As some of you may have already heard, Drew and I were lucky enough to get two free tickets to the U2 concert in Berlin that celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the Berlin wall coming down. Not only did we get to experience a band that has spanned the decades creating meaningful, beautiful, and inspiring music, but we were also part of the crowd feeling the history reflected by the Brandenburg Gate. The celebration of freedom, of choice, of unity. It was impossible to ignore the lively atmosphere that Berlin exudes because it has lived without the basic rights of life that it now promotes openly.
Despite being at the concert, I couldn't truly grasp the history of Berlin until the next day. Drew and I had met up with some friends from Berlin to have lunch, and upon their request we headed toward the nearest Subway. The city was going to celebrate the anniversary with a falling of a giant dominoe-wall over the former site of the Berlin wall. It was already being set-up on Friday with protective barriers so that no one could cross. We were on the wrong side of the wall, and could not get to the other side. My stomach growled in protest, and I had a slight sense of what the Berliners may have felt standing on one side of the wall seeing what the other side offered, but not being allowed to pass through the wall.
1 comments:
Ah man, I'm so jealous! But how about this: I lived in Germany when the wall still stood! Ok, so seeing U2 at the anniversary is better....
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