We love Germany! Maybe it is all of the connections we have made with fellow Followers of Christ or the people from “home” we have met up with, or maybe it is my shared connection with the people and history of Germany. I keep telling Tim, it feels like I was made for this place. Frankfurt and Berlin have been fantastic, so many cultures and history. It is hard to believe that almost every nation is represented in these 2 German cities!
We have been tourists, and had the luxury of seeing these cities through the eyes of friends who live here. The people have been incredibly kind. The variety of food has been amazing – our favorites have been Persian and Indian. We also enjoyed some traditional German food and lots of coffee 😊.
The history has impacted all of us. As in Leipzig, the remnants of the Cold War are mind blowing. There is a brick path through Berlin that shows where the Berlin Wall was located and there are a few pieces of the wall around the city. Both of these cities were heavily bombed at the end of WWII and now have a very modern skyline. There are remnants around the cities of original structures, some squares were rebuilt to reflect their original look, apparently at great financial costs. We visited the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin which has been the site of many historical events. Our friend told us the Soviets turned the horses around on the top of the gate to face Russia and they have never been changed back. We also visited the Jewish memorial and the place of Hitlers suicide, which is now a children’s park! All around there are these brass plaques that are placed on the ground telling the story of people taken or escaping during WWII. Such a poignant memorial to the people who lived and worked in these locations.
Transportation has been great, we have primarily traveled by train and subway (SBahn/UBahn). Germany has a pass that you can buy for the month and it has allowed use of most city/regional trains and buses. It has been very convenient and easy to get around.
We took Nathan to the Spy Museum, which was fun and very interesting. Our friends mentioned that Berlin is the center of all the spy agencies (KGB, Stassi, CIA, MI6, etc). It was interesting to learn about the technics used throughout the ages. The museum even credited Scripture with some of the earliest recorded spies! In Numbers 13, Moses sent spies to scout out Canaan. It also mentioned Judas Iscariot as a spy that betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. God uses his story to inform/form the world, there is nothing new under the Sun, even the idea of spies!
We have truly enjoyed our time in Germany and cannot wait to return. Now we are off to Poland.
