We were so happy to be with Daniela and the Kempf family in Nürnberg. Daniela was another one of our loving au pairs, whose family visited us in Denver. They showed us a great time in Nürnberg, where they specifically organized kids friendly activities. We went to the Volkfest, the country fair, filled with amazing rides. From a parents point of view, I appreciated how relaxed the rides were. They were safe but the workers didnt scream at the people to stand back all the time. We could walk all around the bumper cars and bubble rides to take pics of our kids laughing. The food was homemade, fresh and delicous. Totally different feeling than in the states. We also saw the huge, famous Nürnberg zoo, which has more space for the animals, than the Denver Zoo.
Here we are constantly surrounded by history. We visited the Nürnberg "Reichsparteitagsgelaende", the NS party grounds, where Hitler stood and hystericaly screamed at huge audiences. We saw the "Dokumentationszentrum" for the Nuremberg trials, where the documents from the Nürnberg process or trials are kept. The WWII history can be hard to take but it is important to often revisit it in an effort to never repeat it.
Peter taught a 2-day endoscopic spine course to Tübingen, one of the oldest University cities in Germany, close to Stuttgart. It is a very beautiful medieval town with a large, large number of students. Definitely worth a trip by itself!
While Peter was in Tübingen, I took the kids by train to explore Berlin. We have been in Germany long enough that I saw how cosmopolitan Berlin is with its ethnically diverse restaurants. However, comparing Berlin to the other cosmopolitan cities of the world like Amsterdam and New York, Berlin is very caucasian. Berlin is lively and fun. Berlin, since it has been reconstructed city, it is thoughtfully planned out so history, specifically WWII, doesn't repeat. All the embassies are lined up next to each other within one district in order to promote open communication. The museums are located on museum island and will soon be connected by an underground tunnel. Berlin is artistically pleasing to the eye and tastefully displays its historical sites . Liebeskind designed the powerful building of the Jewish Museum to evoke the feeling of the history of the Jews in Germany. Checkpoint Charlie, where the US, the allies and diplomats crossed into East Germany, still stands. The Germans crossing into the east where thoroughly searched at another checkpoint on Friedrichstrasse. We snapped a photo of Annika in front of her birthday poster, March 18, a very important day in 1848 because it was the first time students, workers and revolutionaries banded together to protest against monarchs. For us today, the Brandenburg gate represents freedom from dictators and repression, and represents a gate to the free world.
We also spent the day with my good friend, Rumi and Paul Gant's son, Nigel. We had a blast in the markt, that looks like the Kriskindmarkt. We also had a nice discussion in the holocaust memorial which Peter Eisenmann designed to show how in WWII mass graves (symbolized by the huge smooth grave stone structures) were used and a systematic (symbolized by the grid) method of getting its victims in the graves was applied.
Hansi: Berlin was too smoky.
Tobi: I thought that the Berlin wall would be taller and thicker.
Gia: Berlin is a very beautiful city and it taught me a lot about the Holocaust.
Annika: Berlin has the very same public transportation system as Munich, the Deutsche Bahn. So, I feel very comfortable navigating the trains, subways,etc.
We truly had fun exploring new places together!
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