Today was spent with the Frankes and Mainz families.

Some of us went to the top of the Fehrnsen Turm or TV tour. There were spectacular views of Berlin.

The Rothe Rathaus

Nikolai Kirche

Marien Kirche

Berliner Dom

We took a long walk and visited the statue of Karl Marx. Yes, we must be in what was East Germany.

We got to one of the most famous places in Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate.

We also took a cruise along the Spree River, past the Museum Island with its spectacular architecture.

We also visited the Holocaust Memorial. It is a city block filled with stone blocks. Nothing ornate, all the same horizontal dimensions, but the paths went up and down through this maze of stones. What does it mean exactly. It is left for everyone to come to their own conclusions.

Later that night, Mom went back to the room, and Chris, Claudia, Holger and I went to the symphony. Unfortunately it wasn’t the Berlin Philharmonic. We’ll have to catch that another time.

We had such a busy day, and are so thankful for our wonderful hosts.

Sunday morning started with going to church in the first ward where I served as a missionary, Spandau. We hopped on the subway and then looked for the bus. As we got on, what we hoped was the right bus, a lady talked to us, and we found out she was Mormon, and she was going to church, to the Spandau ward. The building didn’t look the same, but we found out it was because there had been a fire a few years ago, and they had to rebuild it.

LDS.org said Sacrament Meeting began at 9:00, and so that’s when we showed up. It was the last meeting, so we sat in the other meetings, with poor Ginny and Chris not understanding any of the discussion, except the little bit that got translated.

In Priesthood meeting they asked us to introduce ourselves. I mentioned that I had served in the ward 35 years before and gave our names. A man behind us said he knew my grandfather who was his bishop in East Germany. I turned around and looked, and it was the man who was bishop while I was on my mission. That was how he had introduced himself when I got to Spandau 35 years ago. After church we spent time talking with him, and met his brother, who also had been there while I served.

After church we changed, and then we walked down Falkenhaggenerstrasse and saw the apartment building where i had lived as a missionary.

We found our first German bakery (which are everywhere) and had breakfast, and then walked a little through Old Town Spandau, on our way to the Zitadella to meet the Franke’s. On the way we saw a piece of the old Spandau town wall from over 1000 years ago.

The Zitadella

We got to the Zitadella, which is considered the best preserved Renaissance military structures in all of Europe. It was built, in it’s present form from 1559-94 on top of an even older medieval fort. Here we met up with the Franke’s again, and also were joined by their daughter Claudia, and her family, Oleg, Emi and Lion (pronounced Leon).

We took a tour of ancient to modern honorary sculptings from Berlin. Very cool old statues.

After that tour, we explored the other areas of the Zitadella.

We climbed to the top of the tower and enjoyed the views.

After the Zitadella, it was time for lunch, because, wow, we hadn’t eaten for a couple hours now. Went to a local brewery and had a wonderful lunch of bratwurst, Schweinebratten, and Schnitzel.

Alexanderplatz

After lunch we visited Alexanderplatz to see some of the sights there.

The Neptune Fountain

The Marienkirche

The Rotte Ratthaus or Red City Hall

The Berliner Dom or Berlin Cathedral

The Nikolaikirche, which is the oldest church in Berlin

The statue of St. George Slaying the Dragon

in the old Nikolaiviertal or Nikolas Quarter of town.

It was a glorious and busy first full day.