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The Wall to The Tower - 2025
  • Christopher Wendel
  • Christopher Wendel

The Wall to The Tower - 2025

A 14-day adventure by Christopher Read more
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  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    German Spy Museum

    July 24, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Next, I went to the German Spy Museum. It was geared more for kids, but it had some cool things for adults, too. There was a password strength calculator. I have a password manager which generates random passwords that are up to 30 characters (caps, lower, numbers, and special). There is a "master password" to access mine. I put in a similar password (same structure of characters), and it said it would take 4 million years for a computer to crack it. I'm not sure how true that is, but it made me feel good! Checking online, one site said 15 years, and another said 2 million.
    They had a cryptex like in the DaVinci Code and taught you how to crack a safe!    Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Topography of Terror

    July 24, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Last stop of the day was to a place just outside of a museum called the "Topography of Terror". This is the last part of the Berlin Wall that I saw. We passed by it yesterday, but we didn't have time to go down and take pictures. I'm not sure, but I would guess that it is one of the longest parts of The Wall still standing. Because it is part of the Topography of Terror Museum, it doesn't have graffiti. Very emotional and quiet place.
    I learned that the "Nomans Land" between the walls separating the East and the West were typically between 30 and 150 yards. If somehow somebody did get over the first wall without being shot, they would almost always get shot in the middle. The East Germans filled the area with sand so it was harder to run on. The "safest" way was to and dig under into West Germany. Once The Wall was up, they estimated only 5,000 people made it from one side to the other, compared to over 400,000 prior.    Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    To Belgium!

    July 25, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Im off to Belgium! First part of the train ride is to Cologne. For this trip, whenever I could, I treated myself to 1st class tickets and pre-selected sest. :-D
    I have a 90 min layover ther. We are running later, so I probably wont really have time to explore.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Late

    July 25, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    We're not going to make it on time. We're going to be late getting there by about 45 minutes. I canceled my ticket and rebooked a new one. The bad news is that the new one cost €67 MORE than the other. It sounds like they're going to do something to help everybody get to the final city (either Brussels or Paris). But I paid for 1st class, so it's going to be a pain in my case. It's expensive, but rebooking now gets me a reserved seat. Pease of min is worth the extra €67 in this case.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Finally

    July 25, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    We finally made it to Cologne (Köln)! The conductor said we could exchange our tickets, so I went to see if it was too late. Since I had already canceled the original, they said I couldn't do it. Oh well. I wasn't in a rush today because I knew there would be a lot of time needed for travel.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    DB Lounge

    July 25, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    One of the benefits that I get with the 1st Class ticket I bought was that I get access to the DB Lounge. Free food, soda, wine, and beer. Nice chairs. Quiet. And only a 8 min walk from the train station!Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Town hall

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    The places in this square are beautiful. However, there are a few things wrong with their Town Hall. It's not symmetrical at all.....lol. Statues are different, the windows are different, the clock is on the side, and the door is off centered. Apparently, it was supposed to be symmetrical, but due to multiple architects, it morphed into what we see now.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Leather Tanners

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Our guide told us a story about how the leather guilde in Brussels needed something to help them with their leathermaking process. It turned out that a substance found in urine worked great. People were paid for their urine, but eventually, people started diluting it so they could sell more of it (which was bad for the leathermaking process). So the leathermakers needed to hire people to taste the urine first to make sure it wasn't diluted. Because those testers were often very poor, we got the expression "piss poor" for the two groups of people.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    First prison

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Originally, this building was a prison because it was close to square where the trials were held (Great Square). They made an underground tunnel to transport the prisoners back and forth. That tunnel still exists!Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Saint-Jean Square

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    In this square, they punished women who adulterated. They eventually put up a statue of Gabrielle Petit in the middle. It is ironic because she was very devoted to her country and her family. Her husband was a soldier, so she enlisted as nurse. The British made her a spy during World War I because of how many languages she spoke. Unfortunately, she was captured by the Germans and exicuted because she refused to be unfaithful to her country.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Water

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Water came down from this street to supply the rest of the city with water. This location, specifically, is right outside of the city wall, where the poor people lived.

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Peter Bruegel

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Peter Bruegel is a famous Dutch painter who lived in Belgium. One of his paintings was called 126 Proverbs. It contains 126 proverbs from Dutch that exist in Dutch, although many have English equivalents. The monkey was a reference to the painting of him and his wife that he painted as monkeys. Magpie was the animal associated with gossip, which he hates.Read more

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Dessert

    July 25, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    Stopped back in the Grande Square for a drink and some dessert waffles! Definitely weren't authentic Belgium waffles, so I'll have to get some real ones tomorrow.

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Frit

    July 26, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Stopped for lunch and got some Frites (French fries) with garlic sauce, and a fricandelle (a porc or chicken sausage - mine was porc). The fricandelle was ok, but the fries were great!

  • Christopher WendelThe Wall to The Tower - 2025Traveler

    Charles Buls

    July 26, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Charles was a mayor of Brussels starting in 1881. He was a big supporter of the Flemish language in the city and even made street signs in both French and Flemish. He also fought to keep and restore places that are now UNESCO World Heritage sites. His biggest achievement was to oppose the ostentatious architectural plans of King Leopold II so that Brussels could keep its look and culture.Read more

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