Traveling Again! Germany and Poland with a cruise to return

Phillip and I are currently in Berlin, Germany. We left Texas on Sunday, flying to Frankfurt. Phillip had requested a frequent flier miles upgrade to business class for the 9-1/2 hour flight, but we hadn't gotten notification that we got the upgrade when Leslie took us to the airport. We couldn't check-in early and the kiosk wouldn't check us in either, so we had to go to a ticket agent. And the reason for that was... we did get the upgrade! Our flight was so much nicer than we thought it would be as the business class seats totally recline and make a bed. We were able to get some sleep on the flight so when we got to our Frankfurt hotel at about 11 am Monday, it was OK that we couldn't check in early and take a nap. 

We did get checked in, and took that nap, at about 1 pm. The Frankfurt hotel was the same one we stayed in during our 2018 European travel. Not a great room, but a wonderful breakfast, one of the top 3 hotel breakfasts of all our travels. It did not disappoint, with plenty of American and European items, including this delicious pastry filled with banana and topped with chocolate. 

Frankfurt is a business city, not much to see of a picturesque nature. On Tuesday, we walked over 7 miles as we did go to the Maine River and walked along the pathway for several miles. The ducks, geese, and pigeons were not afraid of people, and we had to be careful of duck poop on the walkway. 

During our walk, we came across a small skate park where little kids were having a great time on small bikes and scooters. We sat and watched the kids for over 30 minutes. Even the littlest (and one was still using a pacifier) knew how to not crash. 

Yesterday, Wednesday, we took a high-speed train from Frankfurt to Berlin. An easy four hours for the train ride. No pictures as the scenery flashed by too quickly. It is still green here, autumn has not started. The train went thru a lot of countryside, so we passed hunting blinds just like those in Texas. Wild hogs and deer, according to the internet, but unlike Texas, wild hogs actually have a hunting season. 

Once in Berlin, we only had to walk about 100 yards to our hotel. The room I booked is in the closest hotel to the main train station. And the train station has a grocery store and about 50 restaurants. We bought water and snacks at the station. This view from our room includes the Washingtonplatz, the square immediately adjacent to the station; the taxi stand (taxis are mainly hybrid Toyota Priuses); and the bicycle stands.

Today, we went on a 3-1/2 hour walking tour of Cold War Berlin. It was fascinating to me, not so much to Phillip. I don't remember the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, but I studied the politics of it during my political science major days in college (late 1970s). The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a current event during my lifetime. Therefore, I was a rapt student for our tour guide as we visited sites and portions of the wall that are still standing as historical parks.

I knew already that the wall was built because too many East Germans were leaving communist (i.e., Soviet controlled) areas for the West, mainly thru Berlin. Berlin was in the middle of East Germany but the city itself had been divided, initially controlled half by the former Allied forces from WWII (USA, France, and Britain) and half by the Soviet Union. About 20% of the population of East Berlin left during the 15 years previous to the wall, mostly professionals. From our tour guide, I learned was that there were actually four phases to the Berlin Wall. One Sunday night in August 1961, when NATO leaders all happened to be on vacations, the East German leaders, who had stockpiled barbed wire, had soldiers unroll almost 90 miles of it around West Berlin. This was Phase 1 of the Berlin Wall. Concrete fortifications came next, then metal bar reinforced concrete.

The East Germans created a No Man's land with two walls, so that guard towers could be installed to provide clear lines of sight to shoot people trying to cross the wall into West Berlin.

The decreasing power of the Soviet Union during the 1980s, as Poland and Hungary had successful democratic movements, Mikhail Gorbachev's political actions, and increasing unrest in East Germany, led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Germany, and Berlin, reunified. In addition to Berlin Wall, our tour guide talked about the Stassi, the East German secret police that served as a crucial Cold War component to keep the East German leaders in power. The Stassi recruited, thru inducement and coercion, millions of people to spy on their neighbors. At the height of East German control, 1 in 24 people were spying on their neighbors and reporting to the Stassi. Our tour ended at the Stassi Museum, created at the actual Stassi main office location. 

I was fascinated by the displays, pictures taken during events with written descriptions. Too much reading for Phillip, so he sat after the first floor while I went thru the other floors. As this was the Stassi headquarters, the actual furnishings and office equipment from the time remained. 

Phillp was happy that I was excited about filling in some gaps in my knowledge of the Cold War, even as he wasn't enthralled with the information. I expect that tomorrow, when we have a tour of 3rd Reich Berlin sites, he will be more interested. Also, he plans to wear his hearing aids for that tour!