I've got a bit to catch up on, so I think I'll do several separate posts so I don't confuse myself! We've had a great week since I last checked in, with loads of adventures as well as some much needed down time.
On our first full day in Berlin, the sleepy heads eventually surfaced and sometime in the afternoon we decided to walk to the Charlottenburg Palace. We weren't staying in a tourist area so we had a chance to walk the streets of suburbian Berlin and stumbled across a wonderful little cafe where a lovely old Oma served us coffee and cakes as we sat on the footpath and watched Berlin go about it's daily routines.
Charlottenburg was built as either a hunting residence or summer palace - can't remember which one! We arrived about 4pm when the sun had already set and it was lit up beautifully with the surrounding Christmas market in full swing.
The girls had their mandatory crepes covered in Nutella - which would almost seem like a national desert if it wasn't for the fact that they were selling them all over France as well! The walk home was longer than we'd thought and didn't do Laryssa's cartilage-less knees any good - she was paying the price for our time at the Wartburg Castle with the well over 200 stairs we had to climb!
Next morning it was clear that Laryssa wasn't up to much activity for the day, but she didn't want us to miss out on seeing Berlin and so she sent me out with Georgia and Darcee. As we only had one day we decided to see Berlin on one of the 'hop on, hop off' buses. We first did the whole route (which took 3 hours instead of the advertised 2!) and then made a couple of stops at key points. Not the best way to see a city, but in a short time it seemed the most practical. The following photos are mostly taken through the bus windows and so are not particularly good, but hopefully you get the idea!
The bus company advertised that their tours concluded at 5pm. I asked one driver if that meant they finished the round they were on, to which he replied 'yes, yes, we go to 5'. I should've realised that come 5pm an announcement informs you that everybody gets off at the next stop! We were 7km from home, standing at the Brandenburg Gate and no taxis or other forms of transport were in sight. Embracing the adventure we decided to walk home and with a stop at a supermarket to buy pre dinner drinks (!), we made it in less than an hour and a half - not a world record, but pretty cool in the dark in Berlin!
For those of you on Facebook you may have seen my endless posts that day as I tried to share the tour with Laryssa who was resting in our apartment. When we got home she thought we'd be too tired to go out but no way! We walked around the corner to a Mexican bar and restaurant and had a sensational time with wonderful food, service and cocktails - a great way to end our short stay in the capital.
Feeling much more relaxed about driving in Europe, I suggested that we should follow some of the tour route in our car on the way out of Berlin the next day so Laryssa could see some of the sights. A surprisingly relaxing drive through the centre of the city and we were on the autobahns again and on our way to Wittenberg!
On our first full day in Berlin, the sleepy heads eventually surfaced and sometime in the afternoon we decided to walk to the Charlottenburg Palace. We weren't staying in a tourist area so we had a chance to walk the streets of suburbian Berlin and stumbled across a wonderful little cafe where a lovely old Oma served us coffee and cakes as we sat on the footpath and watched Berlin go about it's daily routines.
Dinner was bought at the Christmas market, along with the odd gluwein to warm us up on this cold night - well that's a good enough excuse! The food was sensational and most of us enjoyed pork rolls courtesy of this little fella...
Next morning it was clear that Laryssa wasn't up to much activity for the day, but she didn't want us to miss out on seeing Berlin and so she sent me out with Georgia and Darcee. As we only had one day we decided to see Berlin on one of the 'hop on, hop off' buses. We first did the whole route (which took 3 hours instead of the advertised 2!) and then made a couple of stops at key points. Not the best way to see a city, but in a short time it seemed the most practical. The following photos are mostly taken through the bus windows and so are not particularly good, but hopefully you get the idea!
Christmas markets everywhere!
There was an enormous amount of construction going on in Berlin
The 'East Gallery' - part of the Berlin Wall covered in art works by famous artists. Now mostly covered in graffiti! We wanted to come back here and take some decent photos, but ran out of time.
The Brandenburg gate
In 1988 I was studying politics (along with Economics) at Monash Uni. The course in international politics was still dominated by Cold War theories and there was no engagement with the reality that things were rapidly changing behind the iron curtain. The following year the wall came down and all the theories of men that I'd been studying crumbled along with the concrete. It was very sobering to spend time at this segment of the wall that still stands adjacent to a museum reminding everyone of the atrocities that went on in it's shadow.
The foundations of the Stasi Police barracks
Checkpoint Charlie
The bus company advertised that their tours concluded at 5pm. I asked one driver if that meant they finished the round they were on, to which he replied 'yes, yes, we go to 5'. I should've realised that come 5pm an announcement informs you that everybody gets off at the next stop! We were 7km from home, standing at the Brandenburg Gate and no taxis or other forms of transport were in sight. Embracing the adventure we decided to walk home and with a stop at a supermarket to buy pre dinner drinks (!), we made it in less than an hour and a half - not a world record, but pretty cool in the dark in Berlin!
For those of you on Facebook you may have seen my endless posts that day as I tried to share the tour with Laryssa who was resting in our apartment. When we got home she thought we'd be too tired to go out but no way! We walked around the corner to a Mexican bar and restaurant and had a sensational time with wonderful food, service and cocktails - a great way to end our short stay in the capital.
Feeling much more relaxed about driving in Europe, I suggested that we should follow some of the tour route in our car on the way out of Berlin the next day so Laryssa could see some of the sights. A surprisingly relaxing drive through the centre of the city and we were on the autobahns again and on our way to Wittenberg!
Hi Matt, Bev and I have just been reading your "stuff" on this warm Christmas Day afternoon. We have found your posts really interesting. I doubt, sadly, that we will ever make Wittenberg but we were so pleased to read that St Nikolai Church moved you as it certainly did us. In some ways this was the highlight of our last trip oveseas as we saw the power of Christianity in a very modern context.
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PS As of a couple of hours ago, the Sutton's are now residents of Auckland!