Month: December 2018

Wednesday, December 12

Our tour of the Reistag was scheduled for 11:00 am.  We got there almost a full hour early, went through the airport style security checkpoint and were immediately herded into an elevator that took us to the roof.  Once there we were given personal audio tour devices and were able to freely roam the area which includes a cafe and a restaurant.  For a little more on the history of the building see our previous article entitled The Gemaldegalerie.

There was no time limit for our visit so we set a leisurely pace for ourselves.  We started our tour by walking around the perimeter of the roof, identifying landmarks and taking photos.  You can see virtually the entire city from that vantage point.  Next we entered the dome.  Around the center you can see a series of old photos detailing the history of the republic until the present day.

All along the interior of the dome there is a ramp that takes you higher and higher until you reach the observation point at the top.  The incline is somewhat gradual and the climb was very easy.  As we entered the ramp our audio guides came alive and began telling us the history of the building, the parliament and of the most recent renovations.  The guide was sensitive to where we were and pointed out landmarks as they came into sight.

(Reistag Dome)

Looking West from the Reistag we’d previously noticed an odd shaped building but had not been able to learn anything about it.  Our audio guides told us that the building had been built by the United States in the 1950s as an international exhibition center.  Subsequently it was gifted to Germany and was renamed House of the World’s Cultures.  Today it hosts art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, etc. with a focus on international and non-European arts.

On the way down the ramp we learned things about the dome itself.  The top is open to allow fresh air to circulate throughout the building.  The column in the middle is made of glass to reflect ambient light into the parliament chamber to reduce lighting costs and there is an automatic shade that prevents the sunlight from overheating the room.  Solar panels are presently being installed on the roof to help make the building as environmentally friendly as possible.

Our audio guides had also pointed out a spot in the Großer Tiergarten that held a memorial.  After our visit we headed over that way to see it for ourselves.  The Soviet War Memorial is a large curved monument that is dedicated to the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin in 1945.  It comes complete with artillery pieces and tanks (not pictured here).

(The Soviet War Memorial)

Waking back towards the Brandenburg Gate we found a plaque on the ground commemorating the spot where Ronald Reagan had spoken his famous line, “Mr. Gorbachev, Open this Gate! …tear down this wall!”

(Ronald Reagan Quote)

We headed further East along the Unter den Linden and admired the beautiful buildings.  Eventually we came to something that looked like a Greek Temple.  It was the Neue Wache, a building that now houses a memorial to all of the victims of war and dictatorship.  Inside is a statue known as, “Mother with her Dead Son”.  Buried inside are the mortal remains of an unknown soldier and an unknown concentration camp prisoner.  We saw no trace of the eternal flame that is supposed to be there.

(The Neue Wache Memorial)

At last we got to Museum Island and entered the Neues Museum or “New Museum”.  This museum specializes in ancient Egypt and pre-history.  Cost of entry was €12.00 / $13.80 per person.  The museum is housed in a very grand building with three levels, incredibly high ceilings and vast open spaces.  It was built between 1843 and 1855 according to plans created by a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel.  The exterior colonnade seems to be riddled with bullet holes and the interior’s frescos and arches have obviously suffered.  These issues are vestiges of the war where the building sustained heavy damage.

The museum has a vast array of interesting, high quality artifacts on display.  We did, however, have some issues with how things were presented…

1. Many rooms contained artifacts from several different time periods or geographic areas.  There was no rhyme or reason as to why they were grouped together.
2. Labeling was poor and often lacked crucial information – especially dates.  Less than half of the items had English translations.
3. The premier artifact, a bust of Nefertiti, was displayed in a room where no photography was permitted.
4. The way things were presented in the pre-history sections showed no imagination.  They were rather dull.

As an aside, the bust of Nefertiti is quite magnificent.  It’s an incredibly fine work made out of limestone and then painted in extraordinary detail.  We’ve never seen anything to match it.  The museum also had an exhibit called The Berlin Gold Hat.  It’s a late bronze-age device in the shape of a wizard’s hat.  It’s made out of gold leaf and is one of only four known to exist.  The symbols on the hat can be used to calculate the position of the moon and the stars and can calculate a lunar calendar complete with leap days.  It’s an extraordinary achievement for a primitive culture.

(Seti I and Osiris)

In spite of the deficiencies we mentioned, if you have any interest in ancient Egypt or pre-medieval cultures then this is a museum that you should probably visit.

Distance walked: 10.5 miles

Tuesday, December 11

The day started with a free concert at the Philharmonie, the hall where the Berlin Philharmonic is in residence.  Every Tuesday at 1:00 pm there is a free chamber music concert that is open to the public.  First come, first served.

We were advised to get there at noon to insure that we would get a ticket.  We arrived at the designated time and found that there were already close to one hundred people milling about in the ante-room waiting to be let into the foyer.  Instead of an orderly line people were just standing about.  This seemed uncharacteristic.  A few minutes later the door opened and we funneled through a ticket line where we were given a small chit, walked two paces and deposited same into a receptacle.  No counting required.

As we entered the foyer we saw just a few chairs set up with a sign that said they were for people with disabilities.  Everyone else had staked out a seat on the floor, up against a wall or on the stairs and a few even preferred to stand along the railing of the balcony that lead to the main concert hall.  We were quite surprised by this but managed to score a couple of “seats” on a small staircase about 25 feet from the performers.

