July 9th, 2016 - Berlin, Germany

The Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument and one of the best-known landmarks of Germany. The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees, which led directly to the royal City Palace of the Prussian monarchs. Throughout its existence, the Brandenburg Gate was often a site for major historical events and is today considered a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany, but also of European unity and peace.

Our next stop was to tour the Reichstag Parliament Building and Observation Area. The building was built for the Diet of the German Empire, which was succeeded by the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. We enjoyed going to the top of the observation deck to take in the wonderful views of Berlin and learned about the city’s history.  

After visiting the Reichstag we walked through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, completed December 15, 2004. It consists of a 4.7-acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. After the memorial, we grabbed a currywurst for lunch and surprisingly, we really enjoyed the curry bratwurst! A currywurst is a fast food dish of German origin consisting of steamed, then fried pork bratwurst typically cut into slices and seasoned with curry ketchup, a sauce based on spiced ketchup or tomato paste, itself topped with curry powder, or a ready-made ketchup seasoned with curry and other spices.

After our adventurous lunch, we took a nice walk to Checkpoint Charlie and to the Topography of Terror Museum. Prior to this trip, we decided our focus for Berlin was to learn more about the Cold War and its global impact. To continue our Cold War focus, we headed to the DDR Museum, which was an interactive museum from the perspective of living in East Berlin. It was very interesting learning about life from the other side of the wall.

All in all, Berlin has been on our lists to visit for quite a long time. We were very excited about this day and Berlin did not disappoint. At the end of the day we enjoyed just casually walking around the city.

By the end of the day we had walked 12 miles and we were completely exhausted for the train ride back to Warnemunde. Once we returned to Warnemunde, we enjoyed walking around the town and visiting the pier before returning to the ship.