Berlin – Day 19

After grabbing a hearty breakfast at the hotel I headed out. My first destination was going to be the Brandenburg Gate. My preference was to walk since it wasn’t far and it would give me a better fell of the city.

Being only a short distance from Checkpoint Charlie, I though perhaps I’d go to the museum in the same location. I soon changed my mind when I saw all the people who were already crowded around the area.

I saw that the museum actually doesn’t close till about 10pm so I knew I could save it until one of my return trips on night. So I snapped a few pictures and continued on my way up Freidrichtstrasse towards Unter den Linden.

As I continued along I noticed the whole area around Checkpoint Charlie is covered with descriptive boards and there is also a walk you can take. Looks like I’m going to have to spend a lot more time here soon.

Where Freidrichtstrasse meets  Unter den Linden I found a VW store. Yes a whole department store devoted to all makes and models of VW. This also includes Bugatti, with the Veyron parkign in the windows. I could let such an opportunity to go by, as this will probably my only change to get near a Veyron.

I walked around the whole store, up and down the floors (yes, it has more than 1 floor) and lamented at how much buying a car in German has become like buy and other home appliance!

I turn the corner on Unter den Linden and headed west and took this shot looking back at the TV tower, which will be something else I’ll need to visit.

 

It wasn’t long before I was standing in front of probably the most famous place in all of Germany, the Brandenburg Gate. After seeing it many times in the history of World War II and the Cold War it is something to actually see it for yourself.

As you pass through the gates, heading west, you can see the Reichstag on the right, so I headed over there to have a look at probably the second most famous place in Germany.

I got a real sense of history when I stood in front of the building and took these shots. You may also notice over on the right hand side of the front of the building was a long queue. This is a queue to get into the Reichstag.At this stage of the day I decided that I’d join the queue late in the day, hopefully when the crowds had died down.

I walked around the extremity of the Reichstag and noted how close the river is.

My next plan was to board one of the hop-on-hop-off buses and take a complete tour of the city. Most of these stop at the Brandenburg Gate, so I headed back there and jumped aboard the Berlin City Tour bus which gave me a discount with my Welcome Berlin card.

My plan was to do at least one complete circuit of the city on the bus to get a better idea of where everything was located.

I took the above shots while riding around.

After a complete circuit I hopped of at the Brandenburg gate again and headed a little south to the Holocaust Museum.

All these blocks stand in testament to all the Jews who were killed by the Nazis during the war. The memorial now stand the location of old Nazi Propaganda Ministry and there is actually an underground exhibit you can attend but it is closed on Mondays. Another thing to mark on my ‘to-do’ list.

I knew that Hitler’s bunker was also in the area so I started to look around. There is actually an exhibit which provides you with the history of the old Berlin and conducts underground tours but most start early in the morning. Another ‘to-do’ item.

It turns out that there is some information about the location Hitler’s bunker a bit further south of the exhibit.

There is basically nothing left as it was totally destroyed by the Russians after the war. For more information have a look at this Wikipedia article. Basically now it is car park in front of some flats.

There are still a number of underground bunkers and constructions that can be taken in via a guided tour. Hopefully, if I get enough time I’ll get along on one.

The above shot is an example of some of the form work from another bunker in the area.

My next stop was going to be the memorial to the Soviet soldiers killed in the battle for Berlin in 1945. It is basically a little to the west of the Brandenburg Gate along Strass des 17 Juni.

So I headed back that way, once again through the Holocaust memorial with the Reichstag in the distance.

Over 300,000 Soviet soldiers lost their lives in the battle for Berlin in 1945 and this impressive memorial is dedicated to them. At the front you can see two T-34 tanks which were the first ones into the city. If you walk through the memorial you will find a number of informational panels about the memorial, numerous war cemeteries and other memorials to the war.

I headed back to Brandenburg Gate to pick up the Berlin City Tour bus to get to the other side of Unter den Linden as I wanted to see the Neue Wache memorial.

 

I jumped off the bus at Rotes Rathus in Alexanderplatz and headed through the Marx Engles Forum back toward Unter den Linden.

On the way I passed the Neptune fountain,

the Berlin TV Tower

and the Berliner Dome.

A little way along I can to the Neue Wache which is now a memorial to the Victims of Facism. It is basically the statue you see above of a mother holding her son inside a start room, with only a skylight. Not exactly what I expected but I think it conveys the feeling of the memorial very well.

I decided that it was now time to head back to the Reichstag and line up to get inside, so I headed off back down Unter den Linden toward the Brandenburg Gate again.