Promptly at 1:00 pm the musicians came out, tuned and started to play.  There was only one piece on the program and it was the Piano Quintet in f-minor, opus 34 by Johannes Brahms.  I recognized the piece but Deborah knew it intimately and followed along as one who’d played it herself.  The string players were all first rate and played as though they’d been playing together for years.  The pianist, perhaps the weakest of the musicians, didn’t seem to add much to the performance.  Overall it was an excellent performance and we enjoyed it immensely.  Our one complaint is that the performance lacked some of the higher frequencies and failed to reach some of the dynamic climaxes.  We blamed most of that on the “hall”, which was designed as a foyer and not a performance space.

(Free Concert)

After the concert we walked over towards the Museum of Technology.  Along the way we passed the remnants of the Anhalter train station.  The only portion remaining was the facade.  The rest had no doubt been destroyed in the War.  There was a large sign that said that this was the station where, from 1942 – 1945, Jews had been deported from Berlin to the Teresianstadt Concentration Camp near Prague.

(Remains of the Anhalter Station)

The cost to enter the Museum of Technology was €8.00 / $9.15 per person.  Inside the sprawling complex, there was a large variety of exhibits.  We started with the trains.  There was a re-creation of the afore-mentioned Anhalter station and about 50 locomotives and cars ranging from steam to electric powered.  There was also a display of an old wooden car that had transported Jews to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.  Nearby were two huge displays of model railroads complete with scenery and switch tracks.  There was a sign indicating the times when demonstrations would take place.

Next we moved to the manufacturing area.  We saw displays on the making of jewelry and other consumer goods.  There was a person using some of the old equipment to demonstrate how luggage was produced.  It was quite interesting.

Upstairs were extensive displays on optics, still and movie cameras and all sorts of paraphernalia each accompanied by a complete history and sample devices.  The the next flight up was a floor dedicated to the history of drugs and their manufacture.

Another huge building in the complex contained displays on boats and planes. There was lots of information on sailing ships through the ages complete with many models and a few actual specimens.  Throughout the entire museum there were placards indicating the time of the next demonstration.  It would have been a real treat to see some of those enormous steam engines in action.

There was an entire set of rooms that talked about sugar – from how its grown and harvested to some advanced uses.  We learned that crustacean shells contain a great deal of sugar compounds and ways are being developed to harvest it.

Lastly we came to the section on aviation.  There were full-sized models of many early attempts at flight and actual planes from World War II and beyond. Perhaps the most interesting display was an actual V1 Flying Bomb.

(V1 Flying Bomb)

The museum was a lot of fun and there are many sections that would delight children.  It’s likely that more demonstrations are scheduled during peak season.

We took the subway back and when we crossed the street we were overwhelmed by the smells emanating from a nearby restaurant.  It was a small place that served hamburgers and greek gyro-like sandwiches.  We caved and ordered two cheeseburgers and fries.  The burgers were made to order, were a tad greasy and were quite delicious.  The fries were good too!

(Cheeseburgers for Dinner)

Distance walked: 7.4 miles

Sunday, December 9

Today we visited the famed Charlottenburg Palace.  At a distance of about 5.5 miles from our apartment we decided to take mass transportation.  Public transportation in Berlin is first rate.  It’s easy to use, efficient, timely and reasonably priced.  Google maps can give you perfect directions and even provides realtime updates on the schedule.  The trick is purchasing the right ticket.

Tickets are distance sensitive.  You can purchase a “short ride” ticket, good for a maximum of three stops, for €1.70 / $1.95 per person  You can also get tickets that are good for two hours that will allow to use any combination of subway, tram and bus.  Those cost €2.80 / $3.20 per person.  Of course, they have all day tickets and longer term tickets as well.  If you’re going to ride more than twice in one day then the all day ticket is quite a bargain.  You can buy tickets from the bus drivers but it’s not clear exactly what tickets are available there.  Fortunately, whenever we’ve taken the bus, we’ve been near a subway stop so we simply buy our tickets for the day from one of those machines.  Make sure you validate (stamp) your ticket in one of the machines near the subway / on the bus else you get fined.  Easy peasy.

It took just 35 minutes to get to Charlottenburg Palace on the bus.  Along the way we passed through much of the Charlottenburg District.  This is one of the more upscale neighborhoods and it, like most other neighborhoods, was fully decorated for Christmas.  For a time we road along a wide, broad avenue that reminded us of Fifth Avenue in New York City.  Soon the bus crossed a major intersection and we could see the palace just off to our left.  It is easily recognizable and, to our happy surprise, there was a Christmas Fair right in front.

Charlottenburg Palace was designed in the Baroque style and was inaugurated in 1699 in what was then called the town of Lietzenburg.  It was commissioned by Sophie Charlotte who was the wife of Friedrich I, Elector of Brandenburg – a member of the Hohenzollern dynasty.  The palace was badly damaged during World War II.  Many of the paintings and some of the furnishings were saved but most of the rooms had to be rebuilt.  Incredibly, most of the flooring survived as did some of the wall coverings in a select few rooms.  Today the palace has been rebuilt and redecorated to appear as it would have before the war.  In places where the original wall hangings, decorations or furniture didn’t survive furnishings from other (now destroyed) palaces have been used in their stead.

