After leaving the Brandenburg Gate, we went to the Berlin Wall and visited "Checkpoint Charlie". Above left is "Checkpoint Charlie" that Americans manned during the "Cold War" We visited the museum and learned many interesting and often moving facts about the successful and attempted escapes!
Of course, no visit to Berlin would be complete without a visit to the Berlin Wall and "Checkpoint Charlie". What's left of the Wall is used for art work. The men kissing is Brezhnev being kissed by the former East German Chancellor to "seal" East Germany's loyalty to the Soviet Union. Reportedly. Brezhnev was surprised by the intensity of the kiss!
This is our gang that went to the Berlin Zoo. Berliners love their zoos and this is the biggest in Berlin.The Polar Bear above is Knut. he has become the
symbol of global warming as he was found as a young cub, floating on an iceberg. His mother allegedly drown trying to find food for him.
Leaving the zoo!
A bratwurst vendor on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin!
I am leaving the Berlin blog post with the image of "Ampelman", which means light crossing man, I think. He was used exclusively in East Berlin for pedestrian traffic. The West wanted to get rid of him because he was "not modern enough" (notice his hat) However, a study of school children revealed that they recognized these stop and go figures better than the regular man, so "Ampelman" prevailed. There are Ampelman stores that carry t-shirts and all other kinds of Ampelman products! Reid had to have a t-shirt!
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