was the daughter of a high-ranking government official.
another involved driving a very short convertible under the barrier gates of checkpoint charlie (photo below).
of course, the events that led to the fall of the berlin wall were also SO fascinating, even though XH fell asleep. (: one guy's PR mistake led to the reunification of germany - is a story that should be made known to everyone.
checkpoint charlie.a border crossing used by americans, allied forces and foreigners.
and no charlie is not the name of the guy that founded the checkpoint.
it's just the military alphabet thingy.
alpha, beta, charlie, delta.
this is the 3rd of 8 border crossings.
a monument for the mothers of soldiers who perished in the world wars.with an open roof, the mother looks as if she's crying when it rains.
the berlin cathedral, located on an island within berlin,
called museum island.
it's greenish tinge exterior reminds me of the statue of liberty.
well it was bombed by the allied forces during WWII, but is now restored.
the traffic light man! a national campaign to get their children to observe traffic light rules,
they redesigned their traffic light man to this cute guy.
and then very smartly, launched all kinds of memorbilia and an official store.
the tv-tower of berlin.my travel mates strike a pose.
don't know what the C sisters are doing. (:
this is AK, chilling out on a chair on the sidewalk,while the girls check out a vintage store.
but it seems that they are leaving without us. hmmm.
No comments:
Post a Comment