Aug. 2, 2001
Shannon Tuttle, Assistant Coach
Hello to everyone that is checking up on us in Germany! This trip has been unbelieveable. It is hard to believe that we leave in 3 days. I am definitely not ready to go yet.
Last night we finally arrived in Berlin. I would have to say that my expectations of the city were not very high, I really wasn’t expecting much. Boy was I wrong! We will be spending a total of 3 days here, but I think we need about 10. This city is really amazing.
We got to sleep in a little bit today. We had yet another traditional German breakfast. I finally branced out and had the meat, cheese, and bread. I can not believe I waited this long! The yogurt here is delicious. I know that breakfast is one of the things I will definitely miss most.
After breakfast we hoped on a bus to tour the city. We hired an English speaking tourguide to accompany us for the day. She was very friendly and a great tour guide. It was a very educational tour. I was really fascinated to learn that 75% of Berlin was destroyed in WWII. It seems like such a developed city and it is amazing to realize that most of the development occurred after Nov. 9, 1989. (When the Berlin Wall came down) Our tour took us through most of West Berlin and then on to the Berlin Wall. It was surreal to be standing in a spot and looking at a wall where so much history took place. The reality of the wall struck me when Bond pointed out all the bullet holes in a nearby building. After the wall, we went by Checkpoint Charlie, where a few of us bought pieces of the Wall.
I have been so enthralled by the architecture in all of the German cities that we have been to. Berlin definitely has the most beautiful buildings. It is weird to think that buildings in the US date back to the 1800’s and we find those “historical”. Today, we stopped at a church that was built in the 1200’s. I keep wondering how they had the tools to create such detailed and intricate designs. I wish we had more buildings like these in the US.
We definitely took a whirl wind tour of the rest of the city. We saw all of Berlin in 2 1/2 hours. My favorite building was definitely the Berliner Dom which is the largest Protestant Church in Germany. I am hoping that we get to see the inside of it on Saturday when we have more free time. I have a list of all the places I want to see then. Hopefully we will have enough time. If not, I guess I will have to come back.
After our bus tour, we rested at the hotel before our match against the German Junior National Team. Even though we lost, I think it was our best match. We competed very hard. I think the team was pretty spent when we were done.
I have to go eat now. Another delicious German meal. I am really going to miss this food.
See you all soon!
