Pete and Nina on Tour: Berlin

Monday 8 July 2013

Berlin

Finally we make it to Berlin after passing through Spandau where Mum was born and lived her younger years. First time here for us and it was great to touch base with her past although to be honest if she came back here I guess she would not recognise it much due to modern architecture and urbanisation although a few old grand buildings remain

So Berlin...at last

We were surprised how modern it was, particularly the banks of the River Spree where a lot of government buildings are located

We spent 3 nights on an excellent Wohnmobilplatz, well run, quiet (which we did not expect given its location in a city) and close connection to both S Bahn and U Bahn at Tegel Altstadt

On two evenings after leaving the train we trundled in to Alt Tegel to sit at a few bars in the tree lined boulevards and watch the world go buy very slowly and with sore feet!

The trip in was as you would expect, extremely punctual and to the minute, which meant playing eye spy for 5 minutes on a siding en route presumably because we were early!

Surely one of the world's most infamous buildings...the Reichtag

You can visit here free of charge if you get to the registration booth early enough for a timed entry

It was hot and the queue long and we decided to push on and leave it for next time

Close to the Reichtag is a small memorial set in the beautiful Tiergarten which is a very peaceful place. Information walls abound here and throughout Berlin showing the history of the city with large photo impressions giving you facts at your fingertips

Simple engravings in flagstones of the camps pay homage to the poor victims

The Brandenburg Tor minus the infamous Mauer, see below

Pictures showing the Gate through the last century

Friedrichstrasse but with no traffic!

We guess this was repairs to the upper section of the U Bahn

Checkpoint Charlie

A massive McDonalds sits opposite the site and adds tackiness to a very famous border crossing

The Mauermuseum ( The Wall )

Nina was very patient with me in here but after several hours you still have more to see. It was a great mix of audio/visual info telling the history of the Wall, politics at the time and the endless escape attempts. Most were successful, some were graphically not.

The Communist government of East Germany at the time built the wall to prevent Western aggression apparently but as we know it was to stop the massive migration of East Germans in to West Berlin and thus freedom from oppression.

28 years the city was divided