MC's Berlin

It has taken more than a week to get this one ready and up, but here is MC's take from Berlin.

So we finally came back to where we once spent what I believe will always remain our longest stretch away from home... Berlin.  We waited 31 years to come back and as we all know many things have changed in that
time.  The city has undergone a complete overhaul to unite two halves and become a whole once again.  I must say I am very impressed with what has been accomplished albeit in 20 years the changes might be
more noticeable than if we took a look every year. Still, the fact remains that I give a lot of credit to the West Germans for doing  the right thing by their East German counterparts.  This has been done at great expense to the West, but when you talk to former Westerners they will tell you that it was what needed to happen. And they payed the price literally.

The city has become gigantic and to some extent is quite hard to get around. The U-Bahn and the S-Bahn traverse the city but from where we are (from a tourist's perspective) there really is only one place you can get to that doesn't require multiple changes... it's a bit of a drag.

Even back in the day (1979) Berlin was quite "Americanized" by European standards,
I say that not only because we lived in the American sector, but there were many fast foods and a strong American presence was felt everywhere.  Well that has only intensified over time.  Our friends, from whom who we rented a flat,  31 years ago, were well educated but spoke little English.  Today they are fluent and have no trouble conveying any idea they want. Their young grandchildren know their numbers in English and are already being introduced to a second language in second grade.

For me though the best part about being back in Berlin has been visiting with Klaus and Ursl. They were very good friends to us when
we lived here and 31 years does not seem to change much.  We had a wonderful evening getting reacquainted with them and their now grown children, spouses and kids.  We were also invited to their flat for dinner with our kids who had fun seeing where we lived.  Our old apartment has been completely renovated and is currently rented out but they got to see our old neighbourhood.  Some life experiences are like a walk back in time and this certainly was for me!  How lucky am I to have experienced this.

We took a day trip with Klaus to Potsdam, beautifully renovated and
visited Sans Souci Palace and Cecilienhof where the Potsdam
conference was held.  Got the background on the talks behind the talks
between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin and then different players as
time went on.

New Year's Eve in Berlin is Europe's biggest party! One million people show up and does it get crazy.  People  from all over pour into the city a few days after Christmas.  The Italians and French were very well represented but so were the Brits and Americans. The fireworks were great but the slush and mess not so much.  They could spend a little more money on sidewalk clearing!

We had a great time here in Berlin before moving on with many things to do and see,  but for me it has been mission accomplished and my visit to Berlin has far exceeded my expectations.  Now I can only hope that Klaus and Ursl visit us in California!