July 4, 2012 Berlin Germany

Today we decided to go into town just for half a day and not do too much this afternoon.

Got the train into Alenander Platz and then took a transfer to Potsdamer Platz as we had only driven through this area and we needed time to see it thoroughly. 

Entered the Sony building to look up at the structure of it all including its big dome on top. 

Then across the road to one of Berlins highest buildings and took the lift to the top big viewing deck.

We also looked at viewing a Lego Museum but the costs of E16 each was unjustified. Different if we had the boys with us.

After a wander around we caught the train to the Oberbaum Brucke near Warschauer Station as we had been told of a beautiful old bridge there. It was built in 1894. All brick and the trains still use it. 

Also at this place there was a good portion of The Wall still standing.

We then caught the train back to the hotel and returned about 1pm as we are buggered. Also finished with a small walk around our area. More of a relaxing day today as we leave tomorrow for Genthin. Really looking forward in seeing Steffi and Torsten and of cause the big day on Saturday 7th.

Potsdamerplatz

In Potsdamer Platz not a single building had survived damage after the  bombings. We saw photos of the area after the attack. To see it now the very old area all gone and transformed into the very modern today......wow. In October 1993 work began on the Potsdamer Platz.

It was the largest construction site in any European city. More than 6000 labourers worked here on site at the same time.

The first generation of The Wall began at Potsdamer Platz. The initial walls had barbed wire on top and were just taller than the average adult.

The last generation of The Wall was 4 metres high, made of concrete slabs and was capped with rounded cement tops and were thus difficult to grab hold onto.

The Wall divided East and West for 28 years.

This is the building that we caught the lift to the top viewing deck. The Kollhoff-Haus Building. The lift  travelled the  90.15 metres in only 20 seconds. It is Europe's fastest elevator.You can imagine Petes face. In fact the lift was so quick that your ears didnt have time to pop. This view point was easy going by lift, all others we have had to climb stairs! Pete reckoned he could feel movement in the building. Could all be in the mind. You know him with his heights.

The very top point (of the building) you can see in the photo above this one, is where I was leaning against as far out as possible to take this photo of PT.....he wouldnt come any closer. I tried to make him come stand in the corner.

Top left of above photo is the dome of the Reichstadt (Parliament) and middle right is the Holocaust Memorial which you saw in yesterdays photos.

Looking down on the Sony building.

 Another view from the top.

From the street looking towards the Sony building with its amazing roof line.

Inside the Sony complex with all its cafes and eating houses.

Above and below looking up through the roof. Fascinating roof line and complex.

I've made a few new friends today. The first being Spiderman which is all the rage here as the film is being highly promoted here for the school holidays.

Second friend is Lego Giraffe. All made of Lego blocks and boys, look at Nana compared with the size of the giraffe. And Jen, as soon as Dad saw this he said "must take a photo of this for Jen". You will understand the reason why Jen.

Third friend is a bear which was at the top of the high building.

Now out at the Oberbaum Brucke to see this great old bridge. Today used just for the trains over the top as you can see, but would have been used for cars on the underneath which is only for pedestrians now. There is a newer bridge adjacent to it on the other side which the cars now use.  

This is the old road on the lower level of the bridge. There is a passing bay.

In the same area is remnants of the longest part of The Wall we have seen. We could see for at least 5/600 metres before it went round the corner out of sight.

Above and below shows a bit of the local artist talents.

To summerise a little history of Berlin.

Today Berlin is the Capital city of Germany, one of the 16th states  of Germany. with a population of 3.5 million people.

The Thirty Years War between 1618-1648 devastated Berlin. One third of the houses were destroyed and the city lost half of its population.

On 30th January 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Nazi rule destroyed Berlins Jewish community after Kristallnacht 1938 thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen Concentration camps . In early 1943 they where shipped to death camps such as Auschwitz.

During the 2nd World War large parts of Berlin where destroyed in the 1943-1945 air raids.

After the war the city became divided into East and West  by the Berlin Wall. 1961-1989.

The Berlin Wall was a barrier, between the East and West constructed by the East German Democratic Republic, starting on 13th August 1961. The barrier included guard towers placed along the large concrete walls (later known as the death strip) to stop people crossing.  The wall came down in1989.

On 3rd October 1990 the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital in June 1991.   

July 3, 2012 Berlin Germany

Woke up to rain today but fortunately by the time we reached the city it had more or less cleared but remained overcast. It turned a bit colder today (nice). Everyone in town were wearing jeans but we arrived in our shorts, after all it wasn't that cold. A lot more comfortable for walking.

