Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Another (less) brick in the wall

This weekend found me going through an old box of my things. I happened upon this here naked pill bottle, and remembered right away that this was no ordinary pill bottle, half full of expired pain reliever.

Nope, this bottle contains a bit of history. Sounds grandiose, doesn't it? But, really, it does.

Know what it is yet?

How about now?

Yep, those little painted pebbles are remnants of the old Berlin Wall.

Let's dissect the collage from my photo album page and take a closer look.

That's a pretty serious wall, isn't it? Kind-of menacing, no?

 With a lot to say.


Both on the wall itself, and around its disappearing remains.


Oh, and there were plenty of broken windows, and abandoned buildings, and such.

It was October of 1990 when my friend Mary Ann was pictured chipping away at a portion of the wall. It had been almost a year since the Berlin Wall was opened, on November 9, 1989. But only a matter of weeks after Germany was officially reunited, on October 3, 1990. You could feel the change in the air, but also feel the chilly past of the cold war. It was still right over your shoulder.

The East side of Berlin had a whole different vibe -- more subdued, more serious, less trusting.

I can only image how happy they were to see the likes of us cruising down their streets. But not to worry, we didn't stay on the east side too long.

We had some concerts to attend.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness that was 21 years ago!
A whole different world and now the uified Germany is the rock of financial strength for all of Europe. What a memory.
Love, Mom

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Look at what an adorable tiny baby girl you are!

Love it Beth. Mistah and I were in Berlin right after the wall came down and I agree about how different West and East still were......

Love the old photos. Keep going through those college albums!

xxEllie

Anonymous said...

How can I not comment on this one?! I can't believe no mention of our Berlin rental and subsequent early morning ejection after the owner followed you climbing the stairs with several cases of beer and to the door only to witness Dead Tour in all it's hairy glory right there in her own home! At least we got the one night. Oh yeah, and helped "tear down that wall"!

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Oh Mar, there was SO much more I could have said, and would have, except, as usual, I was running behind and had to get the dang thing posted! (Kids and work really get in the way of my blogging.)

I guess I'm not the most observant person ever -- should have just kept walking with that beer. Could have stayed on in style.

Alas, it was not the only accomodations I/we were evicted from that trip. The next night in Berlin, with no place to stay, I think we snuck into Lisa Bailly's room, very, very quietly, and slept on the floor....

b

Pat said...

My,my...wasn't I oblivious
Mom

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Ooh, a whole new (old) world of beth sorties to be told! I love it, great pics, great hair:)

Jacquie