Europe
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Our trip is now at a point again, where we
have no reservations or plans for the near future. We’ve got
ideas about where we want to go before the Jackson’s arrive in
Amsterdam on June 13th, but bringing them to fruition within
our budget is the challenge. It has been our intent to spend
the next month traveling to Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Vienna
and then to see friends in Switzerland. That sounds more
ambitious than it really is. There are lots of package trips
from the US that travel to P-B-V over a 10 day period.
After breakfast, we split up with me at a travel agency and DW
& AD at an internet café. Krakow ended up being an impossible
place to fly to from Berlin at a reasonable price. I worked
with a guy (from Vermont) on all possible types of
destinations. Only Budapest had a realistic fare. We’ve even
considered Egypt again. I left depressed and not knowing what
comes next. We have some discussions to hold and destinations
to give up on.
We walked down Kufurstendamm Strasse, a main shopping street.
The only positive thing we can say about the hotel is the
location. This is a great area of Berlin with lots of good
walking sights. The “City Circle Sightseeing” tour buses load
about 8 blocks down. We found the price cheaper if we waited
another hour, and the savings was enough to pay for lunch!
Almost every large city has open-topped bus tours. They are a
great way to get a feel for the city and the location of main
tourist attractions.
The
first bus stop was at KaDeWe, Berlin’s largest department
store. That made it within walking distance of our hotel. The
tour then heads through the embassy section to Potsdamer Platz.
It is the sight of the largest development project in Europe.
Before WWII this was one of the busiest intersections in
Europe but the Wall went right through it and cut off mass
transit lines and traffic flow. A remaining section of the
Berlin Wall is nearby and now a protected monument site. There
isn’t as much evidence of where the wall ran as I expected. In
the 15 years since it came down, the difference between East
and West Berlin has diminished greatly.
Checkpoint
Charlie, the former location between American Berlin and the
East, is marked with a guard shack in the middle of the
street. A museum about the Wall and the people who tried to
cross over is on the same corner. The bus continues through
former East Berlin’s main square, Alexanderplatz. The Russian
design of streets and a grand building are now protected
landmarks, so some memory can remain of the dark years behind
the Iron Curtain.
The
former grand buildings of the Prussian Empire have undergone a
remarkable transformation from those post WWII years. More
than 50% of Berlin was destroyed during the war and money was
never available in the communist controlled area to restore
them before the reunification. Some buildings along Unter den
Linden have been rebuilt from the original architectural
plans. We passed the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and
Palace Charlottenburg before returning to the starting point.
It was 2 hours well spent.
We
got off at stop #2, KaDeWe, to see the food court. It revivals
if not exceeds the supplies available at Harrods. Walking
around looking at the counters and displays is such a
pleasure. There are supposed to be 2,000 kinds of sausage for
sale. The kind we bought was delicious. We walked to the
nearby train station to check on tickets to Krakow before
heading back toward our hotel. The “bear” is the symbol of the
city. They have an art contest with wildly painted up
fiberglass bear statues placed around the city. Chicago really
started something with those cows, a few years ago! So many
cities seem to copy the concept.
AD
wanted to have dinner at the same restaurant again tonight and
order what we had last time. We drank a beer outside in the
cold to stay out of the smoke as long as possible. Almost
everyone smokes. It’s amazing! (Sigh, Again.... Get off it!
-- JW) The food was delicious again and the portions huge.
We were able to stuff ourselves with just one soup, a burrito
and a chili stuffed baked potato.
The word for the day is “exile”. We began
the day as we have so many with TD heading off to make travel
arrangements and AD and I completing homework assignments. He
and I then went to a nearby bowling alley to spend a little
time doing something AD selected. We met up with TD at noon to
begin our sightseeing adventure.
First stop was at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the
re-creation of the crossing point. As you stand beside the
crossing gate it is hard to imagine that less than 15 years
ago it served as the check point for crossing into two vastly
different sectors. The museum tells the heroic stories of the
thousands who tried to cross the border.
The imagination used
is staggering. One story tells of a women and a boy being
carried across the border in small suitcases that had parts of
the sides cut out so they could lay between the two. Another
of two families who built a hot air balloon to carry them to
freedom. A movie recreates their terror filled journey. As the
balloon begins to quickly rise it is caught and plummets to
the ground held tight by the last remaining stake. A man pulls
on the stake which finally lets loose flinging it upward into
his face and striking him just above the eye. Next the balloon
catches on fire and begins to lose height. As you watch the
women holding their babies, the fear so apparent in their
eyes, it fills you with awe.
Next, we walked to the Jewish Museum to read the stories of
the German Jews. They tell their own tales of exile,
imprisonment and death. It is regrettable that the lay out is
so poorly designed that it does not allow for easy viewing of
the many displays. You walk down corridors that are
interspersed with large glass portholes. Inside these are the
stories of Berlins Jews. Therefore, only two or three people
can see each display at one time and this highly limits
access. The most moving part of this museum, in my opinion,
was an old candy box filled with passport cards taken from
those sent to the camps.
Once outside again we walked over to see the Reichstag. This
is where the German government officials meet. As we waited in
line, our imaginations were entertained by the classic planes
that were flying overhead. There is an air show here this
weekend and they really added to our tour. I could just
envision what it would have been like in Berlin during the
war, as the sound of planes engines roar overhead. After
waiting one hour we finally entered this domed monstrosity. An
elevator takes you up into the dome and you then walk around
and around getting higher and higher until you reach the
viewing platform. The city is then at your feet. Personally, I
would have rather wiled away the hour drinking dark beer in a
café but…
AD and I then went to the internet and TD went to coordinate
our rental car. By the time we finished and met TD at the
hotel it was nearly 8 pm and time for dinner. We are addicted
to a restaurant called Graffiti. So guess where we ate. It had
gotten warm enough for them to open up some of the large doors
which cut down on the smoke a lot. We’d finally had some nice
weather.
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AD Journal |
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