Berlin - Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Founded by human rights activist Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt, Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie explores the history of the Berlin Wall and the stories of the people whose lives were affected by it.  It depicts objects used to get over, under, and through the Berlin Wall in their efforts to escape the so-called “best border security system in the world.”

Celebrating its 50^th birthday, the museum also hosts a new exhibition tracing movements which have promoted human rights from 1800 onwards and how the struggle continues today.

The permanent exhibit traces the history of the Berlin Wall.  On exhibit are some of the various deceptive means of escape including hot air balloons, escape cars, suitcases, homemade mini-subs, and even a cleverly hollowed out surfboard.

The human rights exhibit entitled From Gandhi to Walesa: Non-Violent Struggle for Human Rights Worldwide, features a diary and wooden sandals of Mahatma Gandhi as well as other artifacts. They also have the typewriter used to draft Charta 77, the hectograph from the illegal periodical Umweltblatter, and Elena Bonner's ‘death mask’ of partner Andrei Sacharov.

2012 also marks the opening of the new permanent NATO exhibit which charts the creation of NATO in 1949.

Originally opened in 1962 by Dr. Hildebrandt in two-and-a-half rooms to protest the newly erected Berlin Wall in 1961, its popularity outgrew its original location and it was moved to its present location at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in 1963.  Because of its location, the museum café became a popular meeting point to plan escapes.

Today the museum is run by Dr. Hildebrandt’s widow Alexandra following his death in 2004.  Although the Berlin Wall may have come down, many people in the world still face discrimination, persecution, and unlawful imprisonment, and the attention the museum draws to their cause is immeasurable.

Here are some excellent videos.  The first is narrated by Alexandra Hildebrandt called Checkpoint Charlie (2:08).  This one is a segment from travel guru Rick Steve's travel show on Berlin called Berlin, Germany: Checkpoint Charlie (1:21).  The third, Checkpoint Charlie Berlin (3:25), is also quite informative.

Budapest – Fisherman’s Bastion

Fisherman's Bastion

The great, white, fanciful building known as Fisherman’s Bastion (or Halaszbastya in Hungarian) is hard to miss while in Budapest, Hungary.  Even though the word “bastion” refers to a type of defense, this building was never used for that purpose.

Fisherman’s Bastion was built on Castle Hill (on the Buda side of the Danube River) around the turn of the 20^th century by Frigyes Schulek in the neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style to celebrate the Hungarian millennium and is a relatively new building in terms of European architecture. 

Schulek’s son, Janos, performed the restoration of the building in 1947-48 after its near destruction in World War II.  Built of pale white stones, it is still a bright spot as time and smog have not taken its toll on the building and turned it black like so many older structures.

Built in a fanciful fairy tale castle design, it boasts seven turrets, each one representing one of the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the area in 896 AD.  The pointed turrets were designed to resemble the tents of the tribal leaders.

In medieval times, a fish market was nearby and legend says it was built on a spot where fishermen defended Castle Hill.

Today, Fisherman’s Bastion is a favorite lookout spot where visitors can look out over the Parliament, the Danube River and Pest (on the other side of the river).  The panoramic views are excellent on both the top and lower levels.

Located between Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church is a mounted statue of King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary. He was declared a saint for bringing Christianity to Hungary.  He carries the apostolic cross with two crossbars – a symbol granted him by the Pope.

Fisherman’s Bastion was featured as a Pit Stop on the sixth season of The Amazing Race.

This short video Travel Hungary – Tour of Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest (1:04) gives you a mini tour.

Tip – Buying a Digital Camera

Looking for a new digital camera?  It’s not as easy as just walking into the store and buying one.  There’s lots to consider – optical zoom, digital zoom, mega pixels, memory cards.  What does all this mean and which should make the most difference to me? 

First I had to decide the type of camera I wanted: a point and shoot (does all the work for me and fits in my pocket) or digital SLR (a bulkier camera but you can interchange lenses to get very wide or extremely telephoto shots).  My criteria: compact, easy to use, point and shoot, affordable, and sharp clear photos. 

