Xanten

We went to Xanten to check out the archeological park. There used to be a Roman colony almost all the way up to the Netherlands! I thought that the amphitheatre was pretty impressive, although it has been partially rebuilt. The baths were also nice but mostly destroyed by people reusing thr stone in the Middle Ages. We stayed in Düsseldorf because we found cheap housing there and we have a rail pass for unlimited travel.

Back to Potsdam

This time I got to see Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam conference was held and many post-war decisions were made. It was nice this time to rent a bike and tour the city on wheels instead of on foot.
After we visited the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, which was pretty impressive and interesting.

Back to Berlin

I decided to stay in the same hostel in Berlin as last year, The Cat's Pajamas. Our stay was nice but I was disappointed to not find my old friends in the nearby bar. Instead we met an Australian lawyer on vacation. She was fun to talk to.
The next morning I went on a run to Templehofer Feld, an old airport used during the war. It was really nice, and there were lots of people running, walking dogs, and terrasailing. I read that the airport was used as a labor camp during the war.
Later in the day I took a tour of some of the bunkers built in preparation for the Cold War. It was interesting to see bunkers behind some of the standard-looking doors at the U-Bahn stations. Our guide turned off the lights and I was one of the two guys required to use the manual crank as a backup generator (the gray machine in the bottom-left of the postcard).

Templehofer Feld seen from the train

Dutch Resistance Museum and Amsterdam during WW2

The Netherlands was occupied starting in 1940. It was interesting to learn a bit about the resistance. Later in the day we took a guided tour through Amsterdam. Peter did a great job, and I particularly enjoyed the pictures he brought so that we could see how Amsterdam looked in the 40s.

Castle Tour with Murk

We toured two castles with Murk, an old history teacher. He was superb! He even showed us the location of the Crossroads episode from Band of Brothers as well as the location of the British Airborne landings during Market Garden. 

He showed us a map of Europe being split between three brothers and how it helped to shape France and Germany and how it affected history since - very interesting!

The side that Easy Company charged through

The side that the Germans were caught at