Billy's all-star baseball team won their tournament here in Stuttgart in June. The regional tournament is held in Kutno, Poland about 12 hours away from here. At first we weren't going to go because we had a trip planned for the next week, but we decided to go for it!! Since the drive is long, we divided it up and drove to Berlin for our first stop. On the way we stopped at the site of Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany. It was a moving experience. Then on to a whirlwind day and a half in Berlin......amazing!!
The gate that separates the prisoners and the guards, translated: "Each to his own".
Two powerful symbols of the concentration camp/ The pole represents the punishment the prisoners endured, and the cart signifies the forced manual labor.
This area was named the "little camp". In the next picture you can read about the significance of the site we were standing on.
A kilometer down the road there is a memorial site for Buchenwald. The view from this area was spectacular.
This sculpture was enormous and really moving.
ON TO BERLIN!! We arrived in the early evening, found our hotel, and drove into the center of Berlin. We parked just a few blocks from the Brandenburg Gates. We were in awe...this place is such a historic symbol of the entire cold war and it was amazing to stand where President Reagan gave his historic speech.
And yes, we do the silly touristy photo op. things too.
On the Spree river next to the Reichstag building. 
The Reichstag building dedicated to the German people. This building is quite a work of architecture. The top of the building is a glass dome which you can walk up to the top of and get a beautiful view of the whole city.
In the center of the dome is a tower of mirrors that reflect the light from outside to light the inside of the building. The very top of the dome is open to let the hot air from inside of the building out.
Looking out of the top.
These slabs of marble in front of the Reichstag building have the names of the 96 members of the Reichstag who were murdered by the Nazis.
The next day we decided to get up and wander around the city looking at anything we found interesting. There were only a few things on our must do list. This beautiful fountain was the first thing we stumbled upon. It is called Neptunbrunnen.
The TV tower.
We aren't sure about the history or significance of these towers but they had some very moving pictures of people protesting communism.
The founders of communism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
The Berlin Cathedral.
The Jewish Memorial. It is a symbolic cemetary with 2,711 gravestones.
The Wall.
Checkpoint Charlie.
The German Cathedral in the Gendarmarkt.
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The Royal Palace.
This is the Theaterplatz with the Saxon State Opera House in the background. Three opera houses have stood in this platz. The first burned down in 1869, the second was firebombed in 1945, and now this one.
Cheers!!
Inside the Zwinger. This was the palace complex which now houses several museums. It is a beautiful baroque building and the gardens inside are beautifully manicured. Behind Bill and the kids is the Glockenspiel.
This is the famous Crown Gate. The golden eagles at the top supporting the crown is symbolic of Polish Royalty since the ruler (when this was built) was Augustus the Strong who was Polish.
The Catholic Cathedral of Dresden, Hofkirche.
A communist mural on the side of the soviet built Palace of Culture.
Anyone home???
Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), and a statue of Martin Luther.
Frauenkirche was spectacular. It was leveled in 1945 and reopened just recently in 2005. It cost more than 100 million euro to rebuild. The architects used about one third of the original stones. This church is a baroque masterpiece.
The altar in the Frauenkirche.
Bill and the kids stand beside a hunk of rubble from the bombed church.
Mmmmm....chocolate covered waffle on a stick.
The Augustus bridge, connecting Dresden's new and old towns.
A beautiful promenade, Bruhlsche Terrasse, the "Balcony of Europe".
On the Augustus bridge looking back at this beautiful city.
Downtown Kutno.
At the hotel.
Billy, waiting for his pitch.
The kids ran up and down the bleachers.
And in between every inning they blasted dance music...Katie danced along.
The kids played in the pop up tent during many of the games.
I tried to stay out of the blistering hot sun.
In between the games, and meals, and hanging out with the team, we found playgrounds for the kids to run around in.
We ate lots of gelato and pastries.
We were so excited to see Billy pitch one of the games. He did terrific. Only two runs scored, he struck out a lot of batters, they won, and he stayed in the whole game.......go Billy.
Our beautiful son.
His team carried him off the field after they won the game.
The Stuttgart Wolverines in a huddle after the game. In the background the Lithuanian fans were very excited about dancing to YMCA......it was a riot.