Blog

The morning came way too early, but getting up to pack and get ready to go home was easy. We talked to both kids via FaceTime before leaving for the airport.

As a big fan of the movie “Goodfellas,” it is no surprise that I was thrilled to fly on Lufthansa Airlines. We took a big United plane to Frankfurt, but the connecting flights in Germany were on Lufthansa.

The worst thing about traveling is the traveling. We had reasonably smooth flights to Poland, but this one has been bumpy. I was “pulled aside for additional security” not once but twice. I even had to remove all the food in my purse and carry-on, and if you know me, you’ll know I had a lot of snacks (chocolate) stuffed into every available pocket. And I’ve already written about the German airport staff. Not the friendliest in the world. Then, it was almost a sprint to make our connection in Munich.

Once on the plane, we were informed that a fuel pump wasn’t working, so it was a 90-minute delay. (At least we didn’t have to change planes.) So a 10+ hour plane ride got a little additional time. We did have a seatmate this time, a German guy in his mid-40s. Right after he sat down (by the window), he apologized and asked to get up again to get his jacket out of his bag in the overhead. He said, “I am whimpy German man,” and those were the only words he said for the next 11 hours.

As I write this last post, we are stuck in the Friday afternoon traffic from the Bay Area. We might have to stop and get a coffee to stay awake. It was 21 hours ago when we got dressed to leave for the airport. We’re tired, but it sure is good to be home.

Today is our last full day of tours, and we packed in as much as possible. We took a bus tour through the city and saw many historical places, including Check Point Charlie, The Reichstag Building, Brandenburg Gate and a remnant of the Berlin Wall. We even passed near the location of Hitler’s bunker and suicide. It has a small marker but is now a non-descript gravel parking lot.

While on the road, our tour guide took us past the memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We didn’t stop, but it was pretty impressive from the street. We asked to be dropped off there after the tour to see more of it. Our British friends, Deb and Stuart, joined us. We walked all around the memorial and even toured the documentation center below. There are no words or photographs to describe this memorial accurately. It is a haunting image to see from the outside, but to walk through it is even more remarkable. The vast blocks look like tombs in a cemetery, but the actual floor level changes, so you are several feet below the tops in many places. When people walk in, it is as if they disappear, which is one of the intentional design elements. There are so many significant elements of this memorial that I cannot describe them all in this blog post. However, perhaps the most impressive thing is that the German citizens paid for it. Our guide pointed out, where else can you find a memorial built by the perpetrator?

We had lunch with Stuart and Deb and said our sad goodbyes. They have been a big part of our experience on this trip, and we won’t soon forget them. Well, we won’t forget for sure because Stuart and I will be starting a YouTube channel. Stay tuned for more details.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we set out for the Jüdisches Museum Berlin. I was expecting a Jewish history museum, but it was primarily dedicated to modern art and the Jewish lifestyle. One striking statistic stood out. It would take six years, seven months and 27 days to read the names and life stories of all 6 million victims of the Nazi regime.

In the evening, we went on our last guided tour of “Berlin at Night.” We started with a traditional German dinner and headed to the Berliner Fernsehturm (a.k.a. The TV Tower) to see the lights. We also made short stops at the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag Building for more photos. Once back at the hotel, we said goodbyes to our new friends and, Curtis and Linda.

Today, we disembarked the ship and traveled to Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany. This is the location of the 1945 Potsdam Conference, where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Harry Truman met to negotiate the end of World War II. The palace (built in an English Tudor style) is named Cecilenhof Castle and was the home of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire until the end of World War I. The buildings were impressive, but the scenery was even better.

We spent some time in Potsdam’s city center and visited Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church. The church, completed in 1870, was quite different from the others we’ve seen on this trip. We ate lunch, and Leroy purchased a Weinachtspyramide (German Christmas Pyramid) for me at one of the local shops.

We then traveled to Sanssouci Palace, built in 1745 as a summer home for King Frederick the Great. It was designed to rival Versailles but is much smaller in size. The name means “without worries” or “carefree,” and its purpose was for relaxation, not a seat of power.

We then drove into Berlin via Glienicker Brücke, also known to us in the US as the “Bridge of Spies.” This bridge was the border between West Berlin and East Germany and was used to exchange captured spies. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen the movie by the same name (starring Tom Hanks).

After checking into the hotel, we walked down the street to explore a little and discovered the ruins of an old church in the middle of the street. It is the Kaiser-Wilhelm Evangelical Church. It was built in the 1890s but was severely damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. They’ve built a new, modern church next door, but it was so ugly that I didn’t even take pictures. You’d think we’d make more beautiful things with modern technology and skills, but we haven’t. We lit several candles for prayers along the way today. (Even in this ugly church.)

For dinner, we enjoyed the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten.

Today was all about the Protestant Reformation. Wittenberg is where Martin Luther famously nailed his “95 Theses” to the church door. A fire destroyed the original door in 1760, but the bronze-covered door (pictured below) replaced it and displays the theses in Latin. The church, now Lutheran All Saints’ Church, was built on the palace grounds of the duke around 1340. It was (of course) originally a Catholic church, which has been stripped down but still contains the original confessionals. Martin Luther is buried near the front altar.

Our tour guide explained that Martin was originally a Catholic monk who later married a former Catholic nun. One in our group asked if that was a common practice in the 1500’s. He obviously hadn’t been paying attention. Our guide wasn’t the best person to describe Catholic theology or biblical scenes. In a painting, she named Paul as one of the disciples with Jesus at The Last Supper. (He wasn’t there.) In another painting, she said, “In this image, Abraham was going to kill his son Isaac but killed a sheep instead.” Maybe something got lost in the translation, but there’s more to the story. I’m pretty sure Martin Luther would agree.

We disembark from the ship tomorrow morning, so we’ve begun the process of our goodbyes to the staff and passengers we’ve met along the way. I’m trying to talk Stuart into starting a YouTube channel with me called “Ask Stuart,” or “Stuart in Steerage,” where Americans can submit their questions about the UK, British people and British life, and Stuart will answer them on video. I think it would be a smashing hit. I’d do anything to hear him talk. He loves to talk and is a great storyteller. We will make it happen. We’ve created a lifelong friendship during this adventure. They have helped make this trip unforgettable.