Our first impression of the outside is that the building resembled a smaller version of the Palace of Versailles which was built around the same time.  There are a number of exhibits to see.  There is the Old Wing, the New Wing, the New Pavilion, the Orangery, the Mausoleum and the Belvedere, which houses a porcelain collection.  During the winter months only the first three are open so we bought a combination ticket entitling us to see all of them.  Cost of entry was €19.00 / $21.15 per person.  Audio guides for the Old and New Wings are included.  Credit cards are accepted.

The tour started in the Old Wing.  These are the rooms that were designed and decorated by Sophie Charlotte.  We saw several dozen rooms including royal reception chambers, entertaining spaces and living quarters.  Most were smaller than one would expect.  Of course, in those days rooms had to be kept to a manageable size because they were heated by fireplaces.  These rooms were ornate and tasteful and many of the more personal rooms were decorated in Eastern style which was one of Sophie’s favorites.

Our favorite room was a large oval shaped reception room that had access from the formal reception rooms on one side and a wall of glass on the other with access to the extensive gardens.  Deborah immediately recognized a painting depicting our friend from Dresden, August the Strong, along with Friedrich I of Prussia and Fredrick IV of Denmark from a conference that became known as the Meeting of the Three Kings.

One of the other rooms of note is the chapel.  It is fabulously decorated with frescos and everything is trimmed in gold.  There is a small organ that has been completely restored and a large gold trimmed crown, complete with the figure of a eagle and a flock of angels, at the far end.  The room seems to resemble a theater.  According to the audio guide it was designed to be a modest chapel.  We beg to differ.

(Chapel Wall)

The most famous room, however, is the porcelain room, that houses several hundred pieces.  At that time porcelain was still fairly rare and so expensive that only the very wealthy could afford it.  For us there were just too many pieces in a relatively small space.  We felt a little claustrophobic.

Sophie Charlotte didn’t get much use of the palace.  When she died in 1705 her husband renamed it Charlottenburg in her honor.

The palace once contained a room that was described as the eighth wonder of the world.  It was the Amber Room, a room whose walls were covered in Amber.  Friedrich Wilhelm I gave the Amber Room to Tsar Peter the Great as a present in 1716.  The room was looted in World War II by the Nazis and the amber has not been seen since (although the room, which was contained in the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg, has been subsequently reconstructed).

Upstairs there was an exhibit that discussed the history of the Hohenzollern dynasty.  It had some great information and some interesting artifacts including the Ducal and Electors swords from the 16th century.  Our favorite portrait was that of Princess Luise – the great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England.  Her husband, King Friedrich Wilhelm III, famously sent her to Napoleon to barter for favorable terms for Prussia (he was afraid to meet Napoleon himself).  Napoleon gave no quarter in the negotiations but it is said that he was enchanted by her, fell in love with her and propositioned her.  This time he was unsuccessful.

(Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia, 1802)

By the time we finished with the old wing it was time for lunch.  We headed out to the Christmas Fair and indulged in a plate of Käsespätzle (noodles baked with cheese) covered with crispy onions.  We shared one plate.  We had intended to split a bratwurst afterwards but the spätzle was so filling that we decided against it.  Cost was €4.50 / $5.15.  Cash only.  Then we headed back to the palace.

(Käsespätzle for Lunch)

When Friedrich II / Frederick the Great came to power in 1740 he expanded the palace and decorated parts that are now known as the new wing.  These were intended as his Winter Apartments.  The first two rooms that we saw were huge, formal reception rooms that appear to have been lifted directly from the Palace of Versailles, complete with their golden accents.  One of the rooms appears to be a duplicate of the renown Hall of Mirrors without the mirrors.  These rooms are in the French Rococo style – a style that was a favorite of the King and was in vogue at the time.

(Grand Reception Room, New Wing)

Whereas the audio guides in the old wing had been full of interesting details and historic information the audio guides in the new wing said little more than, “This was a bedroom.  None of the original furnishings have survived” over and over again.  It was a little disappointing.  Ironically, Frederick the Great’s wife, Elizabeth Christine, had a new set of rooms designed for herself but never used them.

Now it was time to see the New Pavilion.  It’s a relatively small, two story building that is separate from the main palace.  It was built as a private retreat for King Friedrich Wilhelm III and was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.  Today it is used to exhibit works by Schinkel and other Prussian artists.

Schinkel’s paintings reflect the Neo-Romantic period and we found them interesting.  One room, however, had a large collection of small, Medieval style paintings.  There was little documentation about them so it is hard for us to provide any significant details but these were some of our favorite works in the entire house.

As we left the Pavilion it had once again started to rain.  Nevertheless we took an abbreviated tour of the gardens.  Once again the design was highly reminiscent of Versailles.

(Charlottenburg Palace and Gardens)

By now the sun had set and lights were dancing to popular Christmas songs on the front of the palace  It was a beautiful sight.

We took the bus back home and had dinner in our apartment.  Charlottenburg Palace had been one of our “must do” items and we were glad to have gotten the chance to see it.

