Europe 2019: Miscellaneous Berlin

Europe 2019

Miscellaneous Berlin

I thought I would just finish up with the Berlin pics in one post before moving on to our next stop. 

Berlin was the first stop on the cruise portion of our trip. Those who are geographically astute will notice that Berlin isn't exactly a port city. It's about a three hour bus or train trip to get there from Warnemunde where we ported. I actually went back and forth on even going to Berlin at all because it's a full day! We decided to book a group tour - the only time on our entire trip that we did so. 

I booked a full day guided tour of Berlin through an outside company and we got really lucky. I heard stories when we returned to the ship about packed buses with no AC from some of our shipmates. We had a semi-filled bus that was quite comfortable. In fact, we had the entire back of the bus to ourselves.

I was worried about the long day for Samantha, but she was fine. Nel did a great job packing her bag with snacks and entertainment.

Beginning of the bus ride....

....30 minutes into the bus ride.

The bus stopped for a break each way so it wasn't that bad. 

When we got to Berlin we picked up our guide and then stopped at this palace. It was planned as a restroom break. Our guide showed everyone where the toilets were and gave us about 20 minutes to stretch our legs. This was great for Sam - I chased her around this open area for a while. Incidentally, as our guide put it: "There's no such thing as a free toilet in Germany". Be prepared to pay to go into a toilet just about anywhere. I didn't go here, but Nel said our guide showed everyone how to beat the fee.

The rest of the day our bus driver would just sort of drop us off places, we'd walk and see things for a while, and then the bus would pick us up somewhere and take us someplace else. You can tell they aren't new to this.

One stop that I was kind of interested to see was Checkpoint Charlie. It was a disappointment really. It's a replica of the checkpoint as it was in the 60's, which would be okay, but it's in the middle of a busy street of a crowded area full of tourists and flanked by McDonald's and KFC. 

We stopped, got the obligatory picture, hit up one of the many gift shops, and then got out. Our guide had turned us loose here for a while but I was done so I found him around the corner having a drink and I joined him. He was a British ex-pat who had been a former war photographer. He did a great job on our tour giving us a lot of information without it being just facts and figures.

One thing we didn't have time to visit was this museum dedicated to the Trabant. I would have loved to stop in.

Another stop everyone was looking forward to was visiting a still-standing section of the Berlin Wall. The site is underwhelming to be honest, but there are all sorts of interesting museums and things around here that we just didn't have time to visit on this trip.

Our guide gave us a lot of really interesting history on Berlin at this point which I appreciated. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was fascinated by the "dotted line" all over the city that indicates the previous position of the wall. Sometimes it's in a somber location and marked....

....sometimes it's just in the middle of the street.

I'm not sure I would recommend Berlin as a can't miss city to visit. It's very large - land size and population wise. It's not particularly pretty or clean either. I think it would be better if you had a few days and were on your own so you could pick and choose what you wanted to see. I'm glad we went so I could knock it off my list, but if I were on another cruise I would explore the port area instead of heading back to Berlin.

The only time we ever had to wait in line to get back on the ship was in Berlin, and that's because everyone did what we did and we all got back about the same time. We actually got lucky and just beat the rush getting back. Buses poured in right behind us and the line got shockingly long. This was of great concern to Samantha as she was in danger of missing "Pirate Night" at Splash Academy.

No worries - she made it. 

Europe 2019: Jewish Memorial

Europe 2019

Jewish Memorial

Berlin, Germany

Just south of the Brandenburg Gate you will find what is technically called "The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". Opened in 2005, it consists of 2711 rectangular blocks laid out in a grid pattern over about 200,000 square feet. They're all the same length and width but vary in height from less than a foot to over 15 feet. It's architecturally stimulating, if not spectacular. There is also an underground section that I don't have any pictures from. 

