Category Archives: Europe

Europe

Berlin III

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Our third day started pretty relaxed at 9.30am. We walked over to the  nearby Imperial Palace Charlottenburg where we participated in an audio tour which lasted around 90 minutes. Afterwards we strolled through the thoroughly maintained gardens which we exited at the northern end and continued our journey from the train station “Jungfernheide”.

Charlottenburg Palace
Charlottenburg Palace

On our way to the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens, Department Store of The West), we took a picture of an Ampelmännchen (little traffic light man), which is an iconic ambassador of Berlin! It became the symbol for the Ostalgie.

Me representing a red "Ampelmännchen" (© Elisabeth Girkinger)
Me representing a red “Ampelmännchen” (© Elisabeth Girkinger)

Unfortunately, the KaDeWe was closed because of the public holiday Pfingstmontag. To the very disappointment of my female co-travelers we just took a few more photos. Anyway… after a decent lunch and some ice cream at the Sony Center, which was just a few stops down the road with the subway, nobody cared anymore :). Luckily, there was a hotspot! I was so glad to have access to the world wide web!

Christina, Elisabeth and The DDR Museum
Christina, Elisabeth and The DDR Museum

After this quite extensive break (because of the hotspot), we visited the DDR Museum which is next to the cathedral. Although it presents serious matter its concept is very entertaining and engaging; it’s fun to visit. After spending about one and a half hour there, we walked along the Spree, Monbijoustraße and Oranienburger Straße to the Hackeschen Höfe (Wikipedia, German available only; official site). After visiting the courtyards full of local shops and boutiques we had coffee at the Ampelmann Café and– luckily again–internet access!

Sony Center and BahnTower at Night
Sony Center and BahnTower at Night

After a short refreshing break back at our hotel we went back to the Sony Center and had dinner together at the Australian restaurant Corroboree. Afterwards we enjoyed a cocktail across the square at Alex. Peter and I had just enough time to capture the impressions with our cameras before we caught the last subway back to our hotel. Elisabeth, Peter and I went out again to have beer and wine at the pub next door where Peter and I were yesterday. It ended up being a very long night…

Europe

Berlin II

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Reichstag Dome (© Elisabeth Girkinger)
Reichstag Dome (© Elisabeth Girkinger)

On Sunday, the first sight on the list was the dome of the Reichstag. Peter and I have been sleeping too long, so we didn’t join to visit this one. Instead, we went there about an hour later and walked along the Spree (Reichstagufer) to the train station Friedrichstraße, where we enjoyed coffee and free Wi-Fi while waiting for the girls.

Together, we walked along the boulevard Unter den Linden passing the Humbolt University and the State Opera to the cathedral. Before entering, we had a little rest at the Lustgarten, which is right on front of it. It took us about an hour to do the tour which includes the dome, the little museum and the crypt.

Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera

The State Opera was another landmark we wanted to enjoy from the inside. Our guided tour startet at 2pm and lasted a little over an hour. It is not quite as magnificent as the Vienna State Opera  but it’s definitely worthwhile visiting.

Berlin Wall (© Peter Holler)
Berlin Wall (© Peter Holler)

After walking across Gendarmenmarkt and along Friedrichstraße we reached Checkpoint Charlie where we had our first encounter with the former American-Russian border through Berlin. While rewarding ourselves with a quick coffee break I wrote a few postcards. We continued with a relic of the Berlin Wall along Niederkirchnerstraße and the open air exhibition “Topograhpy of Terror“.

With a short side trip to the Carnival of Cultures we started into a more casual evening. I left after about an hour and had some dinner with Peter. This night we went to Spandau. Later in the evening the girls joined us again and we got to taste the famous Berliner Weisse. Peter and I closed the night with a beer at a pub next door after we put the girls to bed.

Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie

Cover photo by Peter Holler displays the Lustgarten viewed from the dome of the Berlin Cathedral.

Europe

Arriving In Berlin

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We arrived in time at 8.01 at the main train station in Berlin. After buying the ticket for public transport, we went to the hostel. Luckily, we could get into our rooms early.

Holocaust Memorial (© Elisabeth Girkinger)

After a quick shower we were looking for a supermarket to buy fruits and snacks for breakfast, which we enjoyed in a park next to our hostel. Next, we used the subway to go to Potsdamer Platz. We walked along the street Ebertstraße to the Holocaust Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate. Needless to say – we had to take >some< pictures. Afterwards we went to the Reichstag, the building of the state government of Germany, where we caught the bus line 100. This double-decker goes along some major sights, and we all needed a little rest after our long journey. At the final stop Zoologischer Garten we went to McDonalds to get another snack.

Berlin Television Tower
Berlin Television Tower

The next sight on our plan was the television tower (Berliner Fernsehturm). We enjoyed to view the city from the platform at the height of about 203 meters. Back down, we bought some groceries and headed back to our hostel, where we got ready for the evening. At a nice Italian restaurant we had a great dinner. After the performance “Elisabeth” at the Theater des Westens, Peter and I went to see the Olympic Stadium. We enjoyed beer at the parking lot and played around with the cameras.

Europe

Berlin

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Since we enjoy some good stage performance and traveling, we decided to spend a couple of days in Berlin and watch the Musical “Elisabeth”, which is performed at the “Theater des Westens” (Wikipedia, in German available only). We are traveling overnight by train because of the very cheap rate which is offered by the Austrian Federal Railways.

Pete and I are meeting in the next few days to figure out a rough plan to cover the activities we are interested in. I’m looking forward to another great trip!

Header photo “Brandenburger Tor und Pariser Platz” by Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de