Passing the Statue of Fredrichs des Grossen.

Even at this time of day I had to queue orf about an hour and pass through a security check.

Once you rear the roof you can pick up a free guided audio tour which takes you to the top and back down the glass and aluminium dome on the roof of the Reichstag pointing a number of interesting sites in the city.

At the top of the dome.

Looking down to the glass roof under which the members of the German Parliament meet.

From there you can walk around the exterior of the dome on the roof of the Reichstag and take in the fantastic vistas of the city.

It was now time to start heading back toward the hotel. I had seen a long intact piece of the Berlin Wall not far from my hotel so I headed that way.

Here’s the view from one side,

and from the other.

Heading back to the hotel I saw this attraction, which is basically a balloon that you take a ride up in the air to give you a view of the city.

I finally arrived back in the Checkpoint Charlie area as you can see from the above sign. I grabbed something to eat as well as coffee and desert at the local Starbucks and headed back to the hotel. I was going to go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum but decided I wouldn’t get as much out of it tonight so I’ll save it for another day.

So a few comments and observations on today. Firstly, my hotel is in great location, probably the best so far on my trip. It is right in the heart of everything, making most things within easy walking distance. Second, the place is full of tourists but most are German. I didn’t hear much English at all today. Thirdly, food is really cheap here. You get really good value for your Euro. Finally, I think there would be enough to keep me occupied in Berlin for a week, there is so much to do and see.

So what’s on the cards for tomorrow. I think I’ll start the day with a walking tour of the World War II sites and them perhaps head to the Stassi Museum. However, that may change but hopefully the excellent weather won’t!

Berlin – Day 18

Well today was another early start since I wanted to actually catch a train 2 hours earlier than what I was scheduled to take. The reason for this was that although my ultimate destination was going to be Berlin I would need to change trains in the Swiss border town of Basel. When I looked at my original timetable I discovered that I would only have about 20 minutes to change trains which seemed a bit short. I had become more concerned about the timing of the trains after the TGV from Paris to Geneva was 15 minutes late. Now I know that doesn’t sound like much but when you only have 20 minutes to make a change 15 minutes late is a lot.

After doing some checking of the timetables on the Internet I discovered a a similar train ran from Geneva to Basel but 2 hours earlier. Although this would put me in Basel 2 hours early I’d rather be 2 hours early than 2 minutes late.

After grabbing breakfast and checking out I made my way to the station in the cool morning air. As expected, right on time the train for Basel arrived and I hopped on board. Another good thing about checking the train schedule on the Internet is that you can also check the stops that the train is going to make along the way, which gives you a bit of reassurance that you are travelling in the right direction.

My Eurail pass would cover me for the journey to Basel so I had it ready when the conductor came around during the trip. The trip takes about 2 hours and I was able to see some of the countryside as we approached our destination although most of it appeared to simply be farmland.

Upon arriving at Basel I decided to head to the platform where the train to Berlin would depart from. Because I was 2 hours in front of schedule the early train to Berlin would be in Basel ready to depart. Although I perhaps could have changed my reservation to get on this train I decided not to and lucky I did, as it turns out this train must of had a problem and was cancelled. What I really wanted to see with this earlier train was where my coach was going to be located so I would have my bearings correct.

With nothing else to do but wait until my train to Berlin arrived I went and waited in front of the departure board. I wanted to make sure that my train to Berlin would depart from the same platform it was originally supposed to and that the failure of the earlier train would not cause a change of departure platforms.

It didn’t and so I made my way to the same platform to await the trains arrival. After pulling up, I located my seat number, stowed my baggage and made myself comfortable for the journey.

It wasn’t long before we had departed Switzerland and were in Germany. After a few stops the conductor came along to check my ticket so I gave him what I ‘though’ was my ticket. It turns out what I had ‘thought’ was my ticket was actually merely just a seat reservation. He indicated that I would have to pay the full whack to travel to Berlin which was going to be about 225 Euros. This ain’t right I thought as I had paid for all my fares back in Australia. Then it dawned on me that the Eurail pass I had ‘thought’ was just for local and inter-city travel would actually also be valid here.

This is exactly what the conductor was expecting to see, phew. Lesson learnt there. The Eurail ticket gives you the ability to ride on basically all national rail lines in the designated countries, however you can also make a seat reservation (which is really good idea) to guarantee a seat.