Distance walked: 5.2 miles

Saturday, December 8

This morning Deborah felt like going out.  Our plan was to take an easy day and just walk over to the Neues Museum which was just under two miles away.  We told each other that we would walk more slowly than usual so as not to exert ourselves too much.  Yeah, right.

The Neues Museum is situated on Museum Island next to the Berlin Cathedral.  Once Deborah saw the Cathedral she couldn’t resist going inside for a look.  How taxing could that be?  Cost of entry: €7.00 / $8.05 per person.  Cash only. We also purchased a small pamphlet detailing the inside of the Cathedral for €0.20.

(The Berlin Cathedral)

The full name of the church is The Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church.  The original building on this site can be traced back to 1451 and Prince Elector Fredrick II of Brandenburg.  Subsequently the building has been remodeled and replaced many times.  In 1893 the existing church was demolished to make way for a new building that was built by Wilhelm II; it opened in 1905.  Originally the church was Catholic.  It was changed to Lutheran in 1538 and remains that way to this day.

During a bombing raid in 1944 an incendiary bomb struck the main dome which caused massive destructive.  The interior was burned and the dome collapsed breaking through the floor and damaging the crypt below.  At that point the church fell into disuse.

Reconstruction began in 1975.  The communist government demanded a number of changes.  The northern wing, which had been virtually undamaged, was destroyed because it honored the Hohenzollern family.  Many of the crosses on the exterior were not replaced and the decorations on the exterior of the dome were not fully restored.  Only 50,000 Marks were allocated to the entire project.  By 1993 the project had been completed and the church had been reinaugurated.  Today The Berlin Cathedral Building Society is seeking private funds to fully restore the building.

Our ticket permitted us access to the main church, a view of the Baptistery / Marriage Chapel, entry to the museum, access to the viewing platform above and the crypts below.  There was a lot to do!

Entry to the church is through a side door which leads to a richly decorated room laden with marble and a staircase which leads to the Kaiser’s private pews in the balcony.  A narrow hallway leads to the main church.  It’s a magnificent sight.

The interior is richly decorated.  It’s mainly constructed out of a light colored marble accented with dark, carved wood and trimmed with gold.  The even more richly decorated altar has figured marble columns and is highlighted with paintings on glass panels that are lit from behind.  Overhead is a dome decorated with eight paintings representing the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, trimmed in gold and topped with stained glass windows.

(The Main Altar)

The 113 stop Wilhelm Sauer organ has 7,269 pipes and takes up an entire wall.  It is played by a four manual console and is said to be one of the premier instruments in all of Europe.  While we were there the organist was preparing for the upcoming service by playing several pieces.  The sounds were pure and crisp and emulated the various instruments with a high degree of precision.  We were absolutely enchanted and would love to have heard more.  Periodic public performances can be attended for a fee.

The main floor also included the Baptistery / Marriage Chapel which we were able to view.  There were also a number of ornate coffins belonging to members of the royal family.

(Burial of Prince Elector Friedrich Wilhelm)

We headed upstairs and viewed the main chapel from the balcony and afterwards climbed further to get to the museum.  Here we saw models and displays that discussed previous versions of the church and the efforts to rebuild it after World War II.

I continued on up the stairs to the viewing platforms while Deborah waited for me in the balcony.  The first platform was inside the church at the level of the base of the dome.  I could see outside through several small windows.  On the inside the main chapel was visible.

At the top, a total of 270 steps up, I was outside.  From there you can see virtually the entire city.  I took many pictures before returning to the balcony.  Finally we walked downstairs to the crypt where there was 94 burials for members of the Hohenzollern dynasty starting from the 16th century.

We spent a lot more time in the Cathedral than we expected and, by the time we left, Deborah was feeling quite tired.  Instead of going over to the Neues Museum we headed over to the Alexanderplatz Christmas Fair for a lunch consisting of potato pancakes and Isler-like Cookies.  While there we made an interesting discovery.

(Isler-like Cookies)

On our first day in Town we went to this fair and ordered a gluhwein.  We were charged €3.50 for the drink and €3.00 for the glass mug; no one was selling it in paper cups.  We took the empty glass home with us and thought we would leave it in the apartment as a souvenir.  Today we noticed someone returning an empty glass and receiving some money back.  It turns out that the €3.00 is just a fully refundable deposit.  We’ll come back on another day and return our mug.  It’s great to get drinks in a nice, glass mug and even better that they are reused.  It’s recycling at its best.  You would never see something like that in the United States.

After lunch Deborah was still feeling rather low on energy so we took the subway home.  The Neues Museum will have to wait for another day.

Distance walked: 6.3

Thursday, December 6

Deborah needed another day of rest so I decided to go out on my own and see some more of the sights.  I had a general idea of what I wanted to do but expected to just go where the sights took me.  It’s a fun way to explore a city.

I began the day by walking in the direction of Alexanderplatz.  Here was a chance to explore the canals that run through that part of the city which had once supported trade with neighboring cities.  One of the things I discovered was a famous statue of Saint George and the Dragon that was displayed at the Paris World’s Fair of 1855.  Further along I found the Berlin Cathedral, which we had noticed on our first day in Town.

