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Berlin Excelsior Hotel
This was our hotel in Berlin. The hotel was perfect for our stay. Great buffet breakfast and air-conditioned rooms. This last weekend (4th of July) Kate and I had the opportunity to travel to Berlin. Kate had a few days left on her Eurail pass to use before it expired this month and the cost of a roundtrip train ticket for me was fairly reasonable, so off we went to Berlin. The train system in Germany is reliable, fairly comfortable, and almost always brings you right into the center of the city. In the case of Berlin, we arrived at the Zoo Station only a block away from the hotel we were staying. I was able to find an excellent room rate (although more than we normally would pay) at the Berlin Excelsior Hotel through www.laterooms.com. What made this hotel attractive besides it's closeness to the train station, bus and U-Bahn and S-Bahn (underground metro systems) was that it provided one fantastic breakfast buffet and the hotel was air conditioned which really worth the price as it was in the high 80's during our visit.
Getting around Berlin is quite easy and what made it even more so was Berlin's Welcome Card. For 22 Euros you not only get to ride all buses, trams, U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains but
Brandenburg Gate
The last survivor of 14 gates in Berlin's old city wall. This gate was the symbol of a divided Berlin. you also get discounts to most of the museums and also various tourist activities, for example, boat, bike and walking tours.
After checking into the hotel and getting our Welcome Cards we decided to see the city. Rick Steves recommended riding the 100 bus as this was a sightseer's dream as the bus starting at the Bahnhof Zoo traveled a route that included quite a few tourist stops: KaWaDe Dept Store (the largest dept store in Europe), Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, and Unter den Linden. With a light rain falling we decided to stop at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of a divided Berlin during the Cold War. The picture I've included here now shows a beautiful garden and fountain. During the Cold War this area was part of the "death strip" where during the 28 years of the Berlin Wall existence over 1000 people lost their lives trying to escape to the West. I also found it interesting that within a very short distance of the Brandenburg Gate and within what was the "death strip" are the embassies of France and the United States and within a stone throw of these embassies are the embassies of Britain and Russia.
Bahnhof Zoo Train Station
From here you can catch a bus, tram, U-Bahn, S-Bahn to travel anywhere within Berlin or a train to go anywhere in Europe. The next morning after having one outstanding buffet breakfast we walked over to the McDonald’s across the street from the Bahnhof Zoo (Note: there are McDonald’s everywhere in Europe. I also notice that their hamburgers taste different. I think it may have to do with the additives that are added to U.S. hamburgers). For whatever reason we decided wouldn't it be fun to take a walking tour and not any walking tour but
"A 5 HOUR" walking tour of Berlin! What were we thinking! There at McDonald’s we met up with our Walking Tour Guide, Brian Deedrick. Brian has to be one of the most animated people I ever met. Due to his real life job, he is also probably one of the last people you would ever think to be a walking tour guide. Brian is the Opera Director for the Edmonton, Alberta Opera Company. During his 4 months of off-season Brian flies to Berlin each year and for the past 6 years has been conducting these walking tours. Brian not only gave a great tour but because of his captivating storytelling he makes history become alive. He not only tells you about the history of
the place but also the people who lived during that time and how they influenced or changed history, both good and bad.
While on our walking tour Brian pointed out the crosswalk figures which are unique to East Berlin and have become so popular that they are showing up now in West Berlin. I didn't realize it when I took the picture but I got both the halt (little fat guy) and gehen (walker) figures at the same time. The Germans are very observant of the law. It could be the middle of the night and not a car in sight and a German will wait for the gehen signal.
When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 there was this rush of people in both directions. The East Berliners wanted the availability of the shops and produce and the West Berliners wanted cheap apartments. An art colony was set up in a bombed out building in East Berlin and it is interesting how inventive they were in converting the building to artist studios and living quarters.
The Reichstag (German Parliament building) is an interesting building. The motto Dem Deutschen Volke (“to the German people”) adorns the
front of the building. The dome is all glass as well as the doors to the central legislative chamber which sends a message: there will be no secrets in government. The long line to get in are people who want to see the interior or are going to the rooftop restaurant.
The walking tour of Berlin covered a good portion of the most famous historical spots. I’ve included a good number of pictures below from our walk and in most cases a little explanation below each picture. If you want to see a larger image, just click on the picture. The only picture that will not enlarge are the crosswalk figures. (I have no idea why.) We found Berlin to be an exciting and interesting city and we didn’t even start to see the many museums and parks located in Berlin. We look forward to returning to Berlin in the future.
I hope you enjoyed Berlin. Please drop me a note and let me know what you think of this way of providing pictures. I feel it is a lot better than just being bombarded by picture after picture. Either email me or click on add comment below
the pictures and let me hear what you think about this site.
Until later, Auf Wiedersehen!
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Dick Cowden
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TravelBlog working just great
Ahoy Paul! The TravelBlog is working just great. I'm going to have our olders son Grady do this with all of his pictures when he returns from Spain in 2 weeks. Dick