The fall of the Berlin Wall (and why you should wear a hat)

When it's cold outside and you are at world-changing events (such as at the Berlin Wall on Nov 9, 1989 after it was announced that East Germans could travel freely and no one knew what was going to happen, but at the Wall it was a massive happy party and you met all kinds of people), wear a good hat.

Sure you should also bring a camera and, if you're going to climb around much, avoid a pencil skirt, but a good hat is important. You'll stand out in the crowd (my friend Annie and I met loads of people because of our hats) and you will be photographed (as you can see), and your head will be warm. And wouldn't it have been tragic if I were wearing a crummy old baseball hat and bad clothes? Instead, I wore a nice coat and a hat that I'd bought from a cute little shop in Charlottenburg, Berlin, and I was quite happy. If you can count, you'll also notice that I was a very precocious 9 year old... ;)

I spent a lot of time at Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate after the November 9 announcement, and took a bunch of photos. It still is one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, seeing the symbolic removal of the wall dividing the two parts of Berlin (though the election and reunification were still a year or so away). The East German soldiers seemed intimidating at first, but they gave us pieces of the wall from their side. In case you're interested in some other photos from that period, I've attached a few more...