The Cathedral is a large Baroque looking building situated on the UNESCO listed Museum Island.  According to a sign posted the Cathedral gets no government or private funding so it charges €7.00 for a visit.  I was tempted to go inside but figured that I’d go back and see it together with Deborah on another day.  I continued to wander about the outside and take photos when I realized that my lens was now working properly.  I was able to utilize the full focal length from 24 to 70mm.  I didn’t know if it was a sign I was supposed to visit the cathedral or maybe my Carl Zeiss lens was just happy to be back in its home country.  In any event the lens was once again working properly and I was very happy.  Hopefully it was stay that way.

Across the street from the Cathedral I noticed a small park with a large sculpture representing two people that tourists were taking their picture with.  I investigated and it turned out to be a likeness of Marx and Engles.  I was surprised to see that it hadn’t been removed like most of the other communist art had been.

When we first visited Alexanderplatz we had seen a second Christmas Fair and now was my chance to check it out.  It was very much like the one in Alexanderplatz but smaller.  The one thing that made it special was a small ice skating rink.  In the middle was a large sculpture of a sea god surrounded by nymphs.

As I walked further towards Alexanderplatz I saw an interesting looking bakery.  Inside there were a variety of appealing looking donuts and Bavarian style pretzels.  I bought a French Cruller style donut for myself and a couple of pretzels to take home for Deborah; they’re her favorite. Of course the minute I stepped outside I ate the donut.  It was really good.

When I arrived in Alexanderplatz I had a mission.  I wanted to find a vendor that was selling potato pancakes.  We’d seen them before and didn’t get around to sampling them.  The memory had haunted me.  The last time we’d had some we were in Warsaw.  Those were absolutely fantastic.  They had been fried in lard!  I got two large pancakes with sour cream and chives for €4.00 / $4.50.  They were made with onions, had been fried extra crispy on the outside and were soft and chewy on the inside.  Were they as good as the ones from Warsaw?  Maybe not but they were darn good.

(Potato Pancakes)

After lunch I walked West on the Unter den Linden, the oldest boulevard in Berlin.  It’s a major thoroughfare that extends past Charlottenburg.   Here you will find grand buildings, museums and Universities.  I passed through the Brandenburg Gate and walked over to the front of the Reistag Building where I found a large, open park.  I recognized the facade from many World War II movies.  It had been rebuilt to look exactly the same except that the dome is now made of glass.

I walked back up to the Großer Tiergarten and continued West along the grand boulevard.  The famous Victory Column was apparent in the distance.  I had used a long lens to photograph it from the Brandenburg Gate the other day but wanted to get closer and get better pictures.  The column was about 1.6 miles away but I figured I didn’t have to walk the entire way to get good pictures.

(The Victory Column)

As I got closer I noticed that the statue of Victoria on top of the column was facing West.  I was going to have to go all the way to the other side of the column to get the pictures I wanted.  As I got closer I noticed that people were walking around the upper tiers of the column.  I didn’t know there was an interior that you could visit.  Sure enough, when I got to the traffic circle, I found a tunnel that went under the roadway and emerged in the middle of the island. The cost to enter was €3.00 / $3.50.  Cash only.

Inside there is a surprisingly large museum that talks about the history of the monument, other monuments in Germany and finally major monuments of the world.  It was quite interesting.  The Victory Column (Siegessäule) was inaugurated in 1873 and was built to commemorate Prussia’s victory over the Danes in 1864.  The monument sits on a base of red granite and stands 220 feet tall after it was extended in 1938 when the Nazis moved it from its original location near the Reistag to its present location.

(The First Level with Mosaics)

The climb to the first viewing level was rather easy.  Outside there is a nice view of all the avenues that connect to the circle.  At that level the column is decorated with mosaics that depict scenes from the war.  The stairs leading to the top level were winding and narrow and seemed to go on forever.  It was a more difficult climb.  In total there were almost 300 stairs / about 22 flights.  From the top you can see virtually the entire city.  I took a bunch of photos but didn’t linger too long because at that level there was a strong and rather cold wind.

(Looking East towards the Brandenburg Gate)

By now I was a little tired.  I toyed with the idea of taking public transportation home but wound up walking instead.  Along the way I passed Potsdamer Platz which naturally was hosting another Christmas Fair.  It had been a long day.

Distance walked: 14.1 miles (second place on our all time list)

Tuesday, December 4 Our day started with another trip to Checkpoint Charlie.  The weather was clear so we took the opportunity to take some better pictures.  As we continued on we came to a rather curious sight: it was a large metal sculpture whose shape traced the outline of a church.  This was Bethlehemkirchplatz.  Since 1737 a church had stood on this site.  It was destroyed in an air raid in 1943 and the remains were finally removed in 1963.  Underneath the frame there are colored stones that indicate where the altar and pews had previously stood.  We thought it was a lovely memorial to the foley of war. As we came to the Communications Museum we found an amusing street sign.  It said, “Mauerstraße” which translates as “Wall Street”.  In some places there are placards embedded into the sidewalk where portions of the Berlin wall had stood.  We would love to have seen placards that traced the entire length of the wall but we’ve only seen them in a few places. Speaking of placards embedded in the sidewalk we have noticed a number of small brass memorials with the names and fates of people, mostly Jews, who perished during the holocaust.  There are three right outside of our building.  We’ve seen similar memorials in Rome and in Budapest too.  They always give us pause. Our first planned stop of the day was at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  Inaugurated in 2005, sixty years after World War II, it’s a series of 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a rectangular pattern.  It’s a rather large site which seems to lack any cohesive theme.  According to the designer…

 the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason

(Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe)

Our next stop was the iconic Brandenburg Gate.  Built in the 1700s on the orders of King Fredrick William II it, like Checkpoint Charlie, was one of the few ways to travel between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.

