We’re in Berlin! Geez, this city has been through a lot! You wouldn’t be able to guess the hardships that they have faced because now-a-days it is pretty nice. In fact, everyone we met from the different cities in Europe agreed that Germany is the leader of Europe.
When we were trying to get to Berlin, the German railways were having some problems, and we missed one of the connections to our next station, so we had to wait four hours for a bus, and barely made the last train to Berlin. As I said, it’s about the journey!
We were so happy when we got to Berlin, because we were going to stay in the Berlin Marriott! Oh, the joy of Marriott pillows! It was also nice, because we could eat breakfast and dinner in the Executive Lounge. 
For our first two days in Berlin, we decided to do a Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour. We stopped at the Berlin Wall Memorial and learned a lot about the hardships they had to face up until 1989.
After World War II, the Allies occupied Germany and divided it amongst themselves.
The Soviet Union had East Berlin, and the US, UK, and France controlled West Berlin. However, the Soviets were really harsh communists, and a lot of East Berliners fled to the West. The Soviets didn’t want this, so they built a wall dividing west and east.
Many people tried to flee, but few were successful . Some were even shot and killed.
The wall was built-in 1961, and it wasn’t until 1989 that it was torn down. The younger generartion was greatly responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall. Fragments of it remain, such as the East Side Gallery which we went to next.
The East Side Gallery is completely covered with artwork made in protest of the Berlin Wall. Artists from 21 countries around the world, came to Berlin to paint their feelings and images about the wall. It was pretty cool, and a lot of the things they painted apply to problems today.
The next day, we went to the Topography of Terror, which describes how Hitler came into power and was able to do so many terrible things.
Then, we went to Checkpoint Charlie which was where the American sector of Berlin was. It was one of the four places where you could get from East and West Berlin.
Many people made their escape through here.
After that, we went to the Brandenburg Gate, which used to be the entrance to the city. Now, it is a historic monument, but during the time of the Berlin Wall, nobody was able to access it.
We also walked by the Memorial of the Murdered Jews, which looked very pretty as the sun was setting.
That night, in the executive lounge during dinner, we met a family that is a lot like us. They are on a trip around the world and they have gone to a lot of the same places that we have. You can check out their YouTube channel: FAMtastic4, and meet Rhonda, Mitchell, Autumn and Eden!
The next day, we went to Museuminsel, or Museum Island, which is, well, an island of museums!
We went to the Neues Museum, which was SO COOL!
I learned about Ancient Egypt last year in school, and I just couldn’t believe that I was standing next to ancient artifacts that we learned about from thousands of years ago!
I could even read some of the hieroglyphics! I really liked the Egyptian sarcophagi because I find the Egyptian afterlife rituals very interesting.
We also got to see the beautiful bust of Nefertiti, which has been well-preserved over the millennia (but no pictures were allowed).
The next day, we had some really great bratwurst (famous German sausage) before we left to go to the train station.
Auf Wiedersehn Berlin! Dobrev Den Prague!
Keep Calm and Travel On!
Your Junior Worldtrek Reporter
hdworldtrek 