Tourists in Berlin

Got started this morning with a big breakfast at a near by restaurant. No scrambled eggs or bacon but lots of sliced meats, cheese, bread and fruit. And yes Norman ate his banana and mine. Nice guy. Yellow Bunny helped him. 

Off to be a real tourist today...tour boat cruise and museum looking. But on the way there are so many things to see. I don't think this man laying stones was too happy with my photo shot but it was fascinating watching how they do such a labour intensive job. Concrete and asphalt aren't used much for paths and sidewalks and open squares. Even small cobblestones not much bigger than a child's blocks are positioned on a bed of sand and levelled in place. It's obviously labour-intensive, but the effect is pleasing, and easier to dig up when laying new pipes and cables.

Street art should be required in every city. This guy is trying to get into the Hungarian College.

And if you thought knitting a whole bench is too much, how about just a bike....

So many buildings have marks in them. You quickly realize it is from the war. Such a history there.

How can you tell you are a tourist.....when you carry a map of Berlin, you are the only man in Berlin wearing a Panama hat, you read all the information guides on the street and probably have a Rick Steves book somewhere with you. Yes that is us. We took our first and probably last selfie.

Off on the recommended by Rick Steves boat tour. We learned about the Museum Island, the government offices, information of the East and West Berlin reunification and other secrets about Berlin.

 

This is the main train station, the Hauptbahnhof, aka Hbf.

Next we toured the German History Museum. An amazing look at Germany from 1 BC to today. We spent two hours and could have doubled that to see it all. Also includes a VW Beetle and the East German version of "the people's car," the even cuter Trabant, with a body made of duroplast -- way ahead of North American car makers in use of composites and plastic panels, like Saturn.

Just one of the statues greeting you as you enter the museum. This is a city of statues. 

We needed a beer after that and went to the top floor of the Humboldt Box, a temporary building used to explain the construction of the replacement of the Baroque palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty of Brandenburg and Prussia. The palace was torn down due to disrepair but the replacement one is causing much debate saying it is a waste of money. Costing about 590 million euros, the new Humboldt-Forum will be a public venue for museums, shops, galleries, etc. you can see the concrete structure in the background, which will look like a 19th century palace when complete in several years.

Good beer, slow service. 

Here is the view from the Box. To the left, the History Museum of Germany. Next the Lustgarten and finally the Berlin Cathedral.

Here is a scale omodel f the proposed Homboldt-Forum.

Cool eh! 

The trip to Berlin would not be complete with out a visit to the KaDeWe. It claims to be the biggest department store on the continent, according to Rick Steves. It is like Harrods of London. This is in the entrance, the centerpiece of a big circular bar promoting fine, expensive cognacs from France.

Since most items are beyond our price range we went to the top food floor for tea/coffee and a pastry. So good.......and only about 11€, worth every bite.

For dinner we met up with Kris and Tina and Kate who is back in Berlin for two days on her way to Greece. Warm enough to eat outside. We went to the Tiergartgen for Geman sausage, mustard, pretzel, potato salad, beer of course and pizza. Perfect! 

The next morning we met up with Kate for breakfast at Cafe Feliz in our neighbourhood then we were ready to spend the day exploring more of Berlin. But first some strawberries to eat later. Fresh from the farm.

Well the day didn't turn out quite as we planned. My camera/iPhone has died, no more photos! And the few Kate took managed to get deleted. So a brief summary of the day. Visit to an English book store because you can never have too many books, a photo op in front of Kochstrasse for our friends Maureen and Doug Koch, visit to Checkpont Charlie, coffee at a really good hipster coffee shop, then Norm and I walked around the Templehof Airport. It is no longer in use and is quite the experience to walk on runways and just go for ever. Berlin hasn't quite decided what to do with it yet. Today we saw biking, roller blading, skateboarding, kite flying, boarding with a kite, running, sleeping, picnicking and more. Only thing missing are trees. 

Kate found another photo, Checkpoint Charlie. 

And last but not least we met up with Kate again at the Soviet Cementry in Treptow Park, where 7,000 Russian soldiers are buried. A massive Soviet soldier statue, huge gateway to the cemetery and gardens. Wish I did have a camera. 

Finished off with a snack at a canal side cafe called Frei Schwimmer, Fresh swimming, perhaps --not sure if they offer that amenity. But they have good snacks and beers, but of course that states the obvious in Germany. All the beers are good.

Kate managed to get one photo from the end of the day. 

Now dinner and tomorrow I will have a camera!