Tiergarten Park

Berlin is green: green trees line Unter den Linden (under the Linden trees) and other boulevards, and they surround the park split by several roads. Berlin has parks, the most famous being the Tiergarten Park which was developed as a hunting ground in the 1600s and was landscaped as a park in the 18th century. The park's green trees, especially the oaks and maples, are relatively young because during the frigid winter of 1946-47, the trees were cut down because people needed the wood for heat.

Tiergarten Park doesn't compare with Central Park or Luxembourg Gardens, and comparisons are unfair. Considering that Berlin has been so battered throughout history, it is amazing that the park exists at all. We found only one section filled with flowers; otherwise it is massive grass lawns and trees. Bikers and strollers pass along the pathways which are developed, and in one section, Turkish families were grilling their Sunday dinners and serving them on white picnic tables or on cloths on the ground. Families were kicking soccer balls around, sunbathing, and enjoying their Sunday afternoon.

We began our morning at the Driscoll Cafe on Under den Linden Street. Our breakfast consisted of one soft-boiled egg, ham and cheese, a basket of breads and jams, and yogurt with fruit. Mark had great plans for us, so our first stop after breakfast was the Brandenburg Gate, built two centuries ago as one of Berlin's 18 gates. It has figured centrally in modern history but especially interesting was the time from WWII to the 1989 destruction of the Berlin Wall to the city's current efforts to unify and improve Berlin. It was emotional reading the history of the Gate and its symbolism for the German people, especially the photo of East Berliners storming the wall in 1989--quite amazing.

Next we set out for the Holocaust Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, a sculpture by Peter Eisenman, a New York architect: it is a whole city block of "concrete pillars of varying heights positioned on a gently wavy ground . . . an abstract interpretation of a field of wheat in the wind." There is an underground information center but the line was too long. Again, one cannot escape the emotional significance of the events that took place under Hitler's reign. I hope we never forget!

Finally, we found quite by accident (actually Mark saw someone with an antique mirror walking in the park and being so observant, he asked where the antique market was) the antique flea market, the Trodelmarkt, one of the largest in the city. Among the treasures, Mark found the wine spout he has been looking for for 3 euros, and we finally had a bratworst on a roll and an apple and nutella crepe.

We will eat in the hotel tonight and see Garden State later (there is not a huge selection of English films). Tomorrow we will leave for Gramisch by plane and train, but we have almost the whole day here to plan something. Then we will be back here at the end for a few days to do the things we could not do this time.

Another good day.