I discovered that mega pixels was a concern a few years ago, but now many point and shoots start at 10 mega pixels and go up to 16 mega pixels.  Mega pixels are all those little dots that make up a digital picture which determines resolution.  The fewer the dots and the larger the picture, the grainier the picture is. A 5mp to 8mp is good for the average shutterbug.

I found this helpful chart online that gives the minimum mega pixels for quality prints.

Max Print Size	Minimum MP	Resolution
4 x 6″	2 megapixels	1600 x 1200
5 x 7″	3 megapixels	2048 x 1536
8 x1 0″	5 megapixels	2560 x 1920
11 x 14″	6 megapixels	2816 x 2112
16 x 20″	8 megapixels	3264 x 2468
16 x 24″	12 megapixels	4200×2800

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-parts/megapixels/

Next I discovered that the debate over digital zoom and optical zoom is unnecessary.  Ignore information about digital zoom in advertisements.  All it does is crop the image in the camera and you can do that yourself with your own software after the picture is taken.  Ask about how to turn off the digital zoom to maximize use of the optical zoom.

What you do want to pay attention to is the optical zoom which involves a physical lens magnification of the image you are photographing.  For example, 3x zoom will make your subject three times as big.  

Optical Zoom vs. Digital Zoom 

How much do you need?  2x-3x is good for photos of friends or family.  5x+ is best for outdoor scenery or architectural details.   7x+ may be needed for wildlife or sporting events.

Taking photos inside shadowy cathedrals or other low light locations is a concern for travelers so considering ISO (or light sensitivity rating) is important.  Look for an ISO that goes up to 1600.  Anything over that is unnecessary for most average photographers.

Other items to consider are the extras.  Check to see what kind of batteries the camera needs: regular AA, specialty, or rechargeable (and then a recharger is needed).  Also check to see what kind of memory card the camera uses - can you use the ones you already have, the price of replacements or size of cards, and whether or not they fit into your computer to upload photos.  My new laptop does not accept my old memory cards.

Also consider how your camera will upload photos to your computer – memory cards, USB cord, etc. 

A good web site to visit to compare various cameras is pricegrabber.com.  This is a good site to find the best deal on cameras (or on any item), and pay attention to the feedback ratings. 

Finally, if you are considering purchasing a new camera before our trip, don’t wait until the last minute.  Don’t let the trip be the first time you use your new camera.  You want to get it in plenty of time to practice with it extensively, learning all the little features, before we depart. 

You do not want to spend your trip trying to figure out what button to push or worse get discouraged and quit taking pictures altogether.  You will want to capture every memory.

Tip #1:  Here is a tip I’ve learned from personal experience.  I have found that the more times I transfer a photo, the lower the resolution or quality is when it finally gets printed.  For example, I take a photo with my camera, I transfer it to my computer, then I edit it in a software program, then I send it to Walgreens via the internet, and then they print it…the quality decreases with each transfer.

Now consider if the photo is taken on an iPhone, then goes through a text message, which gets saved onto another iPhone, that then gets put on FaceBook, then gets saved on someone’s iPad, and then emailed to the home computer to then edit in software, then sent online to a photo developer….whew!  Don’t laugh!  I’ve done this and been very disappointed with the end product.

Tip #2:  Many tourist spots, like the inside of cathedrals and museums, don’t allow inside photography.  Here are 3 possible solutions:  1) buy a postcard of the site as most are 4x6 size and fit right inside the photo album; 2) take pictures of postcards in the gift shop with camera’s macro setting; or 3) find the shot you are looking for on the internet, edit it for size in your software program, and print.  I’ve done all three and they all work great.

Tip #3: Planning to use your iPhone as your camera?  Here are some cool apps to enhance your photographs.  1) Photosynth (free) will stitch together your photos in a seamless panoramic image.  You can share 360 degree views with friends and family back home while you’re still enjoying the rest of your tour.  2) 100 Cameras in 1 ($1 or free for 20 effects) bundles filters, effects, and overlays.  3) Splice (free) allows you to take several still photos and videos and splice together to make one continuous video.