Un post comprometido (promised)

Buenas tardes everyone!  Well I promised to post today about my adventures in Berlin and Bergamo, Italy, and so I will.  

As you probably know, Berlin has had a tough 20th century.  First it was bombed by the Allies in World War II and then was divided into two sections during the Cold War.  The city has only been unified 20 years but there already are few signs lefts of the Soviet occupation of the east

 side.  If you go to the outskirts, you can see mass-produced

 buildings covered in graffiti but in the centercity, it is completely modern.  Berlin has an incredible mass transit system with hundreds of buses, trams and subways to get around.  I bought a 3 day pass for transit which was great until I accident sent it through the wash (argh!).  All that aside, there is a lot of history in Berlin.   My first stop was the TV tower at Alexzanderplatz, from where you can see the whole city (toda la ciudad).   Alexzanderplatz is also a transit center, so I took a bus from there to Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.  The church was bombed during the war and never rebuilt, so the steeple is half-built.  It is now a center for reconciliation and has a new chapel.  I liked this church a lot because there was actually some reference to the power of Jesus Christ and the church to effect reconciliation. 

Then I went to the Charlottenburg Palace, which is where Queen Sofie of German lived.  Her grandson was Fredrick the Great of Prussia.  Every room in the house was richly

 decorated with furniture and paintings.  It was cool to walk on the same floors that the King and Queen once walked.   The palace is also famoso for its large gardens (jardines) behind it.  Next, it was off to Tiergartden, which is the largest inner-city garden in the world.  I took a walk through there (di un paseo) to the Brandenburg Gate. 

 Berlin once was surrounded by a grand wall (in the 18th century).  This gate is the one gate still standing from that wall.  It is quite impressive, complete with a sculpture on top.  The Berlin Wall stood close by, so the Brandenburg is a symbol of free Germany today. 

 After lunch (pork, potatoes and beer), I went the Checkpoint Charlie museum, dedicated to the Berlin Wall also.  Checkpoint Charlie was an American checkpoint through which many people escaped from East Berlin into the West.  Afterwards (despues), I went to the Jewish Musuem, where they had an exhibit about eugenics and Nazism.  It was a quick spiral in the evil mind of man from Evolution to the thought that sick or less intelligent people deserve to be killed.  Scientist after scientist developed elaborate explanations for how infirmities were passed on from generation to generation, especially among inferior races.  The solution was to encourage the stronger races (i.e. Aryans) to have lots of kids and to kill the weak links.  Sadly, this occured in America too (although not the same extent). This finally led to the campaign to exterminate Jews and Gypsies.  It was a very informative and interesting (if sad) exhibit.

So 6 sites in one day.  I tried to fit a couple more in, but as I mentioned in the last post, I found out that museums close at 6:00 in Germany. The musuems I missed were the Pergamon Musuem, which features ancient artifacts (including an ark), and the NationalGalerie of art.  So instead, I went home.  

The next morning we went to the Baltic Sea (2.75 hours by train).  We went to a cute little seaside city and passed a wonderful day there.  Frank's young friends were a blast, peppering my with questions about myself and America and practicing their English.  It was worth my while (merece la pena).  

Sadly, I had to leave on Sunday before I could go to church with Frank.  But it did mean that I could get to Italy right in the middle of the day.  In constrast to the chilly, rainy weather of Berlin, it was beautiful there.  All the images we have of Italy are true!   The views are amazing, the people loud, the drivers bad and the food deliciosismo!  Yes, I did miss my flight, which was a good test of my faith for sure.  I was worried that I wasn't going to get back to Spain, but God knew what He was doing!

Speaking of which, I have a prayer request:  the church I have been attending needs your prayer.  They have been told that they cannot stay in their current building any longer and have to move.  They have found a new place, but it nees a lot of expensive renovations.  This is a church made of mostly immigrants, not people with tons of money.  So they are really leaning on God right now for provision.  If you can remember these dear brothers and sisters, pray for them!

Thanks for reading!

- Charlie

P.S. I know Recah and Eli are enjoying my posts, but I'm not sure if anyone else is reading them.  I'm not sure if I am going to spend so much time writing for just two people... 

:)