That's the easy part. The hard part is commenting on the meaning / spirit / effect of the structure. I'm not Jewish, and I'm not German. I didn't live this nor am I generationally attached to what happened in the 30's and 40's here. I don't deem myself qualified to make any profound comments on this memorial. Our guide did a very good job of relaying the good and bad feedback it has received over the years and putting it all in perspective. For me it had a solemn and sort of confusing feel to it, and perhaps that is what the designer intended.

While it has a certain "cemetery" look to it, people don't treat it like one. Everyone walks around taking pictures and even sit on the stones to have lunch and rest, and that's apparently just fine with everyone. I'm fine with it too. It's a reminder of a horrible part of this countries past and it works for that purpose without having to be "controlled". We purposely didn't plan any "dark" visits on this trip like concentration camps, etc. because Samantha was with us. I'm not one of those parents that believes in shielding my children from reality, but she's four. I have a hard enough time trying to explain to her why Anna was the real hero in Frozen and why Elsa "had issues". I'll wait a couple years before tackling the holocaust. 

  
Sam actually really enjoyed this stop. She thought it was just the coolest place to run around in ever. I had to slow her down though because as much fun as she was having running down these lanes of giants, there could be cross-traffic and every corner was blind.

We didn't see any graffiti while we were there, but they've coated all of the stones with something that is supposed to resist it. I think it's sad that they even have to worry about it, and the architect (American Peter Eisenman by the way) didn't want them coated because he felt what happened to them might continue the story and struggles to this day. 

Certainly not a fun stop, but one you should make when in Berlin since it's literally about a two minute walk from the Brandenburg Gate. 

After spending some time here we continued to walk south and passed this location:

Under this parking lot and apartment building is the former location of the bunker where Hitler, and others, ultimately committed suicide at the end of WWII. It's meant to look like nothing for a reason, but they did actually put up the board in 2007 that you see people reading in the picture to identify the spot. Germany always seems to be in a struggle to decide whether they should forget their past or remember their past or ??. My personal opinion is that ignoring the past is not the way to go. Trying to pretend something didn't happen shows a lack of emotional intelligence and can be dangerous. Learn from it. Anyway, lunch.....

Our guide took us to the Mall of Berlin for lunch. Not exactly a cultural experience but it did the job.

We grabbed a quick bite in the food court where Samantha had (surprise surprise) pizza. 

Europe 2019: Brandenburg Gate

100 Places To See (and take a selfie) Before You Die:

Europe 2019

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin, Germany

This was the second place we visited that is also on our "100 Places Wall" back home. The gate itself is impressive and important, but this is really more about visiting Berlin than just the Brandenburg Gate.

We took an organized tour from our ship to Berlin, and I'll cover more on that in subsequent posts, but this is just going to be a short one about the gate.

We walked to the Brandenburg Gate through Tiergarten, which is a public park and interesting in its own right, as we followed our excellent guide for the day.

We came up on the gate from the back side and it's impressive. This approach would have been from West Berlin up until 1989. The gate itself was one of the few structures here to survive WW2, albeit with heavy damage.

Here, and most places where it once stood in Berlin, you can see bricks indicating where the Berlin Wall once stood. It's sort of a dotted line that reminds you of this cities' tumultuous past.

It was originally constructed as you see it today in the late 1700's. Up until 1919, only the royal family and one other family (the Pfuel family) were allowed to pass through the center passage as Samantha and I are about to do.

The eastern side is a much better viewing point. Pariser Platz on this side is largely a pedestrian zone and traffic hasn't been allowed to pass through the gate for quite some time. That said, there's not really anything to do - there's not a "Gate Tour" or anything like that. You just sort of look at it. 

In fact, it's very much a working area of Berlin. The German Parliament building is a block away and the US Embassy is literally right next to it...and right behind me in this picture. It's not a touristy place, but there are some souvenir shops and plenty of places to eat and it's a very pretty area so it's got that going for it.

Berlin is a huge city and there is lots to see and do, but the Berlin Gate is a must see if you're here. It's not in an isolated area or difficult to get to and its history alone makes it worthy of a visit....and of ruining other peoples photos apparently.