Exploring Berlin, Part Two

Tuesday we had a memorable morning.  A German friend connected me with one of his childhood friends, Hasko, who works for a member of the German Bundestag (Parliament).  Hasko generously took time out of his busy schedule to give us a private tour of the Reichstag, which houses the Bundestag.

The Reichstag is an old building on the outside and a new building on the inside.  A lot of the historic architecture and decorations were destroyed in the ‘60s in order to make everything “neat and tidy”, but there were still some places where you could see older spots of the building.  An interesting area that had been preserved was where Russian soldiers wrote graffiti on the walls as they took the Reichstag building at the end of WWII.

We saw the plenary chamber, where the members of parliament meet to discuss and vote on legislation, usually by a show of hands.  If a vote is too close to count this way, however, then bells ring throughout the building and members have a certain amount of time to line up in front of one of 3 doors:  “Ja” (Yes), “Nein (No)”, or “Enthaltung” (Abstain).  The members then walk through the door that corresponds to their vote so the results can be counted more precisely.  We standing in front of the "Ja" door.

We also saw a room where the Christian Democrat Union, currently the largest party in Parliament, meets to discuss legislation and issues.  Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is a member of this party and so she presides over the party meetings.  We got a picture of the boys standing in front of Dr. Merkel’s chair.

After saying goodbye to Hasko on the roof of the building, we toured the dome on our own.  The views of Berlin were great—we were quite close to the Brandenburg Gate and it was neat to see it from above.  The dome itself was also quite interesting, as it was designed to be extremely eco-friendly.  The mirrors on the counterweight cone reflect sunlight into the plenary chamber, and water and warm air are collected inside the cone to heat the building.

After we were done at the Reichstag, we started making our way towards a museum that we wanted to visit in the afternoon.  We stopped to eat lunch near the Kurfurstendam, the famous shopping street of Berlin.  The boys spotted a LEGO store and we agreed to make a 15-20 minute stop so they could check out the LEGO sets.  However, we ended up in there for over an hour!  Note to our future selves—LEGO stores are a GREAT pit stop.  Our boys were so happy to play with the store-provided LEGOS, and it gave us all a covered place to unwind for a bit.

From the LEGO store, we headed to The Story of Berlin, a museum dedicated to the 800+ year history of the city.  We passed a little quickly through some sections because there was so much information to take in, but we spent more time in the section about the 20^th century history of Berlin.  The multi-media format really appealed to the kids, as well as us.  We learned more about the effects of WWII on the city and residents of Berlin, the Berlin airlifts during the Cold War (when the East Germans blockaded the supply routes for West Berlin and supplies had to be airdropped by Western forces in order to keep West Berliners from starving to death), and saw original sections of the Berlin Wall. 

One of the most unique parts of the museum was a guided visit into a nuclear fallout shelter.  It was built during the Cold War, and it was designed to be used as parking garage in peacetime and bunker in case of a nuclear threat.  It was one of a small number of bunkers built throughout West Berlin, and the capacity of all bunkers was only 1% of the West Berlin population.  In case of a nuclear threat, entrance into a bunker was first come, first serve.  This bunker was designed to house about 3,500 people for approximately 2 weeks.  Each person was allotted 1 square meter.  We saw the air filtration system, the meager kitchen (meals would have been cold and come from a can), the supervision room (no armed guards, just 16 people who knew the equipment and who could attempt to communicate with the outside world), and the very basic lavatories and showers that would have to serve thousands of people for weeks.  It was really interesting and also a bit eerie.

After a relaxed morning, on Wednesday we headed to one of Berlin’s lesser-known attractions: the Computer Game Museum.  Bob had read about this one and we thought it would be a fun stop.  It was billed as nostalgia for parents and fun for everyone, and it turned out to be just that.  Bob and I saw computer games and equipment from our childhoods….stuff we hadn’t seen in ages.  We also saw interesting games from different parts of the world—Poly-Play, the only video game machine produced in the GDR (former East Germany), Pong, a life-size joystick...and a game that shocked or whipped your hand when you played badly.  Where exactly is the fun in that?! (You had to sign a waiver before playing…we declined to try that one and I didn't get a picture).

I did, however, play Super Mario Bros., a game I think I last played around 1992!  Even though I hadn’t played Super Mario Bros. in probably 25 years, either muscle and/or subconscious memory kicked in and I remembered tricks, hidden bonuses, and all kinds of things I had no idea I still knew.  (**Random story:  As a child, my Mom had a café in a department store.  When I had to wait for her, I’d often go over to the electronics section and play Super Mario Bros. on the display Nintendo.  When my mom was ready to go, she’d call the store operator and they would announce, over the storewide speakers, that it was time for me to return to the café.  I used to HATE hearing my name called out like that, it was SO EMBARASSING.**)  

Bob enjoyed reliving his childhood game by playing Zork with Emmett, who declared it the “BEST GAME EVER!”.  Emmett is our “old-school” child.  Give this child bad rap and graphic-free, text-based video games from the ‘90s and he is as happy as a clam.  Colin, on the other hand, found this 3D modern racing game to be his favorite.  It was pretty cool when you had the glasses on!

After the museum we had a picnic lunch, did a few errands in Alexanderplatz, and then headed back to our apartment for a few hours to rest and relax.  In the evening we went to a biergarten in the Tiergarten, Berlin’s equivalent of Central Park.  We ate German sausage and potato salad, drank German beers (after 2 years of drinking 25cl and 33cl Belgian beers, these 50cl German ones seemed HUGE), and watched the Portugal-Wales Euro Cup semi final game on a big screen TV.  The weather was perfect for a great last night in Berlin!

Berlin was a great first stop for our trip, since it felt both familiar and new at the same time.  We all really enjoyed the history and sights of the city, and it was super easy to get around using the efficient and extensive public transportation system.  Our VRBO apartment was well situated and comfortable, and we had a good mix of sightseeing and down time throughout our stay.

With our visit to Berlin coming to an end, it was time to get ready to travel on to our next stop.  Our next destination is going to be a whole lot of new and definitely not familiar, since none of us have been to the city, or even the country, before.  St. Petersburg, Russia….here we come!