Traffic was slow while we were on the Hop on bus as the city seems to be under major construction work. I think a lot of it was due to the new underground system they are putting in. There is work being done all over the city. Not like the Berlin we last saw, but still very enjoyable.

Went down the street  where most of the embassies are. 165 in the entire city.

We walked past the Hotel Alon where Michael Jackson held his baby out of the window towards the press. 

We started off on the Hop on bus until we reached the memorial of the Berlin wall which was about 200m long.

Then walked  over to the Jewish museum. A memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Hopped back on to the bus back to Alexanderplatz to catch the train back to the hotel.

Was worried about my hair for the wedding on Saturday so couldn't decide if to have it trimed. But decided that I would.With the lanuage barrier couldn't explain that I wanted only 1cm off and same style. She made out she understood but half way through I was getting very nervous, she wasn't going to stop.Haven't got time for it to grow now,.........(nothing like a real change)

Branderburg Gate. Unfortunately they had barriers all round clearing up from the event the night before with the showing of the soccer finals. Therefore we couldn't actually walk through it. You can see all the mess around it.

Of Berlins original 14 city gates only the Brandenburg Gate remains standing. 

The Holocaust Monument we visited yesterday. In memory of the murdered Jews

The monument consists of 2,700 concret steles erected upon a once vacant 10,000 sqm.

The Jewish Museum.

 Between 1033 and 1941 some 280,000 German Jews fled the Nazi regime heading for US Palestine, Great Britain and others.  Unfortuately as we know thousands didn't make it.

They have parts of the wall scattered around the city like this one.

The Fuchrers Bunker.

Hitlers bunker was under where this car park is, all you see is the information board people are looking at. 

A large piece of the wall still standing at least about 200m long.

 In front of the wall is a long area under cover as shown above where you walk along and can read all about the history of the wall. 

House of World Culture. When they saw the unusual roof of the Kongresshalle the Berliners decided to nik-name it the " pregnant oyster".

The 2nd protest march outside our hotel. We have no idea what it is all about. This is from our bedroom window and you can also see our black beast which has been there now 3 days unused.

This was taken yesterday as you can see by the weather. Not like that today. You can go up in this balloon just for the view as it is attached to the ground.

July 2, 2012 Berlin

Took off this morning to try our luck with the underground system, which is just a few meters from our Hotel so very convenient. We managed quite well getting a little help. Everyone in Germany are so helpful when you ask them anything. Always willing to help and usually very good with English.

We arrived  at Alexanderplatz station and  nearby arranged a two day pass  on the Hop on and off bus. Did about half the circuit from Museum Island around to checkpoint Charlie where we got off. Went to the outdoor museum there with many old pictures and history. Did some reading took a few photos then back on the bus back to Museum Island. Had a walk around the Island and the waterways crossing over on the bridges..

Back onto the bus to Brandenburg Gate. Must have had  something on yesterday as they were pulling down scaffholding all around the gate. Didn't look so good for photos.

We walked over to the Holocast Monument. Then over to where Hitlers Bunker  was.

Caught the public bus back to Alexanderplatz to catch the train back to the hotel.

It is now about 4.00pm so went along the road to catch up on our laundry. Sat and had a couple of beers while watching the washing go round... very exciting. We were so hot and thirsty after our day.

Presidents residence.

Column of Victory

After the wall came down they laid these rows of cobbles where the wall had stood.

Today, these are the row of cobbles  that have been laid all round the city as to where the wall stood.

Weeks after the wall was opened up, people arrived with hammers and chisels taking apart this hatred symbol of division of Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.

Check point Charlie. Posing with one officier and looks like the other one is coming to take me away.

This is the spot where it all happened at  Checkpoint Charlie, one of the boarders of West and Eastern Germany.

Part of the wall that is still standing today.

This is in the Gendarmenmarkt five hectare square. One of the catherals.

Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom). The cities main Protestant church. Built between 1893 and 1905. The building was severely damaged in 1945 and is now fully restored. You can walk up and view the city centre from the domes exterior walkway. We gave this one a miss.

Around the the back of the Catherdral which is on Museum island is surounded by their waterways.

You can take a boat trip around the island.

A view along the waterways. Note the statues on the wall. No thats not PT.

Standing on one of the many bridges we crossed over looking back at the Catherdral again, and some of the waterway's boats.

Still on Museum Island this is the Museum of natural history, one of five museums on the island.

The Reichstag, Parliment building. Unfortunately the sun was behind the building so the front is dark.  You can get into the dome but you have to book three days ahead,so therefore we couldn't do it.

July 1, 2012, Dresden to Berlin

Didn't get away until 10.00am this morning. 