(The Brandenburg Gate)

Fun Fact: During Imperial times only members of the royal family could cross through the center section of the gate.  When the Nazis came to power they staged a parade and marched through the center section as a demonstration of their power. Traveling through the gate to what was East Berlin we then came to the Reichstag Building where the German Parliament meets.  The building opened in 1894 but was severely damaged by fire in 1933, one month after Hilter came to power, by a Dutch communist named Marines van der Lubbe.  The building fell into disuse until after the fall of communism when it was reconstructed.  It reopened in 1999.  Today the building has a large, glass dome that can be visited free of charge (advance reservations are required).  It’s also possible to tour the building when Parliament is not in session. We had lunch near the Brandenburg Gate at a restaurant called Café LebensArt.  The restaurant had pretty mediocre reviews but we were tired and hungry and our other choices seemed even less inviting.  I ordered the Bockwurst which came with German potato salad and Deborah had the tomato soup.  Both came fairly quickly and both were very tasty.  Given our good experience we couldn’t resist trying one of their homemade pastries.  We opted for a schwarzwälder kirsch sahne torte (black forest cherry cream cake).  It was darn good.

(Schwarzwälder Kirsch Sahne Torte)

Fully refreshed we walked back through the gate to the Großer Tiergarten (a park) towards the Gemäldegalerie but on our way we encountered the Berliner Philharmonie – the concert hall where the Berlin Philharmonic is in residence.  We searched the schedule for some concerts that appealed to us and found one on December 13th.   There were almost no seats left but we found two that were available in the middle of the first balcony and we greedily snatched.  We’ll be attending a performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony.  The cost was €88.00 / $100.00 each.  Credit cards are accepted. Finally we arrived at the Gemäldegalerie.  One of the biggest problems we’ve had here in Berlin has been to choose which museums to visit.  We would estimate that there are at least 50 museums in town and they include old masters, antiquities, German history, The Cold War as well as some esoteric things like the museums of Communications, Spy Craft and Technology.  The Gemäldegalerie contains collections of Western art ranging from the 15th century until the 19th century.  Entry cost €10.00 / $11.50 per person.  Credit cards are accepted. The museum boasts an enormous collection all housed in a sprawling set of large rooms.  Most of the works were labeled in German and in English.  We found a surprisingly large number of works by Rembrandt and Rubens,  although very few were their best, and a huge number of Dutch Flemish paintings.  In general the lighting was pretty bad and, surprisingly, we’ve encountered this in most museums we’ve visited.  More often than not there is a terrible glare that makes viewing the works straight on impossible.  It also makes getting good photos very difficult.  It’s hard to believe that museums don’t pay more attention to this issue.

(Portrait of a Man with a Velvet Beret and a Coat with Fur Collar by Rembrandt)

The museum has a wonderful collection and we thoroughly enjoyed it but there was one issue that we thought was rather odd – all of the paintings had been completely restored to new condition.  On the one hand they were lovely to see but it was weird to see so many paintings from the 1400s that looked like they were painted yesterday.  There was a large display in one room detailing the restoration of one of the works but in many cases we would suggest that they did too much.

(Mary with Child and Angels by Botticelli, 1477)

On our way home we walked past the Christmas Fair at Potsdamer Platz and treated ourselves to a Bratwurst.  After all, it had probably been almost three hours since we’d last eaten anything. Distance walked: 11.4 miles Wednesday, December 5 Tuesday had been a rather full day and had been too much for Deborah.  This morning her cold seemed to take its revenge so we decided to stay in and binge watch Netflix. Distance walked: 0.2 miles

Sunday, December 2

Our host in Podgorica had offered to help arrange transportation to the airport but never got back to us.  We messaged him last night and twice this morning and received no responses.  Because of language issues (and the name of our street, Crnogorskih Serdara, being hard to pronounce properly) we prefer to use apps to schedule taxis.  It tends to make communications easier and more accurate but here in Podgorica we had to resort to making phone calls.  The first company we called didn’t have any taxis available but the second one did.  After I botched the name of the street the dispatcher wasn’t sure of the pickup details so he suggested that I message him on Viber.  We don’t use Viber but WhatsApp turned out to be another valid choice.  We messaged him and learned that a taxi would pick us up in ten minutes.  We’ve had this experience before in Belgrade.  Many taxi companies use common messaging apps to arrange rides.  It’s simple, cheap and works quite well.

We arrived at the airport about 2.5 before our 10:50 am flight.  We had coffee and a shared a pastry while we waited for the RyanAir booth to open.  Before hitting security we passed through customs and got a stamp in our passports and at the appointed time our plane departed for the two hour flight to Berlin.

