Blogs from Berlin, Germany, Europe - page 9

Wednesday, 13th June 2018 Our day began early with breakfast at a local 19 Gram Coffee Chain that served up traditional Eggs Benedict and other hot foods. After a satisfying meal, we took a Bahn to Nordbahnhof where the Berlin Wall Memorial is located. This is another site in the city where remnants of the famous wall could be seen. Over at the Documentation Centre, there is a special exhibition titled "1961-1989, The Berlin Wall" where poignant images of the wall were displayed. In the afternoon, we also found time to visit the DDR Museum located in the Mitte District. This is a little nostalgic museum that showcased life in German Democratic Republic (GDR) aka East Germany in a fun and interactive setting. Opposite the DDR Museum stood the Berlin Cathedral Church with its majestic and ... read more

Monday, 11th June 2018 We took a six hours train to complete the 573km journey to Berlin, the capital of Germany. Enroute, we had a decent meal on the meal cars where pork cutlets and dumplings were served. Arrival at Berlin HBF in the evening, we check-in to the Amano Grand Central Hotel. This was chosen given its convenient location opposite the train station. As I was tired out from the train travels, we decided to shelf our travel plans until the following morning. Berlin that greeted us was as busy and convenient as it gets given its extensive network of U-Bahns, S-Bahns, Buses and Trams. With all the sights we have planned for over the next two days, we were certainly looking forward to our short stay in the city.... read more

One of my earliest political memories is of the construction of the Berlin Wall and the news of people being shot to death who tried to cross over it. So our trip today to the East Side Gallery, to see the artworks on a remaining segment of the Wall, was particularly meaningful.... read more

It was a glorious Sunday morning, our first day in Berlin, and we decided to start our explorations by checking out the Tiergarten, the large park at the centre of the city. The trains were surprisingly full so we were standing in a crush of people barely managing to be inside the tram doors, and then we heard what was happening. The far right party, the AFD, had announced a demonstration outside the Brandenburg Gate. In response, a wide range of groups had anounced many counter demonstrations across the city for the same time, and the people on our tram were headed for the "Dance Against Hate" rally to be held close to the AFD rally, with very loud techno music to drown them out.... read more

This is our first day of something other than 70 degree and sunny weather. With the proper clothes it’s not so bad. Our Cold War Tour started at 10. I thought it was a 2-hour tour, but it turned out to be a 4-hour tour. I had already booked a 3-hour tour starting at 1 with John from the Topography of Terror tour so I pushed it back. The Cold War Tour started with a visit to one of the last remaining sections of the wall and the Palace of Tears at the train station at which East Berliners caught the train back to the East after a visit to the West. We went down to the subway stops that were taken out of use while the wall was up. The East Germans always had 3 ... read more