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Published: October 25th 2011
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As I start writing this blog we are sitting on the Intercity Express train 109 travelling from Hamburg to Berlin on the next leg of our ‘journey’. We left Rendsburg this morning just after 9am with German rail very uncharacteristically running 10 minutes late!!
To catch up on the last couple of days!!
Sunday was a sleep in day as we had a late breakfast and then YES we did, at 10am local time, settle in behind 2 laptop computers and watch the Rugby World Cup final LIVE. Christine had found a website that she had watched some of the ABs games live on so we tuned in her laptop and ours and sure enough up it came – eventually. I suspect it may have been some sort of pirated feed because at halftime all the adverts were in English but seemed to be all advertising Indian on-line sales sites for things like computer and cell phones. Anyway, not being fussy Kiwis we watched it and saw the whole game, which appeared to be the Sky NZ TV feed as the commentators were the usual SKY TV ones, and the after-match interviews by Ian Smith, and the medal and trophy presentations.
Great game to watch even though it was so close. At least we saw it and it was the only RWC game we have seen since leaving home.
That took us through to about 1pm and we then left in the car for a seaside town on the east side of Germany, on the Baltic Sea. We had visited Eckenforde (Hope that’s the right spelling Gabi and Christine) the last time we were here 3 years ago but it was great just to wander around what is a tourist town here and take in the shops and then wander along the wharf looking at how the other half with all the money live – very flash yachts and boats everywhere as well as some lovely old ketches etc. There was a local fisherman selling his catch at the wharf, fish that looked like our sole or flounder (but were something else) selling for 4euro a kilogram – very cheap by our standards. It was another sunny but very cool day and we had coats and gloves on but still very enjoyable wandering around. The town was not too far from Rendsburg and we got back about 5pm and had plenty
of down time to read etc. etc.
Gabi had to start back at her teaching job at a nearby high school on Monday as they had just finished their school holidays so we had another late start and then wandered into Rendsburg with Christine to post another box of ‘stuff’ home (or should I say to work so that it won’t get dumped over the locked gates at home and sit there in the weather for a month or so). We also wandered around the town for a couple of hours taking in the very different architecture etc., and the shops of course ( I have done a lot of sitting outside clothing and shoe shops watching people lately!!!!) before going back to the house to meet Gabi who finishes teaching for the day at 1.30pm after they start at 7.45am. Can you imagine NZ school pupils starting classes that early?? We then went back into town and had an ‘ice cream’ lunch at an ‘Ice Cream Café’ where you could even get a hamburger and chips but all made out of ice cream. The artistry with the ice cream was amazing and Joy got photos of it all as
well.
A lazy afternoon to catch up on reading and postcard writing before going out to a nearby restaurant to meet some of Gabi’s friends for a regular evening they have to dine out together and a lovely meal.
Back to the house around 10.15pm and some packing up before bed and an earlyish (by recent standards) start to the day as we were due to catch the 8.50am train from Rendsburg to Hamburg.
So all in all a relatively slow couple of days, that we did really need, and a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to Gabi and Christine for showing us around their part of the world again but still allowing us plenty of time to relax as well. It has really been a neat time spent with them again in what, for us, is a rather unique and different part of the world.
We are due to arrive in Berlin about 1230pm this afternoon so I will save this so far and finish with anything new that happens this afternoon later. We are planning to try to get to grips with the Berlin underground metro this afternoon after booking into our apartment so time will tell.
It is now 8pm and we are back at our very, very, plush apartment at Stresemann Str., 64, Berlin, after having a very light meal at Berlin’s version of the Hard Rock Café.
We arrived in Berlin with no dramas and got a taxi to the apartment where we were met, as organised by the owner. We were very pleased to find that we were on the first floor of a building and there is even a lift, which we don’t need anyway!!!!
Joy did very well with this one!!! The apartment is fantastic with everything virtually new and very well ‘appointed’. It was only 75 euro a night which is very cheap around here.
After settling in and unpacking (thought we might do that here as plenty of cupboard/wardrobe and drawer space and we are getting sick of living out of suitcases) we headed up the road to the Potsdamer Platz where there is a major underground station and figured out, with the help of a couple of young Aussies, how to get tickets etc. and got on the train to go to the Alexander-Platz where we have to be at 9.15am in the morning for our pre-booked 4 hour Segway tour of Berlin. Thought we had better make sure we knew where to be just in case. Got there with no hassles. We have become ‘experts’ at figuring out these cities and there metro systems!!!! (probably famous last words??) We wandered around the Alexander Platz for a bit but it was freezing cold and we decided to get back on the trains and head for Kurfurstendamm, one of the main streets in Berlin, where we knew the Hard Rock was. This was more of a mission with construction work on the underground meaning we had to change trains a few times and when you can’t understand the language it is, to say the least, rather interesting. However, like the seasoned travellers and metro users that we are!!!!!we got there and wandered around a bit.
The memorial Kaiser Wilhelm Church that Joy really wanted to see again, is undergoing major refurbishing and is sheathed in a protective aluminium sheath so you can’t actually see it. The old church was severely damaged in the bombing during WW2 and has been left in it’s damaged condition as a memorial. Never mind, we plan to go and visit the inside which is still open apparently.
A very light meal at Hard Rock (we shared an entrée plate of nachos and one apple pie) and we headed back on the metro to our apartment, in the freezing cold, arriving back just before 8pm.
I suppose it was another slower day with travel etc. but still one of new experiences and places and that’s what it’s all about!!!
Tomorrow should be fun with the Segway tour. We had a practice run on them in Taupo on our way to Auckland for Mum’s 80th birthday in July so we know how to ride them and are really looking forward to the experience.
That’s the last few days with us. Pace had been a bit less hectic and we discovered we really needed that but I suspect the next few days may increase the amount of walking being done as we find our way around this amazing city.
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