Sunday 03 July
Awoke to a cold and wet day – the rain is set in and the clouds are low so visibility is bad. We decide to up stumps and head over the hills into Germany and onto Berlin. You really notice that you have crossed back into Germany (ok there is a border post) as the quality of roads, buildings, and the general upkeep of facilities is greatly improved, compared to Czech, which itself is a step up on Slovakia.
No tolls in Germany, so back onto good roads, but the rain persisted all day, so it's a fairly tiring 4 hour run into Berlin, to our camp site – City Camp, set on a small island in a canal, near the Tegel airport. This is another good site – the only downside so far is aircraft noise but hopefully it will stop at a decent hour. Tegel Airport - which played a major role in the Berlin Airlift - closes next year. City Camp will be a great camp then (and no doubt more expensive).
We met another couple from Oz, who checked in just after us, and spent a couple of hours with them for drinks and nibbles - a welcome catch up with fellow Aussies. They gave us a few good tips for travel in the UK.
Monday 04 July
Heard the first plane take off at 6:15am, so no need for an alarm clock while we're staying here. Delayed going into the city until a storm with heavy rain had passed but it continued drizzling on and off all day which kept the temperature quite cool.
To our amazement, there was no line up to get into the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, but then we found out we were at the exit!!! The Museum was in fact packed with tourists so we headed for the Judisches Museum (Jewish Museum) a couple of blocks away.
The guidebook recommends you put aside 3 hours to visit this Museum, and they are not wrong. It is the complete history of Germany's Jews from the Middle Ages through to today and is totally fascinating. These people have been persecuted for centuries due to their religion. There are some very moving personal letters and articles belonging to people killed during the Holocaust but also many examples of Jewish customs which we had no idea about. One example is that meat and milk are not permitted to come into contact so often two sets of kitchen utensils are kept, some even colour coded. On a lighter note, we learnt of the origin of Levi in Levi Jeans!
The guidebook recommends you put aside 3 hours to visit this Museum, and they are not wrong. It is the complete history of Germany's Jews from the Middle Ages through to today and is totally fascinating. These people have been persecuted for centuries due to their religion. There are some very moving personal letters and articles belonging to people killed during the Holocaust but also many examples of Jewish customs which we had no idea about. One example is that meat and milk are not permitted to come into contact so often two sets of kitchen utensils are kept, some even colour coded. On a lighter note, we learnt of the origin of Levi in Levi Jeans! After a very late lunch we decided we couldn't do any more trudging in museums so headed home.
Tuesday 05 July
Awoke to a fine day so got up quick smart with the plan to head to the Reichstag (Parliament Building) by 8am to beat the crowds. You can apparently walk up into a glass dome shaped building for a view of Berlin and the parliamentary chamber.First however we caught the U-bahn to Tiergarten (Animal Garden), 630 acres of lush trees, lawns, gardens, monuments and of course the Zoo. We got a free look at some of the animals walking the perimeter of the Zoo and were glad to see they are in much better surroundings then their compatriots in Frankfurt. Not really knowing which of the many paths to take, we suddenly found ourselves at the Victory Column, a 227 foot granite, sandstone and bronze column built in1873 to commemorate Prussia's military successes.
Then a bit further down within the Park we came upon a memorial to Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn, still bearing the bullet holes from World War II.
And suddenly we were standing at the Brandenburg Gate, the sole remaining gate of 14 built in 1788-91 as triumphal arches for King Frederick Wilhelm II. When Napoleon vanquished the Prussians in 1806, he took the Quadriga (chariot drawn by four horses driven by Victory) back to Paris. Eight years later the Prussians would have it back in place in Berlin. When the Wall was built in 1961, this beautiful Gate was left in a desolate no-man's-land. These days it is the backdrop for many of Berlin's celebrations.
The Reichstag was both a revelation and a disappointment. The Bundestag (German Federal Parliament) has met here since 1999 but prior to that not since 1933. Completed in 1894 it was burned to the ground in 1933 by “political opponents to the Nazis”. It was rebuilt but again badly damaged in 1945.
It was again restored and really is quite a beautiful building. The crowds weren't too bad so we thought we'd easily get in to walk up the dome. The brochure says no prior bookings are required, however said brochure is “out of date” since last November when it became compulsory for individuals and groups to email their request to visit 2-3 days in advance. Grrrr.
After lunch we caught the bus to Bernauer Strabe to the Berlin Wall Memorial Site. This turned out to be 100 times better then the Checkpoint Charlie Museum would have been, and there were hardly any tourists and it was free. They are still constructing most of the open air Memorial but one section was opened and there is a section of the original Wall still standing. We climbed up the viewing platform to peer over the Wall into the “dead man's zone” and cemetery beyond and had free access to government and media records of anything and everything relating to this time in history.