As we were leaving Dresden, it seemed very quiet after the busy Saturday. Yesterday a lot of shops said that they don't open on Sundays so we were wondering if the whole city didn't open. As we were gone by ten, maybe they were going to open later being Sunday.

It was going to take us just over two hours to drive to Berlin so decided to go and see a couple of places just outside Dresden on the way. But wouldnt you know it, there was another bike ride in front of us. They had closed off part of the bridge/motorway so again we had to wait, until we ended up following a few locals who managed to avoid the mush. We found another bridge to cross.

It was sunny when we left but soon clouded over as we headed north. In fact when we arrived at our hotel in Berlin (Hotel Prens) we were told that they had a lot of rain yesterday and the basement of the hotel was flooded, causing a bit of concern for them as it was Sunday. We are a few K,s out from the centre so will use the train in and out .

We were originally booked into an apartment in the centre of everything but when this hotel showed a flash deal at half the price we  were going to save 200 Euro for the four nights but won't be as convenient. Also to make things harder for us there was a protest march going past the hotel upon arrival and thus we then had to go around in circles until GPS (Karen) found us and put us at a fairly convenient spot until the multitudes had gone past.

PT said to say that he reached 153k today trying to keep up with the cars, as it is unlimited speed on their autobahns, and if you go too slow you feel that you are holding people up. Scarey. If you are in the slow lane they come up behind and in a flash have gone. Probably reaching up to 200k's.

One day we were doing 140k when we were overtaken by a Toyota Vitz/Echo.  Oh Bev.

Our first stop was Moritzburg, which is in a beautiful lanscape of pools.  The most significant site here is the picturesque  Moritzburg Palace. This photo shows around  the side of the Palace.

This is the front of the Palace. Imagine the reflections if the sun was out full and no ripple on the pond. I have seen a photo in a brochure where the reflection is as bright in colour as the building.

Didn't have many photos today as mainly racing down the autobahns. So I have included this distance  one.

Another shot of the lovely countryside we have been travelling over. Its like this for miles. Crop farming and all the different colours. 

A little village we past through amongst  all the fields.   

More countryside.

We then arrived at MeiBen and saw the double-spired gothic cathedral and the Albrechtsburg Palace rise high above the Elbe River and tower above the medieval city with its pretty houses and narrow streets. The palace is in the front with the cathedral behind.

MeiBen porcelain, still produced here by  hand, has made the city world famous. 

Some of the rows of houses along the river over looking the Palace.

The heat is still unbearable and its 9.00 pm and still can't cool down. Its taking a toll on me with all our walking in the heat and still have three full days of walking Berlin. The cold at home sounds good............

That's all today not a lot of action. Better go and sort out these trains for tomorrow.

Looks like there could be a problem with skype at this hotel but still trying to sort it. Maybe in coming calls will work. At least the wi-fi will download my photos. No more running to Starbucks.

June 30, 2012, Dresden, Germany

Woke up this morning to loud thunder then heavy rain. Thought just as well we got all of our photos yesterday, but didn't take long to pass through and another hot day.

I think after yesterday I was suffering a little heat stroke and didn't feel like rushing today.

We did half the hop on and off bus again just because our ticket was still current, wandered around for a while before returning to hotel just before lunch.

Pete decided to walk over to the Transport museum but didn't interest me so I did a little retail shopping.

When he got back we took off to Starbucks to down load our few photos as didn't really take many today.

Then walked around the big shopping complex across the road from the hotel.

Yesterday we went past the V.W. car factory. Massive glass building. You could see through the glass all the cars were progressing on every floor. It is only designed for the manufacture of VWs luxury Phaeton saloon.

Last night in Dresden tonight and then off to Berlin tomorrow. We have both really enjoyed this city. Has lots of variety with its big open squares, all the lovely old churches with their steeples scattered everywhere. The mixture of the old and the new, and the feeling of so much space. Would certainly recommend it.

A more distance photo of the Catholic Hofkirche Church left,and the Royal Palace right behind the big square.

Looking across the Elbe river.

Another square, as you can see by now I have a fascination of all these lovely big squares.Really does make a city look so spacious.

The oldest stone bridge in Dresden crossing the Elbe river. 

Top and bottom photos are of the big shopping complex across the road from our hotel. Very convenient if we need something. Like a cold beer. The area was completely destroyed to rubble during the war and in 1960 it was all developed as the photos show. It goes forever. Can't show the size in a photo.

As you can see we didn't do a lot today but sometimes you need to slow down a little. Made sure that I kept drinking plenty of water today so I didn't feel like I did yesterday.

Will be sorry to leave tomorrow but on saying that we are really looking forward to getting back to Berlin where we will have four nights. Last time we only had a full day there, not long enough at all.