Berlin day 4: The road home...

... after what seems like weeks in Berlin, I need to head back to Amsterdam before I go to work on Monday.

My train is late afternoon, but Sunday being Sunday, we wake up really late and leisurely make our way to the station.

I am leaving from a different station than I arrived at. Berlin has a new main station that they have built(or extended - I'm not sure) for the World Cup... When we arrive, it is absolutely huge!!!!



I get one last treat of a Bretzel(or 3)......



.....and then before I know it, I'm back on a train heading for amsterdam... The train is horrible. It is hugely overbooked, so it is very crowded, I find a free space on an aisle and plunk myself down on the floor with my laptop and stick on a DVD:



Green Street Hooligans. It's very strange seeing Frodo as a football thug, but its a good action packed british film that has that Grit and attitude that is missing from most of the Hollywood output...

After this I blog until my battery runs out, and then settle down to a bit of Badmmotorfinger to get me home:



Good night....

Berlin day 3

We wake up late(again), but today I am determined that I am going to cross off a few more items in the guidebook.

We get a bus to Ku-Dam again, and get a quick salad in a kind of help-yourself-restaurant called Marche. From here, we hop on the tour bus:



The tour bus is the usual affair. They talk us through various elements of Berlin... we continue along Ku Dam and then turn into the Embassy region. The most striking of these are the Italian and Japanese embassies which were donated by the Nazi's in the 1930's..... the are Seriously grandiose:





From here, we continue through some beautiful greenery. People often tell em that Berlin is one big building site... I think it's getting over this period of it's history and I'm very surprised at how green it is. There seems to be large parks and forrests very close to the centre no matter where you are.

We cross onto Potsdammer platz:



It is a very new are which has lots of cionema complex annd large modrfen bulidngs... Previously it was the No man's land between east and west, but now it has returned to being a commercial centre... The main building is the Sony building:



We drive along the line in the road where the wall once stood, and eventually drive right along a street where it is still standing:





It's a tangible part of modern history, and it feels amazing, you can imagine everything around you in black and white... How a wall can be so threatening is really strange.

This street ends in Checkpoint charlie and we get off...







Checkpoint Charlie is a tourist trap, but it;s also really cool, cos the streets are really straight in both directions, so it really gives you an idea of East and west... A photo of the last soldier on duty stands to eternally watch the other side as a reminder. It's still a border crossing, so you can get your Passport stamped. I forgot my passport. so I'll have to wait till next time(maybe in August).

Looking East is Frederichstrasse:



It looks more western than the western side of Checkpoint charlie. The buildings are all new, geometric and big. It looks like Chicago... We take a walk along here aiming for coffee...... The whole street seems to be devoted to posh shops and fashion labels.... Communism has clearly been replaced by capitalism... and we want some so we head into Q205.

There are various "Quartier's" which seems to be posh for shopping mall, the one we enter is called Q205, and the first thing we see is a Scultpture made of crushed cars(Whether they are Lada's or not, I can't tell. I take a photo for my brother:



We sit in a very posh cafe and pay lots of money for some Cafe Latte's:



Q205 eventually bleeds into Q206 and we hop in and out of various shops and stores....

When we resurface at the other end, we are famished, so we settle for a subway:



It fills a hole and gives us the energy to get back on a Bus and head to the next items on my list. I want to see the Reichstag and the Brandenburg gate.

We arrive at the Reichstag. Immediately I am amazed at how big it is... it looks like a grandiose building with all its gothic and greek influenced structure which has been made a few sizes too big.. The people on the stairs look small:









There is a glass dome in the top, which you can walk up to. Unfortunately, as with everything in the city, there is a huge queue. Given that, the Reichstag was on the East of Berlin, I would imagine there are a lot of germans who haven't had the chance to see it either. We decide not to spend 2 hours standing in a queue in the heat. I'm going to need a few trips to Berlin to do everything in the lonely planet... there is so much to do in this city.....

