Detours and More Friendly Faces

Frauenkirche in Dresden

In case there is anyone who hasn’t given up on my blog, here’s the next installment, shortly to be followed (by the end of this weekend) by stories of the last week of my trip. 

Sara and I parted ways (after a 4:00am wake-up) as she headed to Prague’s airport and I jumped on a train to Dresden.  With only a few hours before the next train headed to Berlin, I explored the city and the history museum.  The city was completely destroyed during World War II by firebombing; some of the main landmarks were rebuilt to their original glory, including the main Frauenkirche (a Lutheran Church), but in this case, not until the end of the 20th century.  In the history museum, the photos and artifacts that were preserved from World War II were shocking to see, especially those of the city as rubble.

Welcome to Berlin!

Upon arrival in Berlin, I met up with some friendly faces - my Uncle Tim and Aunt Noreen and a few friends of theirs I had met on last year's Grand Canyon rafting adventure.  My aunt, uncle and I spent the remainder of the day walking down Unter den Linden (the main boulevard through the city), taking in the main sights, most notably the Brandenburg Gate.

After a fabulous dinner, we headed to the Reichstag Building (house of parliament), where we stood in the line to go up to the glass dome. 

The Brandenburg Gate

The benefit of traveling with older people manifested itself faster than I had anticipated when an employee who was checking the line spotted us and informed us that we could skip the line and go in the side entrance since my aunt and uncle were elderly.

The audio guide told us what we were seeing (although it was a bit harder to spot things as it was nighttime) as well as informing us about the sustainable design elements of the dome itself.  I was fascinated by both but took more pictures of the sunshade and the column of mirrors to direct sunlight than the light-up buildings outside!

The Reichstag building by day.

The sunshade and mirrors inside the Reichstag's dome.

It was a wonderful start to the last bit of my trip – traveling with family, eating delicious dinners at restaurants, and sleeping in hotel rooms.  Definitely a change, but it was an enjoyable one.