 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
Berlin:
Walls: Berlin is defined by it's walls. Separation, differing ideals, propaganda, intrigue, mussel & fear as a way of life. Walls to stay clear of, walls to protect, walls to hide from, territory, sanctuary. Sad as it is, something else all together different was going on behind these walls, and it was not politics. All the Arts flourished here regardless of who, or what ruled & occupied over them in time. Frederick the Great and his family and his dynasty ruled here for over 403 years, he had many lovely, enlightened palaces. We finished our tour here, a perfect retrospection in the time line modern of history. We lead our tour through Auschwitz and, and the Birkenau concentration camps which are ironically in Poland. One can not visit or think of modern Germany without first thinking of the terror that once rained down here such a short time ago. I would hate to be a native here and tell anyone else where I am from. Sins of our fathers. Efficient, brilliant engineers, yet they are a bit to smart, or short to task. I kept looking for Dieter, or that Sprocket guy. Overcoming that cleshe, I will give them a great deal of patience in dealing with our perceptions. School children must make a daily pilgrimage annually to the concentration camps; to remind them of what their grandfathers thought, wrought. The Wall. There have been many walls though time, yet it is quite incomprehensible that this still went on such a short time ago. Walls of ideology, rulers and control, splitting a city in two. They mark the line of demarcation throughout. Freedom vs. Control, they would play games to the Eastern inhabitants if they did not already know of the advantages. By building facades or beaches directly within there view, propaganda as a way of life.
I very much enjoyed my trip, yet it was far too fast seeing 6 countries & 12 Cities. I can not wait to go back. I unfortunately did not have time too look at as much art as I would of liked. I learned much ironically what it is to be an American, free, free from the devastation of war on our shores, free from history if you will. What a tremendous burden that can be, yet ignorance is no excuse. That Europeans are pack rats loving their history, bathing in it, sometimes that is all that you have. That we are blessed to have 2 oceans separating man, from his neighbor. That America is a baby, free of tyrants, that we should lead by example, never might, or force. That history can bog, and hold you down, for as shabby as american buildings are, it is our ability to reinvent ourselves constantly that makes us strong, to change and grow in the current time. That as much as a European will never admit to our face that they admire us, they are tiny countries separated by history, language, politics, lack of a sizable audience in their markets is limiting to them. In spite of the falling dollar ( Iraq war ) That our legacy is in ideas, tomorrow, never the foundations of buildings. Yet all in all , I was so blessed to got to be able to see other worlds, and greatly respect them and their trying histories. It taught me how small that I was, how tiny most of our perspectives are, how trivial my life used to be. What I thought were large concerns are laughable now after I have seen what eastern Europeans have gone through in the past 65 years. The Cold War was devastating, how little I really understood about it, yet after seeing it how heroic these people are to me now, they are my heroes. | ||||||||||||||
|