Just next to the Reichstag is the Brandenburg gate... we walk through the park to get to it.

In our trips on buses and general meanderings around the city, we have noticed lots of people dressed from head to foot in Turkish flags and T-shirts and hats... we assumed there was a football game or something, but once we get to the Brandenburg gate, we discover that it is Turkey Day in Berlin, so a sea of Red greets us:





On the other side of the Brandenburg gate is a huge football in preparation for the city going wild later in the year. So in my attempts to take a photo of the brandenburg gate, I am obstructed by a big celebration by a large group of immigrants to berlin and a celebration of the largest international sporting event in the world. I think this says more about Berlin than a decently composed photo of the Brandenburg gate:





We are absolutely shattered. Berlin is such a huge city, so you kind of feel like a kid did in a normal sized city. We are leg weary and our brains are tired from seeing so many things.... We are going to head back to the Centre(If Zoo station is really the centre), and get some food at the supermarket, before heading back to the flat and relaxing.

When we get to the Zoo, there's a ticket shop advertising Pearl jam's concert in September:



.... 2 buses later, we are home and enjoying a coffee on the balcony as we look out on the trees of Grunewald. It's been a packed day, and this relaxation feels great. I can't help thinking that this is the life....

After recharging my batteries, I am again in my element, chopping bits and pieces and cooking up a curry....



We settle in front of the telly and fill ourselves up on Thai while we watch Cinderella man:



Despite Russell Crowe being a bit of an arsehole, he's a good actor and pretty good at what he does. Its a good film.

After this... it's the joy of a bath. Baths are like hen's teeth in Amsterdam, so I take the chance any time I can.

....beer.....

.....bed....

Berlin Day 2

After our night out, we get up late again... it's a very laxy life this weekend. We are aiming to get to a favourite Italian restaurant of Paprika's for around Lunchtime, This doesn't seem to challenging at first... but by the time we get there it's well after 1pm....

It's a very good restaurant and I have linguini with shrimps, while Paprika has spaghetti in a tomatoe sauce:





The bread is wonderful and it is very tempting to spend the whole day sitting here drinking wine and eating good food.... instead we neck a quick espresso followed by a lemoncello and hit the road:





We are heading toward Kufürdendam. It is the main shopping street in the west side of Berlin and is known simply as Ku-Dam...



It's very busy and full of various shops, but it's grandioseness reminds me of Paris. Berlin is absolutely huge. It has big wide long streets, and public transport becomes a must. I miss my bike, but I think given the distances involved, I shouldn't even try. As Ku-Dam approaches Berlin Zoo Station, the Kaiser Wilhelm Kerk appears on the horizon. It is church which was partially destroyed in world war two and it has been left as a memorial to world war two... repaired, but left with only half a steeple:




We pause for a second at some street performer's who are brake dancing and skateboarding... it's pretty cool and makes the street seem alive.



Once we get to the Kerk, we can see that it is flanked by these strange modern church buildings. They look black or grey stone objects from far away and my first thought(bizarrely) is of Mecca. Once we get closer I can see that they are made up of hundreds of tiny stain glass windows, which are illuminated at night, providing a modern, old and historical centre within the West of Berlin. We go inside what is left of the church. It's a lot smaller inside than it looks, and there's various exhibitions:










We head further along the Ku-Dam, and I take a picture of the same photo thats on front of my lonely planet. Theirs looks better for some reason:





I have been arranging by SMS to go out for drinks with a friend that I have in Potsdam. We have decided that since she hasn't sent me a reply, we are going to go home and rest our touring feet and have a nice dinner.

I cook some steaks with some rice and veg and we settle down in front of a DVD:



Charlie and the Chocolate factory was something neither of us had seen. IU really enjoyed the movie.. I'm a fan of Rould Dahl, Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and the original movie, so it's no surprise that I enjoy it.

