Day One - Arrival in Berlin

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The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful except for the fact that we arrived there too late to catch our connecting plane to Berlin. Fortunately, shuttle flights seem to run nearly every hour between the two cities so we simply boarded a half empty Airbus leaving an hour later.

My painstaking research paid-off well on our arrival in Tegel Airport. After clearing customs and immigration quickly, we sought out the BVG (Berlin Transport) service desk where we purchased six 48 hour transport passes. These gave us unlimited use of the trams, buses and subway trains in Greater Berlin. Just outside the terminal we caught the TXL bus to Alexanderplatz. On the ride through the city I found myself wondering "Why the hell did we come here?" Berlin looked to be one of the ugliest cities I'd ever been to. At Alexanderplatz we rolled our suitcases a few hundred yards through the Christmas Market then down into the U-Bahn station. Four stops later we arrived at Samaiterstrasse station. My months of planning and plotting directed us in the proper direction for our hotel, but the lack of a sign in front of the Agon Frankfurter Allee Hotel confused us for a few minutes as we bumbled our way around the somewhat tawdry neighborhood. But once we found the hotel and went inside, we were more than pleased with our new digs. At $75 per night per room, we felt we got a pretty nice deal.

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Photos

Our Room at the Agon Frankfurter Allee
Our first hotel was actually the last one I confirmed. I had booked another hotel further away from the downtown, but when I discovered www.bookingbuddy.com, I found this place which was much closer to the sights and only $77.50 per room per night. We ended-up in room 105.

Let
...it's time for some sightseeing. We admired our rooms just long enough to put on that extra pair of underwear and another layer of clothing. Then we retraced our steps back to the Samaritarstrasse U-Bahn stop.

The Berlin Bear
Just outside the hotel entrance stood this ceramic bear. Over the course of our two days in Berlin we would spot these things all over town. Just as London has decorated ceramic cows throughout the city and just as the Lehigh Valley features ceramic canal mules, the Berlin Bears serve as advertising for the corporations or foundations which sponsor and pay for their display.

Riding the Rails in Berlin
We had no firm plan in mind as we descended into the Samariterstrasse station. We knew we were in the old East Berlin just because of the total lack of ornamentation inside the station and on the buildings of the neighborhood. Everything seemed to be kind of drab and purely functional rather than designed for aesthetic enjoyment.
We used this stop at least 5 times during our stay and the longest we ever had to wait for a train was less than ten minutes. Access was easy and the cars themselves were never crowded.

Sickie Boy
Last year on our Scandanavian Adventure I suffered miserably with the flu which eventually turned to bronchitis. This year I took the precaution of getting a flu shot, then double-dosed myself with Vitamin C for two weeks prior to departure. Unfortunately, just before we started the trip Tyler instead came down with a cold. Fortunately for him, he had Gen with him to wipe his runny nose.

Definitely Not a NYC Subway Car
Even though the U-Bahn stops were a little drab, the subway cars were absolutely beautiful. They were clean and shiny and devoid of graffitti.

Emerging from the Depths
We rode the U-Bahn back to the Alexanderplatz. This square sits in the old East Berlin. It's one of the major hubs for the city transport system. Trams, buses and a couple of U-Bahn lines stop here.

The Personal Portable Hot Dog Stand
As we came up out of the train station Gail took a picture of this enterprising fellow selling Wursts from a stand that was literally strapped to his back.

The Kommissars Live in Concert
We got off the train at Alexanderplatz and decided to check-out the Christmas Market. Just as we exited the U-Bahn station we encountered these most excellent Russian dudes. They sang Russian folk songs and opera tunes while dressed in Cossack and army uniforms. They were very good.

One of Many Berlin Christmas Markets
After watching the Russkies for a few minutes, we headed into the midway of the brightly lit Christmas Market. The stalls were exquisitely decorated and chock full of unique wares but over the years I think we had purchased just about every type of Christmas decoration sold in Germany. As we walked through the market we paid scant attention to the pretty ornaments and handicrafts.

Nuts About Nuts
We spent a few minutes strolling through the Christmas Market . The smell of warm sugar coated almonds (Mandeln) was more than I could resist. We got a bag and finished them off in just a few minutes. Had I known then that this would be my one and only bag of the entire trip, I wouldn't have shared.

Help! My Bread was Stollen!
While I was seduced by the smell of honey-coated almonds, Grandma was tempted by these loaves of Stollen. She was the only one of us that showed any interest in what I consider the German version of fruitcake.

Grandma Settles for a Cookie
Cassie and Grandma were evidently hungry so they stopped at the gingerbread cookie booth for refreshment. The cookies were so beautifully decorated it seemed a shame to eat them.

Memories of the Bourne Supremacy
have a strange fascination with the Bourne movies. I guess like most guys, I like the action and fast pace, but the real appeal for me are the European locations used. The second Bourne movie is primarily set in Berlin. The Alexanderplatz is where Bourne evades his CIA tails by sneaking on and off the trams coming into this usually business transportation hub. I must've brought that up every time we walked through this area.

Looking Back at the Christmas Market
Passing through the stalls at the market was interesting, but what we really needed first was some money. We eventually found a big bank with rows and rows of ATMs. Withdrawing money was painless at the time, but when we returned home we were very disturbed to see all those ATM fees assessed by both the European banks AND our own. In some cases an additional surcharge was charged. Next time, I will use my credit union credit card for EVERYTHING since they charge none of these fees.

Another Angle on the Alexanderplatz
For the two plus days that we were in Berlin we traversed through the Alexanderplatz numerous times. Each time we tried to see and photograph the top of the tall TV tower on the edge of the square. The Germans call it the "Fernsehturm" or the "Tele-spargel" (toothpick). Every day low-lieing clouds obscured the pinnacle. You can just barely see the bottom half of it in the center of this photo. That big building to the right is the C&A department store which seems to exist in every German city and medium-sized town.

World Time Clock
In the Bourne Supremacy this Berlin landmark is depicted as a rendezvous spot. It's played a part in other movies too. Tourists gather here. Punkie kids hang out under the clock. And I don't get it. It's just a clock that depicts time around the world. Maybe it was the only cool modern thing that the East Berlin government allowed back in the Communist period. By the way, I was almost run over by a tram as I stood here on top of the tracks taking this picture.

Humboldt University
We decided to head back down the same road we had taken from the airport earlier. Using our nifty transport passes we boarded one of the very frequent yellow city buses that took us to Unter den Linden, one of Berlin's most famous streets. We got off the bus in front of Humboldt Univerity, one of the world's greatest philosophical centers. Schoepenhower, Schilling, Fichte and Hegel all studied here. Even more famous folks like Einstein, Max Planck, Bismarck, Engels and Karl Marx also attended. Books from this school's library were burned by the Nazis under Goebbels' direction in May of 1933.

Now This is a Christkindlmarkt
Across the street from the University and next to the Staatsoper (State Opera House) was another even bigger Christmas Market. There were hundreds of stalls , an ice skating rink, a couple of restaurants and lots of rides and amusements. We stayed on the opposite of the street away from the temptations and walked back in the direction of Alexanderplatz.

Bebelplatz
Half of this square hosted the Christmas Market while the other half was the scene of renovation and construction. The aforementioned Nazi bookburning took place in this area.