Talking Travel 1: Iran, France and the former East Berlin

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The World has teamed up with travel publisher Lonely Planet to bring you a new audio podcast. The idea is to find interesting intersections between news and travel. Clark Boyd from The World will bring the news, and Robert Reid and Tom Hall from Lonely Planet will bring the travel. In our first episode, we tackle American hikers in Iran, and nostalgia tourism in what was once East Berlin.

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The post-communist generation

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For some living in what was once the Eastern Bloc, the anniversary of bringing down the wall brings little cause for celebration. The last twenty years have brought freedom but also hardship and uncertainty – especially for the youngest generation who have grown up without Communism. Laura Lynch visited a high school in Budapest, Hungary. Download MP3

• Laura Lynch’s story on the first breach of the Iron Curtain in 1989
• Susan Stone reports how young Germans remember East Germany
• The World’s Gerry Hadden revisits the former East German border
• The World’s Alex Gallafent on owning a piece of the Berlin Wall

First breach in the Iron Curtain

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Before the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Hungary tore down its barbed wire. Hungary’s prime minister didn’t ask permission in Moscow. He just told Soviet President Gorbachev it was a done deal. Hundreds would escape to the West in a single day. The World’s Laura Lynch went back to Western Hungary. Download MP3

• Hungary’s role in the 1989 revolutions
• 1989: Europe’s revolution
• The World’s Gerry Hadden revisits the former East German border
• The World’s Alex Gallafent on owning a piece of the Berlin Wall

A return to the East German border

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Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But today, we’re taking you to an even deadlier part of the former border between East and West Germany. Twenty four years ago, our Europe Correspondent Gerry Hadden lived along that dividing line in Travemunde, West Germany. He returns to explore the region’s past, present and future. Download MP3 (Photo: Gerry Hadden)

• See more of Gerry Hadden’s photos
• 1989: A timeline from the BBC

Monday demonstrations

For Friday’s Geo Quiz — think Monday. 20 years ago today, as it turns out, was a Monday. Which accounts for the name Monday demonstrations … They were getting underway in a German city.