With the sun out today it certainly lifted our mood after 4 rainy and cold days, but the history we are learning about is both fascinating and heartbreaking.
Wednesday 06 July
The planes are taking off in the other direction this morning so we didn't get our wake-up call until 7:45am. Another glorious day with promised temps of 27 degrees.
The St Hedwigi's Cathedral 1747 was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome, and that's exactly what it looks like inside and out. Decorations are very minimal. One thing we've never seen before in the crypt of a church is the body in repose of a recently deceased bishop, watched over by two young priests in prayer. It was Cardinal Georg Sterzinky - the former Archbishop of Berlin - who passed away on 30 June, 2011.
A most spectacular site from afar and close up is the enormous Berlin Cathedral. It is the largest Protestant church in Germany, and not technically a Cathedral as it has never been the seat for a Bishop. The massive dome was only restored in 1982 and the interior completed in 1993. The interior is one of the most beautiful we have seen, as we have seen a lot. Then we climbed the dome's outer balcony for a birdseye view of the city below just as the bells rang 12pm. It was a brilliant vantage point to the city. In the crypt far below there are more then 80 sarcophagi of Prussian royals (none of them recent!!).
Outside the Berliner Rathaus (Town Hall) 1869 a huge excavation site reveals building fragments but because we were about to be run over by a truck we didn't find out if they are historical or new. The exterior of the building has a gorgeous neo-Renaissance clock tower and Berlin's history displayed in 36 very detailed terra-cotta plaques, each 20 feet long. Inside is also beautifully decorated and a grand stairwell leads you to a hall with stained glass windows depicting the coat-of-arms for each Berlin town.
For something different this afternoon we caught 3 U-bahns to arrive at the Schloss Charlottenburg (Palace) but not to visit it, to catch a long boat leaving from this point.
The day being glorious and warm we sat up top with all of the German tourists and listen to the German commentary (before realising we could buy an English guide for 2 euro).
Something we've noticed happening everywhere in Germany as soon as the sun comes out, Germans take their kit off and sun themselves anywhere they can find an open space. One great find on this boat trip was all the beer gardens lining the river. Most had recliner chairs and imported sand to give the “at the beach” feel. Really nice to see.
We went under at least 25 bridges, all of them different and spectacular in their own way. The architect of the Oberbaum Bridge 1895 succeeded in making it resemble a city wall with city gate (see pic at start of this blog).
But there was also amazing modern buildings along the way.
The day being glorious and warm we sat up top with all of the German tourists and listen to the German commentary (before realising we could buy an English guide for 2 euro).
Something we've noticed happening everywhere in Germany as soon as the sun comes out, Germans take their kit off and sun themselves anywhere they can find an open space. One great find on this boat trip was all the beer gardens lining the river. Most had recliner chairs and imported sand to give the “at the beach” feel. Really nice to see. 
We went under at least 25 bridges, all of them different and spectacular in their own way. The architect of the Oberbaum Bridge 1895 succeeded in making it resemble a city wall with city gate (see pic at start of this blog).
But there was also amazing modern buildings along the way.
At the end of the trip we could see a long section of the Wall still standing. Shortly after the Wall came down in 1990, 118 artists from 21 countries came to “decorate” this 1.3km section. Unfortunately we only saw the reverse side covered in graffiti.
The sun started to bake so we left the boat in the city and took the train home. A final drink and bratwurst dinner in the camp site beer garden was a great way to say goodbye to Berlin and Germany for awhile.
The planes are on track again this morning with our 6:15am wake up call. The sun is out following a freak wind and rain event last night. We are off to Rostock today, where we will depart Germany early tomorrow morning on a Ferry bound for Sweden – just 5 short hours away across the Baltic Sea.
Some interesting things we have learnt in Germany:
- Even though Germans love outdoor activities and healthy lifestyle, they also love to smoke.
- Smoking is generally banned inside buildings but outdoor terraces are a free for all.
- You can buy alcohol in supermarkets, and it's super cheap.
- Soy milk isn't readily available in cafes. Frankfurt did have lactose free milk though.
- Germans love eating ice-cream (after 6 months of deprivation each year, they go for it in summer).
- They take their pets with them everywhere.
- It's no problem getting your kit off in public when the sun is out.
- Crocs are big in Germany (especially in the camping scene).
- Drinking beer while walking down the street....no problem at all.
- Everyone rides bicycles and there are plenty of paths to accommodate. Drivers also respect bikes.
- Public transport is frequent, cheap and easy to use.
- The most is made of the late sunsets.
- Very polite and helpful people.
- Beautiful bread, lots of varieties, dark and with seeds a favourite.
Really there wasn't much we didn't like about Germany, and look forward to returning after visiting Sweden, Norway and Denmark over the next few weeks.
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