West to East Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie

I was 20 when the Berlin Wall came down.  I remember reading all these stories about people trying to escape from East Berlin, sometimes by smuggling people through Checkpoint Charlie - the border post between East and West.

Nowadays, Checkpoint Charlie is a big tourist attraction.  I now have a South African neighbour, Frank Odei-Addo and he got dragged with to see what's happening at Checkpoint Charlie.

Self-explanatory...not sure how long that flag will still be there though, it's not looking to healthy

Frank loves to pose...behind him is a piece of the Berlin wall. 

Frank again at the border post

One can buy fridge magnets with this sign on as well - if that is your thing.  

I don't know who this guy in the uniform is, but here's another view

A bit of moolah (10E methinks) you can get a picture with some "American soldiers" at the former border post

You can also choose which country's military hat you want to wear

You can have your passport stamped.  For 10E you can get all the stamps.  I only got the former DDR stamp for 2E.  This guy got very excited when he saw I'm from South Africa and wanted to talk about Bafana-Bafana.  Pity I have no interest in soccer and couldn't say one meaningful thing about the boys.  But I could talk a bit about the World Cup... 

What it looked like in the before-days

As I went to Potsdam, I thought I'd take a picture of this as this was the only thing I knew of Potsdam - from Std 6 history. 

I don't know why this balloon is in the sky saying something about the world, but I liked it.

Daytrip Berlin to Potsdam

Went on a trip to Potsdam.  It's part of the Berlin/Brandenburg metro but is a separate town.  I went with Micah, a friend that recently moved here from Florida, USA.  We went for most of the Saturday, but can definitely spend another day there.  It really felt like we were outside of Berlin and there were so many other tourists around.  We only visited the Sanssouci Palace and the Dutch Quarter, so here are some pics.  Follow the link if you want to get some history information because I'm only going to post some pics of things I liked.

The whole set-up.  On the left are all the palaces in the park, but only 2 are open in the winter.  It's huge and I think it is a world heritage site.  

At the back of the palace

I love these beautiful colours and shapes

The atmosphere was just so peaceful

Probably the last of the green in 2011 as it's now getting really cold

Even a windmill

And some sun!  

Eish, and just look at this beautiful architectural features

Close up of the pillar head above

Stunning trellised gazebo's that must look amazing in summer

A trellised tunnel - made me think of St. Georges Park

More detail on another gazebo

Architectural detail on the front of the palace.  Look how dirty those figures are.  I wondered if it was because of pollution.

View of the palace from the pond

The pond

These fig trees are planted in recesses in the wall and protected by these glass doors.  These trees are cut in this pyramid shape for some reason but the sign was in German, so I don't know why.  Don't understand why a world heritage site doesn't have English signage.  *mumble-mumble*

Details on a bench facing the pond.  Stunning!

Having lived at the coast for most of my life, I haven't experienced autumn this way often.  Look at the stunning colours!  

Interesting gate in the park

How cute is this?  

We went to see an old church there that looks like all old churches - and there's one around every corner in Europe.  But liked these statues above the front door. 

A view of one of the canals here.  This is surrounded by a large park and I'm sure this place is packed in summer!