Tempelhof

I started off my day with a star. Grapes brightening my morning and kicking my day off right. 

 Worked on the boat and said goodbye to my fellow americans. It was bittersweet!

Then I headed to Tempelhof airport. This was a tree right outside.

It started being built in the 1920s but didn't have enough funding so Hitler made it his special project when he came to power. He was going to use it to do military air shows. Although his plans were never finished.

This is the roof of the airport. The right side of the roof is bleachers for Hitler's air shows. This is only half of the building. The other half's bleachers were never completed. I forget how many people they were meant to hold, but i think it was something like 100,000.

The front of the building.

Our class attentively listening to the tour guide.

After the war, the US air force took up a good portion of this building making offices soldier barracks and using the airport for the Berlin blockade in 1948-49 when Stalin blocked off all land routes connecting West Berlin and West Germany.  This meant that West Berlin was basically an island, so planes were the only thing that could bring supplies from West Germany. Planes came in every few minutes with supplies for west berliners. This was known as the airlift and it was orchestrated by the Americans. This picture is just for a visual tool to help see what I'm talking about. Berlin was in the middle of east Germany. Since Stalin cut off all land transportation between east and west, the only way to get from West Germany to West Berlin was to fly. 

During the time the US Air Force was based here, it was also open to the public as an airport. It shut down in 2008 until reopened the same year as a park. You can find people wind surfing on longboards, having picnics, and biking and running on the runways. It's an awesome place to hang out.

Empty. It was very eerie.

An old plane.

Sometimes it is open to go in, but not the day we went.

The Air Force's basketball court center. I took a picture because of how confused and disappointed with their choice of a logo/mascot.

Half of the court.

An room that hasn't been remodeled.

Lots of things to take pictures of

One last look.

Another crisp day.

Monument glowing from beyond the bushes.

A picture I took of the tree with impeccable timing of my friends that were with me. I love this photo although Hyonsung didn't think so. He lashed back with revenge.

Cruel lol. He took about 30 pictures lol. 

Another glimpse of the monument, one that satisfied me enough to put the camera down for the night. 

Hyonsung and I went to dinner afterward because Bisera had to get a journal entry done. Hyonsung and I had the most enlightening conversation about religion. I love new perspectives on life and religion. 

New friends and great food. Nothing better!

Love from Berlin

Abbey