Ryan Air got us to Schönefeld Airport about 10 minutes early but it took us almost an hour to get through immigration.  By that time our luggage was waiting for us on the carousel.  Our host had recommended that we take the airport shuttle to a subway and then walk or simply take an Uber.  Given the rainy weather and all the luggage we had we opted for the Uber.  Since it was a Sunday the traffic was light and we made good time getting to the Centrum.  Along the way we passed through a huge neighborhood where we saw many shops and restaurants with signs lettered in Arabic.  Most of the residents were Lebanese that had fled from their homeland but there were also Palestinians and Turks.  As we drove through the city we tried to see if it was still possible to determine which parts of town had been part of East or West Berlin; we weren’t able to come to any conclusions.

When we originally outlined our plans for this trip we never envisioned visiting Germany so it’s ironic that this is the only country that we will have visited twice.  We were in Dresden last summer.  Our original goal was to see some of Eastern Europe.  At least Dresden and Berlin both fall into that category.

This time our apartment is on the ninth floor of a high-rise building.  Fortunately there is an elevator.  Our host’s sister met us at the door and gave us a quick tour of the place and answered our questions about garbage removal and nearby grocery stores.  In Germany, grocery stores are normally closed on Sunday and since it was after 2:00 pm and we hadn’t eaten lunch we decided to head out to one of the Christmas Fairs and get something to eat.  We were sure we could find something there.

The entire day had been cloudy and chilly with periods of rain and the forecast was for more of the same.  We strolled through town trying to take in the sights.  Unlike so many cities we’ve been in lately, where you could walk the entire length and breadth in a few hours, Berlin is a rather large city and there were lots of things to see along the way.

As we walked East we noticed the Berliner Fernsehturm.  It’s an iconic tower built in 1969 that has a viewing platform and restaurants.  You can see it from virtually anywhere in the city.  We also passed Museum Island – a group of older buildings that house several different museums.  The area is a UNESCO site.

(Berliner Fernsehturm)

Eventually we came to one of the most famous squares in the entire city: Alexanderplatz.  In addition to the usual hustle and bustle, shops and train station we found a huge Christmas Fair.  Both sides of the square were lined with booths selling trinkets, German foods, wines, cheese, baked goods, etc.  We walked around the entire square, taking it all in, before beginning to indulge.  The first thing we bought was some cheese.  The nice lady at the booth offered us some samples and there was no going back.  We bought wedges of two different kinds.  Next we tried the Glühwein (glowing wine).  It’s a traditional drink.  It’s normally made from red wine that has been boiled with spices like cloves and cinnamon and served heated.  It was the perfect drink for a cold, wet afternoon.

(Glühwein Will Keep You Warm)

Soon after we tried several different kinds of cookies, one which we had never seen before, called a Rothenburger Schneebal.  It’s basically pie dough that’s rolled into a ball, filled with something and covered in something else.  Ours was filled with vanilla paste and covered in milk chocolate.  They looked fabulous but turned out to be nothing to get excited about.

We ended our feast by splitting a Bratwurst.  We broke it in half.  Deborah ate hers plain and I drowned mine in spicy brown mustard.  It might be been the best “Brat” we ever ate.

By now it was getting late.  The sun had gone down and we were cold, wet and tired so we decided to take the subway back to Moritzplatz which was just one block from our apartment.

There is something comforting about being in Germany.  We loved the Balkans but the culture, language and foods were new to us; it was a constant effort just to read menus and communicate with people.  In spite of the language, which we manage to deal with rather effortlessly, German food and culture are familiar and distinctly Western.  We expect to have an easy time of things for the next two weeks.  The downside is that the cost of everything here in Germany is much higher than in the Balkans.  Our apartment cost a lot more than we’re used to paying and there’s no doubt that food and excursions will impact our budget.

Distance walked: 5.8 miles

Monday, December 3

Happy Chanukah!

We did some searching and found maps showing the demarcation between East and West Berlin this morning.  Our apartment is just inside what was West Berlin and just a fifteen minute walk to Checkpoint Charlie.  Alexanderplatz, where we were last night, was deep inside of East Berlin.  Actually the line between the cities was quite crooked so it’s not always easy to tell which side things were on.

Since we had no groceries we headed out to a restaurant for breakfast.  It’s hard to think of the last time we did that.  We opted for a place that was almost two miles distant that was in the proximity of the Brandenburg Gate.  Our plan was to see Checkpoint Charlie, the gate and another Christmas Fair.

We had breakfast at Steel Vintage Bikes Café & Restaurant.  It’s an eclectic place that is decorated with old bicycles (they also rent bikes).  I ordered scrambled eggs with chives and feta along with a pumpkin chai latte.  Deborah ordered pancakes with maple bacon and scrambled eggs.  She washed it down with a large cappuccino.  The food was excellent.  By the time we finished it was 10:00 am.  We lingered for a while because the rain was expected to stop around noon.

After we left we headed back the way we came.  We had seen something that we wanted to explore- it was an outdoor museum called The Remains Of The Berlin Wall.  There in front of us was a piece of the Berlin Wall that extended about one city block.  We were surprised to see it.  We thought that the entire thing had been destroyed.  It’s nice to see that a small piece was preserved for posterity.

(The Remains Of The Berlin Wall)

Right next door was another museum called Topographie des Terrors.  The building had been the home to the Gestapo during the era of Nazi Germany.  Entry was free of charge.  Inside the museum used large panels to chronicle the rise of the Nazi party, the atrocities committed by the courts and the horrors of the concentration camps.  It ended in the 1960s with a retelling of how many famous Nazis were tracked down and prosecuted.

