Day 3 Berlin – Dresden 2 hour drive. Played the “name game” on the bus. Driving tour with Heidi – most kids fell asleep. 96% of Dresden was destroyed in WW2 bombing. The blueprints were saved and they rebuilt, mostly after collapse of Berlin Wall. (Soviets wanted East Germany in part because of the treasures of Dresden – it is an underestimated city in terms of historical value and sights). Ate lunch at restaurant called Alex. Dresden museum was amazing with armory and collection of clocks, figurines, green diamond, etc. Second tour guide was exceptional. Later learned that Kurt Vonnegut […]

Day 2 Berlin Started day with bus tour led by “Matty” who worked for 80s radio station Berliner Rundfunk. He took us to another remaining section of the Berlin Wall where artists painted murals in sections – famous image of Brezhnev (Soviet) kissing the East Berlin leader on the mouth. Heard a local man playing an accordion and saying “Hallo! Danke!” Matty told us about famous escape attempts during the Cold War including a family who secretly built a hot air ballooon only to land just short still on the east. They had to rebuild even more secretly, but eventually […]

Amsterdam – Berlin Sat next to a guy who was sick, coughing, and taking up with arm chair – he was by the window, I was in the middle. Luckily, the flight was only one hour. Arrived in Germany and our baggage claim was small and immediately outside the plane in the airport. Got our stuff and was immediately greeted by our guide Dionysia. She greeted us with kisses and was very enthusiastic and clear with her instructions. We boarded the bus and headed through Berlin to our hotel. It was about a 30 minute drive and she gave us […]