My friend from Potsdam has called off a night out. We're quite glad, cos we're enjoying being lazy.

There's very little in the flat, but I manage to rustle up chocolate covered strawberries as a desert:



Good night......

Berlin Day 1: Tourist stuff....

I wake up the next day ready to tackle Berlin and get a good look at my flat for the weekend. It is in the Grunewald district and is really peaceful and relaxing. It's pretty open plan, and there's a huge big balcony which looks out onto some huge trees. I'm very impressed:










Once we are up and fed and have a coffee in us, we get the bus to the Berlin Zoo station. It is as much of a centre as you'll find in this sprawling city. Here, my first taste of German life for the weekend is a delicious and freshly cooked Bretzel:



They are scrumptious and just make you want more. From here we get the S-Bahn out to xxxx.



Our first port of call is the Hackeshe Höfe. The Hackeshe Höfe is a series of Hofs or courtyards which each have their own character and style:







We wander around these pretty little arcades. This is the first time I see a shop selling things with Ampelmännchen on them:






The Ampelmännchen were the green and red men used on traffic lights in Eastern Berlin. They have been kept as some kitsche symbol of Eastern germany and are sold in lots of shops all over the place.

We now need a cup of coffee... so we have a seat and a latte in the Caras:





From here, we walk out towards what is called the Museum Island, it is where all the main museums are:



Unfortunately the weather is close to Glaswegian May:




My spirits brighten a little bit when we see the Berliner Dom:



It's a huge impressive church built at the start of the 20th century, but it looks much older.....



From this side of the dome, you can also look further east to the TV Tower:



We decide that since it is pouring.... we will go for a little bit of religious protection and see the church at the same time:















It's really beautiful and very well kept/restored... it reminds me of being in the large grandiose cathedrals in Bulgaria and reminds me that in less than a month I'll be back there... There are various religious icons... you look up to the dome and it is flanked by 12 of the 13 apostles... Rufus is often missed out, but I think it's more to do with design and mathematical regularity rather than any racial issues in the bible...

The rain hasn't abated when we come out onto the Lustgarten...

.... normally it looks like this:



....but today it looks like this:






..... so we run quickly across to the Neues museum. The Neues museum holds the Berlin collection of Egyptian antiquities...



The museum is really busy though, so we just pop in for a pee till the rain goes off. We manage to see the greek god's in the rotunda:





We are going to head to the Pergamon Museum instead:



Before we go to the Pergamon, we stock up on some energy with a quick bratwurst:



It is one of the largest museums in Berlin. It contains reconstructed buildings from Greek, Bablyon and Islamic histories. During World War II it was bombed quite heavily... The Russians took a lot of the pieces back to Russia for their "Safety". They are so safe in fact, that even today the Russian's are looking after them:









From here, we decide that since it is now dry, we can climb the Berliner dome for a different perspective on the city:









The lust garten looks a little better from up here:






The Museum island:





The TV tower:



After all those stairs... all that culture and all the walking... we are well and truly ready for some food:





In a recreation of Wok to Walk in Amsterdam, we pig out on noodles, satay, sushi and green tea:







We've decided that since we've had a long day of walking, that a drink is in order. Paprika makes a few phone calls and we establish that we are going for a drink with some of her friends. We walk off our dinner with a walk to Alexanderplatz:





From here, it's an U-Bahn trip to Schönhauser allee to a bar called Last Cathedral. It was either this bar or one called White Trash... we chose Last Cathedral:



We meet in a small Morrocan bar for a beer and some houmous before everyone is present and correct, and we can continue on to Last Cathedral:






Once in last cathedral, I realise it's basically a Marylin Manson theme bar:



This means... good music(ИIN, Tool), cheap beer punctuated with Jaegermeister and only the mild annoyance of people dressed to the nine's in Marylin Manson replica frowns depressed at how they feel so alone and individual in a world where their favourite albums are multiplatinum....




Taxi home....

Gute Nacht....