Baltics (6 of 7) - Berlin, Germany

Our cruise ship arrived in Warnemünde (Rostock), Germany, and we had booked an excursion to Berlin. This meant 3 hours on a train each way and an all-day bus tour.

While the bus driver and guide let us off the bus for ten minutes at a time to take photos, some attractions had to be snapped from inside the bus.

Here's a picture of Checkpoint Charlie, the entrance to the American sector of Berlin, from inside the bus. Notice the KFC and McDonald's signs. The Western and Eastern halves of Berlin are represented by a photo of a U.S. Army soldier on one side and a German soldier on the other. 

As we drove around the guide pointed out where the wall had been and there were remnants scattered about. We traveled to several historic sites and the guide pointed out buildings that had been restored to their original glory or modernized to build up the new Berlin. 

We got out at Gendarmenmarkt square to photograph the French and German churches and the Friedrich Schiller Monument in front of today's concert hall (once the Royal Theater).

Another square, called the Bebelplatz, is known as the site of one of the many Nazi book burning ceremonies held in 1933 in some German university cities. This is a very somber place. It is flanked by the State Opera House and Humboldt University.

Remember the book burning scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"?

We were disappointed that we did not get off the bus to explore the Holocaust Memorial.

The art museum was also not part of our excursion.

One of the highlights of the tour was visiting the Allied Museum. As you approach the entrance you are greeted by a statue of a sky blue bear known as 'Candy Bear' created by artist Dagmar Weiss. The Allies would drop supplies over East Berlin including candy for the children using handkerchief parachutes.

There was another piece of the wall that had been painted on the Westside. The Berlin sculpture (right) was created in 1985 using a broken chain to symbolize the disconnection of East and West Berlin following the creation of the wall in 1961. The wall was finally torn down in 1989.

We also finally got off the bus to see the famous Brandenburg Gate, designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans the Elder in the style of German neo-classicism and commissioned by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II. It is an iconic symbol of German history and stands as a symbol of unity and peace for its people.

As we stepped off the bus onto the sidewalk leading to the back side of the gate, we encountered this famous plaque, quoting President Ronald Reagan, designed by artist Helga Lieser. To me, it looks like a photographic negative. It was unveiled 19 September 2012 to commemorate Reagan's 1987 speech, which was given 2 years before the wall was taken down. Apparently, there's another plaque (with text only) somewhere else in the city.