EAS Berlin 2017 is over, next stop is Amsterdam. There’s plenty of work to do in the meantime, but we will see you there.

So let’s review our week in Berlin.

The show was superb. For us, the busiest stand we have had for a few years and lots of interest in our range of rides and products for the theme park and attractions industry. There are appointments in the diary that will keep us busy for a good few weeks and the future feels very, very positive.

Berlin, literally rolled out the red carpet for us

The city of Berlin itself is stunning and huge. We took the opportunity to have a good look around, so we could share a few images from the city. There are parts of it which are obviously still pretty gritty from its days under Soviet control, but the parks, squares and open spaces elevate it to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, if not the world. There are plenty of hipsters with beards to die for and even more graffiti, but the latter has been elevated to an art form, rather than any sort of vandalism.

But what Berlin does well is acknowledge its troubled past. Rather than hide from it, it has brought it to the fore as a reminder to the next generation about the decisions and mistakes of their forefathers. And there are parts of the city that will reduce you to tears if you look at the story behind the memorials, scattered throughout the city. The tiny brass memorials outside the houses where Jews were taken away to concentration camps, give you a glimpse of the story behind the stones and the Holocaust Memorial will take your breath away with its simple brutal beauty.

Outside some of the houses are brass memorials for the Jews who were taken from the house they stand outside

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial

Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War

The graffiti is literally everywhere, but it’s more art than vandalism

The German Bundesrat where the Bundesrat legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder (federated states) of Germany at the national level.

The Brandenburg Gate

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, otherwise known as Gedächtniskirche that was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943

The Victory Column in Berlin, Germany. Designed by Heinrich Strack to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, offers amazing views across the city and is HUGE!

And here are those views with the Brandenburg gate at the end of the tree lined drive

I’m not even going to try and explain what this was, but it was tasty

The end of the show and time to relax – until we get back to the office!