We are settled in the foyer of our hotel, the Mercure Checkpoint Charlie, tapping into the free wi-fi – seems to be coming a habit ?!
Had an early start this morning, leaving at 06:00 to get to Heathrow for our flight to Berlin. The roads around Heathrow are a nightmare and, as we did last visit to the UK, managed to be heading off in the wrong direction at first. Thanks to the GPS we were quickly able to sort that out and get back on the right track.
The flight left on time just before 09:00 and with the 1 hour time zone change we landed at Berlin Tegel airport just on 11:30 local time. Unlike any other foreign airport we have been to, passport control is literally at the top of the gate so the queue is back on to the plane !
Somehow I managed to be let through the EU passport control booth whilst Adrienne and Liam had to wait longer at the “All Others” booth – so maybe they won’t let me out again ?! Having collected our luggage we headed to the taxi rank to test our German we had hastily practiced whilst waiting at Heathrow. Thankfully “Mercure Checkpoint Charlie” translates to “Mercure Checkpoint Charlie” so we passed our first test !
East meets West – Adrienne and Liam standing over the cobblestones which mark the path of the Berlin Wall
We were at the hotel within 20 minutes and luckily our room was ready so we dropped our bags, collected our jackets (much colder here – only about 14C and a chilly wind blowing) and headed off to our first stop – Checkpoint Charlie.
There in the middle of the street is a US checkpoint box complete with uniformed guards and a large sign showing an American soldier facing one way and a Russian soldier on the other side facing the other way. Also running around are various “Russians”, bundling tourists into Trabants (crappy Russian cars) and generally hamming up the whole experience well. Also on every street corner are stalls selling Russian and American uniforms, hats, flags etc etc – and doing a roaring trade !
We then headed down the road following the path of the former wall (marked by cobblestones where it once stood) toward one of the few remaining complete sections of the wall.
The Berlin Wall and below some of the
“accommodation” of the SS headquarters below
This was also where we visited an exhibition called the “Topography of Terror” which is on the site where the former SS headquarters and general “everything nasty” departments were located.
It was quite an extensive exhibit starting with the rise of the Nazis from 1933 through the early segregation of the Jews and “enemies of the state”, to the war years and then the trials of the German perpetrators after the war as they were rounded up and found.
Across the road (the building in the background of the picture) is the former headquarters of the Luftwaffe, one of the few buildings that was relatively unscathed from the bombing by the Allies. It is now the Finance Ministry building.
From here we went a couple of blocks to the spot where Hitler’s bunker was located. Not much there now – just a board with a few details and a map and the area is used as a car park.
We were now pretty peckish so it was time to see if we could order food without ending up with sauerkraut sandwiches ! We managed successfully and tucked into currywurst ( a Berlin treat ) and chips – very tasty !
The Brandenburg Gate
Across the road from the cafe (and after the mandatory souvenir shop) was the Holocaust Memorial which is a sculpture remembering the victims. It is a bit like a maze and has blocks of varying heights spread across a whole city block of land.
Next we headed to the Brandenburg Gate – with most of the other tourists in town as the place was packed. There was a protest going on about the UN action in Libya however it was not causing too much disruption to the tourist atmosphere.
Reichstag
Our final stop for the day was the Reichstag building with its striking glass dome roof. You can actually walk up into the roof on a spiral walkway but unfortunately this is restricted to organised tours only.
We then walked back to our hotel. It is amazing how you can be in one street which is packed with tourists, then walk 1 block back and the place is like a morgue ! As we have 2 days here its time for a bit of housekeeping before we find somewhere nearby for dinner and prepare for another big day tomorrow.