There was a second, smaller room that had a similarly styled set of displays that recounted the events surrounding Kristallnacht.

After that rather depressing experience we decided to do something more fun.  We headed over to see Checkpoint Charlie.  The area is now a mecca for tourists complete with a McDonald’s and a KFC.  The only remaining vestiges are the famous sign explaining that you are about to enter/leave that quarter and the guard post.  It was fun to see but after all of the romanticized notions surrounding the place it was a little bit of a letdown.

From there we walked over to another famous 18th century square called Gendarmenmarkt.  It’s home to a concert hall and several churches.  Of course, this time of year it’s also home to a large Christmas Fair.  We had to pass through a gate to get in where there was a sign indicating that after 4:00 pm there was an entry fee in the amount of €1.00.

The market looked very similar to what we had seen at Alexanderplatz.  We took a good look around and before we left we indulged in a piece of toast covered in raclette cheese and some spices.  The cheese had a wonderfully strong smell but a mild taste.  You could also get cheese covered potatoes and both versions were available topped with pork.  Ours cost €4.50 / $5.15.

By this time Deborah was getting tired (she’s still far from well) so we headed back towards our apartment.  Along the way we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some supplies.  It was German supermarket called Aldi and it was very familiar because Aldi Supermarkets can be found throughout Europe and we have frequently shopped at them.

Distance walked: 7.1 miles

Friday, November 30

Our host arranged for a taxi to take us to the bus station this morning.  It cost €1.65 / $1.85 as opposed to the taxi we took from the stand when we arrived that cost €5.00 / $5.65.  We knew at the time that we were overpaying but it still rubs us raw.  You have to be forever vigilant when taking taxis in so many places in Europe.  As much as we dislike Uber we can certainly understand its popularity.

The bus trip to Podgorica took only 1.5 hour.  To get there we had to climb over the seaside mountains to reach the interior of the country.  From the top of the ridge we had a bird’s eye view of Budva.  It was a magnificent sight.

Our new apartment is rather small but comfortable.  Our host gave us the grand tour.  He told us that there’s something wrong with the WIFI router so we may have to reboot it occasionally.  He also said that the circuit breaker for the hot water heater will sometimes pop and showed us how to reset it.  Instead of explaining these deficiencies to his customers why doesn’t he simply fix them?!

After settling in we walked toward the old town.  We went up and down a bunch of streets and never saw anything other than some houses made from old stone.  Eventually we got to a major intersection and saw the famous clock tower from 1667.  It is one of the few Ottoman landmarks that survived World War II.

Tired and still not up to full strength we decided to head over to the nearby mall for some lunch and groceries.  There were quite a few cafes in the mall but they only served coffee and desserts.  We did find two restaurants but they were so filled with smoke that we just couldn’t deal.  We bought some groceries and ate lunch in our apartment.

After lunch we tried to schedule the free tour for the next day but it turns out that they are done for the season.  After searching the Internet for a bit we found GPSMyCity had a walking tour of Podgorica that we could download to our phones.  We figured we could use it tomorrow.

Neither of us were feeling well.  I had regressed somewhat but Deborah had developed a hacking cough and congestion.  We discussed going to the doctor again but decided to see how we felt in the morning.

Distance walked: 3.5 miles

Saturday, December 1

After another bad night we decided to seek out a doctor.  None of the nearby clinics were open so we resorted to walking 1.5 miles to the closest hospital.  After about 20 minutes we were seen (we’re not sure if she was a diagnostician or a doctor).  She checked us over and said that we were just suffering from colds and advised us to drink lots of fluids.  There was no charge for the visit.

(Ribnica Bridge)

Given that we were leaving for Berlin, Germany early the next day this was our last chance to see something of the city.  We tracked down most of the sights listed in GPSMyCity.  We had already seen the Clock Tower and had no interest in doing any of the museums.  We found the Ribnica Bridge.  It’s a 15th century arched bridge built by the Ottomans that crosses the Ribnica River.  The bridge connects to the remains of the Ribnica Fortress – another Ottoman structure that dates from the 15th century.  Terraces have been constructed all around it so you can have a cool drink while admiring the bridge in the sunny weather.

(The Remains of Fort Ribnica)

Just up the road we found two sculptures.  One is a depiction of the last king of Montenegro, King Nicola, riding a horse.  The other is a monument to Alexander Pushkin.  It shows him standing.  He’s reading a poem to his wife, who is sitting on a sofa.

(Alexander and Natalia Pushkin)

Then we walked past Independence Square to the famous shopping district on Sloboda Street where we had cheeseburgers and fries for lunch.  The burgers cost just €2.80 / $3.65 a piece.  It seems that credit cards are accepted just about everywhere in Montenegro.

After lunch Deborah bough a new pair of sneakers.  She wanted a pair made out of leather that would be better suited to the cold, wet weather we expect to encounter in Berlin; cloth sneakers get soaked rather quickly and dry rather slowly.  It’s the first pair of shoes she’s purchased in over a year and half.  Will wonders never cease!

Distance walked: 6.6 miles