Berlin

Hello to Everyone. It’s taken me awhile to figure out how to get into the site to start writing, but here I am, on my last day in Berlin. Every day has been an adventure. I’m full of so many thoughts and feelings that keep me up at night…along with jet lag and a bad back.

Traveling back in time, walking the same streets as so many have walked before, is very powerful. I’ve seen numerous buildings that look old but have actually been reconstructed after being destroyed in the war. Bullet-pocked walls tell a thousand stories…and then there is the Holocaust. The ghosts are ever present. A sense of shame and acknowledgement permeates everything. The first day here, I went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a very well-done, matter of fact museum that somehow is able to translate the enormity of the evil that took place.

The second day was much lighter both in mood and the weather and we spent the day in East Berlin among many historical sites. Marianne, my first cousin, has been an incredible tour guide and fed me full of facts and figures. The fourth day, we took an hour long cruise on a river boat and saw a different perspective of the city. Although they are now considered unified, there are still a lot of differences between East and West Berlin. The East is not as posh and there are more immigrants, which adds a lot of variety to the culture.

Most of you know that I’m visiting the German side (my mother’s side) of my family, and although I have met a few of them over the years, I didn’t know them at all. I have always been fascinated by the mysterious pull that families have for each other, and after my mom died, I felt compelled to get to know “her” people who are also “my” people. I have spent time with not only my cousin and her husband, but also their children and their grandchildren, who couldn’t have been more delightful. Would it have affected me so much if we weren’t related? Who knows. But I do know that I am filled with love and appreciation for them.

It’s 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and I’m about to tackle the jigsaw puzzle that is my suitcase in preparation for the second leg of my trip. I’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning for a 5 hour train trip to southern Germany where more strangers, who are yet to be familiar, will be my hosts. I was beyond thrilled to find out that one member of the families is a standard poodle, so I’ll feel right at home.

More to come and I’ll try to figure out how to post some pictures. I miss everybody.

Much love,

Carola