When I checked many of my remaining train tickets I also noted that they are also just seat reservations. I now know that I need to ensure I take more care of my Eurail pass as it is what actually allows you to travel on the train. I also note that the of the Eurail pass I have, which is for any 5 days travel in a month is pretty good value at 366 Euros given the trip from Basel to Berlin was going to cost about 225 Euros without it!

When I started looking through some of my previous tickets I see that everything is totally consistent. For example my train trip from Paris to Geneva was covered by an individual ticket which really looks the sane as a reservation ticket, expect for the small word ‘reservation’ in the top right. So go figure! The main point to remember is that the Eurail ticket is THE ticket to allow you to ride the train.

With that little issue now sorted I settled back for the rest of the trip. After taking on so passengers at another stop I looked over to see my fellow passenger running his laptop with the power supply plugged in. ‘So he’s got power over there’, I thought, ‘why don’t I?” After some hunting around my seat it appears that I do in fact have a power point into which I can plug my laptop. It kinda makes it hard to see when the power point is exactly the same colour as the seat frame.

So now with power to my laptop the next wish was wi-fi access, but alas it was not to be. Surely it would not be too hard to do this but I suppose you can’t have everything. So I set about composing this part of today's blog remembering that I’ll have to check more thoroughly when I board my next train to see whether it also at least has a power point.

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I’ve now just had another ticket check and everything checks out! I’m a whiz now I know how this train ticket stuff works!

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The train got into Berlin about 30 minutes late and I was a bit worried that the information centre would be closed because it was Sunday night. Turns out is open till 10pm, phew. The Berlin Hbf station is a pretty intimidating place, with over 4 levels of trains, shopping and people even at this time of night.

I easily found the information centre where I could buy my Welcome Berlin card after consulting the station layout. With that now in hand I had to negotiate the subway to my hotel. This proved far more challenging than I thought it would be. Initially, I went up, then I went down, then I went round and round trying to find a train to get me closer to my destination. In the end I gave up and asked at the information desk.

Turned out I needed to go up, and get an S train to Friedrichstrasse and change there for the U6 service. I didn’t really make any sense to me but then probably I was expecting too much in a next city, in the dark after a long train trip. I hopped aboard the next train which indeed took me to Friedrichstrasse. I now had to change and locate the U6 service which I managed to do. I knew the direction that I had to travel in by the final destination of the line. What amazed me was the number of people on the platform at this time (9pm) on a Sunday night!

I climbed aboard the subway and counted the few stops until my destination. Upon alighting I had two choices to exit at either end of the station and typically I chose the one furthest away from were I actually wanted to head.

After getting my bearings and heading back in the correct direction I finally checked into my hotel, ready to take a breather and try and work out the train system ready for tomorrow.

Geneva Day – Day 17

Well, it was another bright and sunny day again. My aim today was to head towards the the north of the city and see some of the United Nations and other International exhibits.

Another great thing about Geneva is that they provide a free public transport pass to all tourists. This means you can travel all through the city for free. Although I could have taken advantage of this I decided that I’d prefer to take a walk along the shores of Lake Geneva.

When I arrived at the shoreline the Jet d’Eau was in operation again.

I continued north along the shores of Lake Geneva towards La Perie du Lac.

I then headed more inland from La Perie du Lac towards the Palais des Nations,

passing the World Trade Organisation as I did so.

Being a weekend most of the United Nations building were closed unfortunately.

I then went past the Musee Ariana which I would visit a bit later on and made my way across the road to the Musee International de la Coix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge. In simple terms the museum of the Red Cross and Crescent.

The museum contains a history of the Red Cross and Crescent.

Records from World War I.

From here I walked back across the road to the Musee Ariana which contains porcelain and glass work.

It isn’t that extensive and unfortunately photos are not permitted.

As I continued from the Musee Ariana I ran across this statue of Gandhi. 

I them called in on the Musee d’historic des sciences.

Again, it isn’t a particularly large museum but it does how some interesting antique scientific displays.

I them decided that I’d use my free public transport pass and catch a bus back to the heart of the city. Having really seen everything that I wanted see here I decided to take a break at the other Starbucks in town, on the shore of Lake Geneva.

It is interesting that both of the Starbucks I have been to here almost have queues out the doors. It is hard to decide whether it is just frequented by tourists but whatever the case it is extremely popular.

I then finished up with a stroll back through the main shopping district in the old part of town, which as you can see was pretty busy.

From there I crossed over Pont du Mont Blanc and back to my hotel a little early to get ready for an early start for my trip to Berlin.