Category: Trip

I enjoy writing postcards at laundromats, and have done this many times in the past. As I was doing it this morning it occurred to me that I had done a poor job of keeping track of postcards this trip. The only solution is to start from scratch, so keep your eyes on your mailboxes 🙂

Today was another long day in which we criss-crossed Berlin to see a variety of sights, starting with the Brandenburg Gate: 

 
This is an icon of Germany, and has stood here for over 200 years. It’s much bigger than I expected, and very impressive. KLS says “I like how it has different carvings in each archway”

A short walk south of the gate brought us here: 

 
This is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a controversial installation of over 2700 concrete blocks in memorium of the Jewish Holocaust victims. 

 
Without commenting on the controversies, or even the appropriateness of the memorial, I have to say the maze itself is eerie and effective in making you feel isolated and even imprisoned (there are emergency underground exits). It’s not a place I will soon forget.

KLS says “It’s thought provoking”.

Five minutes north, back past the Brandenburg Gate, is the Reichstag building – the German Capital building: 

 
The dome on the top is open to the public and is said to provide great views of Berlin but… it’s by appointment only and we didn’t book ahead. So we were only able to appreciate the building from a distance! KLS says “It’s just a building“.

After lunch (and two train rides) we arrived at the next destination: 

 
This is the Victory Column, erected about 140 years ago to celebrate Gernan war victories. It can be climbed via an internal spiral staircase, but the line was long and in oppressive heat so we didn’t wait. KLS says of the column “They need better line management“.

Getting to the column (which stands on an island in a busy traffic intersection) requires navigating an underground tunnel which contained a nifty interactive light installation: 

 
Of these lights KLS says “They were like, you know, retro high tech art“.

Some random transit shots… 

    
 
The middle photo shows a typical sandwich/pastry shop common in train stations. Many delicious items have been purchased at stores such as these 🙂

The last attraction of the day deserves a blog post of its own, and therefore (probably!) will when I return. I speak of the ‘Computer Game Museum’, and it’s exhibit which promised to evolve us into Homo Lindebs Digitalis. I’ll leave you in suspense as to whether it worked but tease you with a single shot: 

 
Berlin is great and I could spend many more days here, but tomorrow we travel west to a port city. I wonder what wonders we will see?

We started today with a sightseeing bus tour, which was about 2 hours long and very hot since there was little shade covering the open top. 

 
We eventually got off at ‘museum island’ only to find the lines for entry at the five major museums were up to two hours long! 

 
That’s a giant Protestant church on museum island. We didn’t go in since they charge €7/person 🙂

The four of us (JBF was on a train day trip to Nurenburg) then headed to nearby Alexanderplatz for some lunch and to decide the rest of the day (keeping the continuing heat in mind). 

 
Dad decided to return to the hotel for some rest, while B and K and I headed across town to Pottsdam Platz where we saw the Sony building… 

 
Where I found a creeper lurking under a giant Lego statue… 

 
And where KLS are a ‘bum bum’… 

 
From there it was a short walk to Checkpoint Charlie. Berlin was of course once divided by The Wall, and history is very strong in this city. The wall has been mostly removed, but sections remain including a portion near one of the old military checkpoints (also preserved for tourists): 

   
Other sections are in a park in the north of the city, and a large portion along the banks of the Spree River. Personally I find the existence of the wall and divided Berlin a bit surreal and – given the city today – almost unbelievable, and yet it was a very real (and tragic) part of this city (and the world) for almost 30 years.

  
As with all things, the tourist vendors are trying to make money off it. Soviet East Germany is now relics sold in tourist stands and actors in uniform selling photos to tourists!

It was now approaching evening, which meant (after a brief rest) it was time for our Spree River cruise! 

 
We spent a leisurely and extremely comfortable (since the sun was mostly set and the breeze strong) two odd hours cruising along the river that encircles central Berlin. We even went through a massive lock! 

 
It was a wonderful end to another great day 🙂 

Today we left Dresden on a comfortable train to the capital, Berlin. 

That’s Dresden station, which is typical (if smaller) of all the major stations we’ve seen. The ~2 hour journey here on a train with Czech markings (ads, warning signs etc.) was particular comfortable and flew by.

  
That’s a one-man hotdog vendor, which is a thing here. It looks like a terrible job doesn’t it? Imagine doing it while it was 40C out like today. If that’s not a living hell I don’t know what is! 

Due to the extreme heat, today we spent as little time outside as possible. This meant finding air-conditioning (not so easy a task here) and taking it easy. 

 
They have Playmobil stores here! The girl inside even helped us squeeze the blind-packed figures so Bernard got the one he wanted! 

 
Speaking of Bernard, there he is testing out a beanbag. Looks comfy doesn’t it?

 
Can you guess which one of the above I drew? 

 
A bit later in the day K, J and I went to Alexanderplatz while B and A rested. The above shot shows the very famous Weltzeituhr (world clock) that was built during the soviet era and stands in the square. 

 
Behind it was a fire-breathing robot dragon! This was amazing; about as big as a car and fully animated (including wings). The heat given off when it belched fire was extreme!

 
 
Incredibly it was another tiring day for us despite the ‘taking it easy’ part. I managed another >30k steps and am once again exhausted!

Tomorrow we see the sights. It’s still going to be beastly hot, so here’s hoping we don’t melt!