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You are here: Home / Archives for history

Discovering the Romance of Berlin

August 14, 2013 By Lauren

When I was nine, my fourth grade teacher held up a small velvet pouch.

“Inside this bag is something very important,” she said.

The class was entranced. What was in it? Gold? Money? Chocolate?

She reached into the bag and slowly pulled out…a rock.

Our faces screwed up in disappointed confusion. A rock? Half of us could have turned out our pockets to reveal the very same thing.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Mrs. Trettin said. “What’s so special about a rock?”

Our interest was piqued. That was exactly what we’d been thinking. Mrs. Trettin’s mind-reading capabilities kept our attention where the rock couldn’t.

“This rock came all the way from Germany. It’s a piece of the Berlin Wall.”

Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall.

She went on to explain how the Berlin Wall had been formed and subsequently destroyed. I was fascinated. It was like the imaginary line I made in the living room that my little sister couldn’t cross, but real.

For the next 18 years, Berlin existed in my mind as a city full of rubble, war-torn and grey, host to an atrocious leader and military enemies.

I was wrong.

Berlin holds a special kind of romance. It’s not obvious, like the gondolas of Venice or a sidewalk café in Paris. It’s gritty but beautiful, scarred but alive.

Where I expected blandness and institutionalism, I got elegant architecture, archways, and mint-green rooftops. I wanted to stay longer than three nights; I wanted to rent an apartment and spend the whole summer there. Berlin has layers that can’t be peeled away in a few days.

The history is what made Berlin shine, and I’m not a history nut by any means. But when I stood in front of the remnants of the Berlin wall, I was fully awed. I love that pieces of the wall still stand as a silent acknowledgement of the past, twisted with metal and fractured by time.

Berlin church
Beauty in Berlin

Berlin’s romance comes from the way the German people have built towards the future without erasing the past. There are gorgeous old churches and museums to gape at, mysterious sculptures to stumble upon, and colorful murals in unexpected places.

It seems odd to call a place with such a tumultuous history ‘romantic,’ but it is. The city gets in your soul. In the Bebelplatz, formerly known as Opernplatz, the Nazis burned 20,000 books one night in May 1933. I stood there, 75 years later, staring at the memorial embedded in the ground. Unlike coming face-to-face with other pockets of history, like the coliseum or Gettysburg, this felt real. Right there, at my feet, history happened.

I remembered being nine and learning about Berlin for the first time; being introduced by a humble little rock. Mrs. Trettin told us about the burning books, and I was as horrified as a fourth-grader can be; who would have the audacity to burn books? I never imagined that one day, I’d be standing there in Berlin, seeing it for myself.

Berlin invokes feelings of nostalgia, love, and loss, even for someone like me who wasn’t there to experience any of it. The city still stands, vibrant and modern, yet somber and worn, ready to teach us all a thing or two about what it means to be romantic.

Sculpture
Unexpected artwork

Filed Under: Germany, Headline Tagged With: berlin, culture, history

Lindos, Rhodes

February 15, 2012 By Danny

The isle of Rhodes is one of those special places that just captures history and keeps it there.  First the Greeks and then the Romans, Byzantines, a few knights, the Ottomans and now it’s back in the hands of the Greeks.  Because of all this back and forth through history it is nearly impossible to figure out the full archaeological record but in the meantime there are plenty of archaeologists out there trying.

The site of Lindos is one of the top places to visit when you visit Rhodes and this picture makes it clear why.  A beautiful Mediterranean Sea filled with historic artifacts that make me want to leap through that door to another world.    Really though, this site was special as the meeting place between the Greeks and the Phoenicians and became a major trading center.  The Acropolis was dominated by the Temple of Athena until a combination of earthquakes and medieval fortifications did it in but that doesn’t mean you can’t check out some flights to Rhodes and see the ruins for yourself.

IF YOU GO:  There is plenty to do on Rhodes from checking out ruins, scavenging for the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes, and just eating the phenomenal Mediterranean fare.  Aside from Lindos there is also Kalithea Springs and Ancient Rhodes itself.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Flickr user Gisi.M via a creative commons license.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: history, photo, rhodes

A Motorbike in Rome

February 13, 2012 By Danny

Rome is famously known as the ‘Eternal City’ and is the capital of Italy and has more history than most people can even begin to understand.  When we think of it we think of The Colosseum, The Pantheon and its beautiful Piazza. What you don’t think about, especially if your image of Rome is defined by movies like Gladiator, is how to get around.

All over the world we were amazed at how history meets modernity and despite all those ancient marble sites people still live in the 21st century.  In Rome though, those ancient streets weren’t made for cars and so an armada of motorbikes leads the way.  I usually think of Asia when I see a motorbike but a Vespa is Italian and at the heart of Rome is its motorbike.

These bikes or scooters are available for pretty fair prices and are the best way to make way in between the heavy and chaotic traffic of Rome. Sometimes the traffic can be too heavy and a bit intimidating but still it will always be an experience worth remembering.

IF YOU GO: If you do get a chance to visit Rome, then should definitely try and visit the most famous Churches of Rome. There are more than 900 churches in Rome and you can find about the most famous ones among them from a good travel guide.  There are plenty of Apartments in Rome to rent and once you’ve done that you should’t let the traffic scare you out of your motorbike tour of the city!

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Flickr user Leo-setä via a creative commons license.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: history, motorbike, rome

Photo: Kneeling in Terra Cotta

July 5, 2011 By Jillian

The Chinese really put a lot of money into the Terracotta Warriors .  I’m not going to pass judgement on how it was done and what happened to the people who used to live on the land, but the fact remains that the Chinese have created an expansive network of warehouses and museums to protect and exhibit the Terracotta Warriors.   When you see them all lined up, many of them in the exact location in which they were buried, its a pretty cool and yet weird site.  Hundreds of thousands of statues, of soliders and both animals, each with individual features- I mean its almost like something our of a horror movie.  I was waiting for them to come alive and eat the tourists.

Sure the place was crowded and nobody pushes through a crowd like an efficient tour guide, but it was definitely a cannot miss place.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO: Definitely check out our original Xian post- we passed along good tips for independent travelers to make the most out of their visit to Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors.  Very frequently the farmer who discovered the warriors is in the giftshop signing books.  He didn’t look too happy to be sitting there, but welcome to communism I guess.  Maybe someone could convince the government to give that guy and his family some time off… say like a Maldives holiday.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: art, history, sites

Photo: History & Munich

June 21, 2011 By Danny

Munich is a great place to visit but it is one with a colored past.  Munich is the city where Adolf Hitler rose to power and much of the power of the 3rd Reich was concentrated there.  On the outskirts of the city (reachable via public transport) is the Dachau Concentration Camp, Hitler’s first and one of the most feared as it was used for SS ‘training’ purposes.  This camp is by no means as large as some of the more well known camps such as Auschwitz but it’s close proximity to a major city makes the story all the more compelling.  This gate posted at the entrance of the site says ‘work will set you free.’

Dachau Gate, Munich

Munich itself does have a number of other great attractions and you really could spend some time there soaking up history; both old and new.  Many of the buildings were bombed out during the second world war and the mix of architecture is interesting to look at.  We took a free city tour were surprised at how much more there was to the city beyond it’s World War II history and Oktoberfest.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

IF YOU GO:  Free city tours are a great way to start and don’t let anyone tell you that Dachau is too far from the city to go via public transport…it’s cheap and easily accessible.  Be sure to look for some boutique hotels in Munich, there are a lot as it’s a huge city.  From Munich it’s a short ride to Berlin, Frankfurt or even Prague in the Czech Republic.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: history

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