Tonight at dinner we talked about history. Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came down and everyone who was old enough to remember it, remembered it. Where they were, what the saw, how the world reacted. They told me their stories, of watching East Berliners and West Berliners come together for the first time in thirty years to friends and family that they had been separated from. It had been half a lifetime for them.
They said people brought food and beer and cried and ate while simultaneously tearing down the wall. The guards, outnumbered and confused by the sudden crowds that had gathered on both sides of the divide, took their weapons and abandoned their posts. Within days, the barrier would be destroyed.
It's an event that I know little about despite its importance, so on the weekend of November 9th, I'll be flying over to Berlin to join in with the celebrations. Museums and tours, it will be self-education at its finest. On Monday, the festivities should come to a head with exhibitions, demonstrations, performances and mass inebriation (all of which I intend to participate in).
Video documentation guaranteed.
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