Berlin

We got back earlier this week from our amazing trip to Berlin, Prague, and Amsterdam.  Ari and I had such a fun time, and I have lots of pictures to share. 

Ari was so proud of our amazing plane seats that we had to take pictures. He worked very hard to get us first class seats on points. 

After the long flight to Berlin, we took at nap at our hotel.  I am sure Ari would want me to share that he got upgraded, so we had free breakfast and happy hour every day.  Then we went on a walking tour of the city which started at the Brandenburg Gate. 

We saw the Holocaust Memorial.  We actually went back later after our tour and went to the museum that is underneath it as well. 

We saw a part of the Berlin Wall that was still standing in its original spot. 

We saw the most famous checkpoint that people would go through to go from East to West Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. 

We saw a lot of other things on our walking tour, but that was apparently all I felt like taking pictures of.

The next morning, we almost overslept and missed our tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.  We got really lucky and found the tour on their way. It was a hard day, but definitely worth seeing. 

This is the bird's eye view from where they watched the prisoners in their barracks and shot at them if they got out of formation. 

Here is the gate with the saying "Arbeit Macht Frei" which was on all the camps and means "Work will set you free." 

We saw the prison where they tortured people, especially political enemies. 

They would leave them in here in the complete dark for weeks. 

We saw the one barrack still standing. This was where they ate. They told us more about how much food they had and the importance of not loosing your bowl and spoon.

We also saw where they slept.

Here they would clean their feet and wash their faces. 

This was where they would bring someone in, and tell them they were being measured.  A man in a white coat would talk to them, ask them questions, keep them calm, and then when they stood here to measure their height, they would get shot in the back of the head. 

This was a sled that the Nazi's made victims use to pull other dead victims bodies. 

This was a gas chamber that has been torn down, but you can see how it was set up to look like a shower. 

The office that they pretended was a doctor's office. 

Ovens. 

That afternoon, we went for something a little lighter.  We walked to the East Side Gallery which is an outdoor collection of pieces of the Berlin Wall that were spray painted to celebrate after it was torn down. 

This is just a sign I thought was funny. I got a few giggles from hearing people speak German. 

We had some yummy meals, but this Italian place in Berlin might have been my favorite.  Ari and I used dinner as a way to get on the public transportation and go see different parts of the city. 

The next morning we went to see the Reichstag building.  It is where the German Parliament meets. 

On the outside it looks very classic, but on the inside it is completely modern because it was redone after East and West Germany reunited. 

They have a very neat building on top where you can walk up and see all around the city. 

This is in the center. 

Ari and I got a picture in front of Berlin's most famous landmark on our way home that day. 

After three and a half days in Berlin, we took a train to Prague.