Last pics from Berlin

Just a few more pics for you today from Berlin.

First Picture Below: Our friend, Jerry, found himself in the middle of an oncoming parade of mopeds who were involved in an anti-globalization protest.

Second Picture Below: Not sure what the building is in between the points found on the giant asparagus tower (certainly not the "technical" name). But I like the perspective. There are two points of interest, for me, in the picture...the bird resting on the very tip of the top point and the boy resting on the bottom point.

Third Picture Below: The bombed out Memorial Church, as well as the new'ish addition designed by a French architect some years ago. Guys...sorry, I'm just not the history buff like some of my family members. I guess I just don't dedicate those "data spots" in my brain for historical facts like the names of certain buildings and their construction dates. I wish I did for moments like these! :)

The top picture is from Checkpoint Charlie. This was made famous post-WWII when the communists did everything they could to keep the separation between East and West Berlin. From the articles and artifacts found in the Checkpoint museum it's pretty obvious that they didn't do to well at this job...or maybe it's just that people became more and more inventive in order to get across the dividing line.

It's pretty extraordinary to walk around Berlin and think about everything those cobblestone streets witnessed. They have done much to destroy most of the sites associated with the Nazis and Hitler, leaving only some for tourists to see and get a taste of the horror that laid siege to their city and this region of the world for so many years. They have come a very long way since then, becoming an economic powerhouse, a model for the rest of greater Europe.