Ich Bin Ein Berliner

We love Berlin.

We never thought we'd feel this way about this city, but we do. It's a fascinating city and our three days there were entirely inadequate. Maybe it's just the summer influx of tourists, but people from everywhere are there. Almost everyone speaks English, the transportation system is good, and the people were friendly and helpful. We'd go back there in a minute.

As promised, here is the picture of Barack Obama as he shakes Russell's hand on Thursday. Due to the crush of people behind me (Sylvia), I couldn't get the shot I wanted, but this is pretty good.




Here's the other shot I got, but now Barack is shaking hands with other people.



Friday, we went on an amazing free walking tour led by a young Scottish ex patriot, Em, who packed her bags last year after graduating university with a degree in history and moved to Berlin. Her love for the city came through at every stop. Here is a picture of Maya chatting her up.




We went to Shabbat services on Friday night in the Neue Synagogue, which has been restored. There were about thirty people in attendance. The leader of the services (not the rabbi) told me that the synagogue has many converts, most of whom are German women. Some of them suspect they have some Jewish heritage based on their family names, but they aren't sure. In any case, he told me that they are very devoted members of the congregation. I saw a few blond, blue-eyed Jews (besides Josh) in the chapel.

Saturday, we went to the Jewish Museum. We really needed two days to do it justice. The exhibit covers the history of the Jewish people in Germany from medieval times through the present without whitewashing anything. Between this museum (located in the old West Berlin) and the new Holocaust Memorial and Museum, which are centrally located right outside the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin seems to have made the decision not to hide from its past. Members of parliament have to walk past this haunting memorial every day to work and the hope is it will have a rational and humane influence on policy. Memorials are also planned for two other groups, gays and Gypsies (Romani), that were persecuted during the war.


Saturday afternoon, we went swimming in the Wannsee, a lake near Berlin. Russell and I (Sylvia) swam out to this platform and went down the water slide twice. It was a challenge for Russell, but he rose to the occasion and had fun.





Here's our family photo after the Obama speech with the Victory Tower behind us.




Please note: Portions of this blog were contributed and/or edited by Josh.