Last day in Berlin

Sachsenhausen was the other place that Sheryl wanted to visit before we make our way towards the second part of the trip.
As I was there a few weeks ago with Cam and Cassidy, I knew that we were fairly close to it, but we had driven there in the car….in fact it was just a short train ride to the small town of Oranienburg,  the end of the line of our S1 train. Then a 20 minute walk, following the tour groups that originated Berlin to the concentration camp site.  I missed a lot the first time because of tiredness and heat, this time took in a few more details and areas I hadn’t really looked at.

It was very muggy again today and on the way home it was threatening rain. Stopped to get the soap (yes soap) that Curt has requested and a couple of other things we needed before leaving, getting back about 5:00.

We spent the rest of the day and evening cleaning the house and getting our bags reorganized for our departure tomorrow….stopping only for a last walk through Hermsdorf and making another ice cream stop….I’m going to miss the Amadeus flavour ice cream…don’t know what was in it but is sure is good!

Under and Above Berlin

Wednesday started earlier than the day before because we had decided to do the Underground Berlin tour, that takes you down into a WWII air raid shelter . It started at 11:00 but the book said that the tickets go on sale at 10 and there are lineups ...so we left at 9, found the place and were first in line. Luckily this was on our train from Hermsdorf into town…S bahn 1

The tour takes you down into one of the very very few bunkers/shelters still around. This one is still here because it is connected to one of the Ubahn stations, the rest were all destroyed. Our guide made the history of the era and the surroundings come alive with his stories. Most people he said went down into their cellars during an air raid but when you were in the rail station or on the street walking or shopping you would come down into public shelters…it could have been for a couple of hours maybe one or 2 times a night, at the beginning of the war, and eventually to sometimes a few days nearer the end. Rooms didn’t have original furnishings in them as he said they would have been looted after the war but the paint on the walls and signage is original. A very interesting 90 minutes below Berlin.

We were only allowed to take pictures in one room

After this we hopped a couple of trains to see the East Side gallery and then on to another train to the Jewish Museum, stopping for lunch along the way. The museum is built by the architect Daniel Libeskind. The hall way and exhibits on the bottom floor are built on an uphill incline. The exhibits are simple and effective…making you realize how hard it was for the Jewish people in Germany to leave their home and families, not of their choice but of necessity and foresight of what might or might not happen if they stayed in their homeland. On the top floors there is a history of Judaism with lots of interactive exhibits. It was just before 6 when we left.

One of the exihibts...metal faces..people walk on them
and it makes a very loud sound

I had made an appointment at the Reichstag for 8:45 so we still had few hours to fill.

Sheryl thought the little river cruise I went on when the kids were here sounded good. so we made our way over to the part of the river that we had taken the English cruise before, that meant another Ubahn train ride and a lot of walking. We arrived about 6:45 in time for the last cruise and for the rain to start!!! By the time we got off, near where we needed to be it was pouring. We felt like drowned rats by the time we got to the train station to get our tickets booked for Saturday to Salzburg Austria …an interesting experience! And finished there just in time for our tour over Berlin.

I chose a later time to get into the Reichstag so that we might be able to see Berlin light up……well we did…..as the buildings were starting to light up through the pouring rain, the thunder and lightning started! We had quite a show!!! Again a different viewing than the bright sunshine I had seen Berlin from this same vantage point a few weeks ago.

I wish I could add the sound and the light show
we had from above!

We made our way home through the rain, after a jam packed day…very tired.

Last look at the Brandenburg Tor





Sheryl’s First Day in Berlin

Knowing that I only had a couple of days to show Berlin to Sheryl, I tried to come up with a plan that took us to a lot of the places I had already seen.

I wanted her first sight to be Brandenburg Gate, when we came out of the Sbahn station. It looked a whole lot different than when I was here a few weeks ago with Cam and Cassidy. All the soccer fan area is gone….you can actually walk through the gate and see down the road to the Victory Column at the end of the Tiergarten..

Brandenburg Gate, you can walk through it now!

We walked to the Jewish Memorial, the Fuhrerbunker and then down to Potsdamer Platz. When I was here a couple of weeks ago, there was a good display about where the Wall was through the city and what they are trying to do with it now (making a long walking trail)…there was also a “soldier” standing there, I had thought that he was just there to answer questions…but for 3 Euros he with stamp you real passport with the official stamps of East and West Germany ….this is one of the main streets that the wall was built, so one side of the street was West Berlin and one side was East Berlin.  The Wall was not in straight line splitting the city into 2, but rather zigzag following streets and the River Spree at times. So we had our passports stamped and he also told us that the path granite blocks embedded in the road where The Wall ran, I didn't know that!.

Then we went to the Topography of Terror again….Sheryl looking at the outside display and I went inside this time….it had more about what the immediate area looked like because this was where are the Nazi ministries were located. We then went to Checkpoint Charlie. By this time it was just about 3 and we stopped for lunch and had a little run in with a bank machine….that didn’t give me my money but then we figured out that I didn’t press the right buttons…it finally did work.

The weather was hot and muggy and it seems like there are double the amount of tourists that there was a couple of weeks ago.

Along Unter den Linden Strasse was next on the list and over to the Berlin Dom and Museum Island, then up into Mitte to show her the stumble blocks. We ended up in Alexanderplatz By this time we were getting tired and took the Ubahn back to Hermsdorf.

I’m glad I’m seeing these things a second time…I’m seeing different details and the streets are now more familiar.  Sheryl has been letting me know basically what she wants to see and letting big sister make up the itinerary for the day. I think we did pretty well for the first day.

Back to Berlin (Tuesday)

We left St Goar on Tuesday morning, jumping on the train and continued to follow the beautiful the Rhine to Koln (Cologne) and arriving at 12:00. ( But Rick Steves is right in his book the best part of that trip is between Bacharach and St Goar)

As we were finding the platform for our next train we looked out the large glass front door and there was this magnificent cathedral out in front. It was the Koln Cathedral (Dom)….started in 1248 and finished in 1322 and towering 5515 feet. Seeing this we wish we had arrived earlier so that we could have taken a look inside….it is an amazing piece of architecture.
We had a pleasant train ride through the countryside….in the north there is a few more hills. Two young men were sitting with us…a fashion designer from Copenhagen and a play director from Norway who were coming back from fashion week in Paris and heading to Berlin for a holiday before going back to Copenhagen. They kept us entertained with information about the area we were travelling by….we went through the city were Volkswagon was made and there was one town that had a transportation system that was like a reverse sky train (Sheryl’s words)

We got into Berlin about 5 and came straight to the house. While I was away this weekend there was a big storm and one of the trees in the back yard was leaning way over the patio…I was prepared for seeing this as Anita has email…..she had heard from her neighbour Mr Fuhry. Sheryl really loves the house and the area that we are in….we went for a walk in the area and bought ice cream

Tomorrow we have a full day of touring. (and I will catch up on my blogs.....)

Train speed on our last trip!

Sunday Train, Monday on the Rhine

Sunday I got up early because I was worried that I wouldn’t get up in time for the early train to Frankfurt…..since I was about 8kms from the Hauptbahnhof (remember…railroad station) I was undecided about how to get there….anyway I took a cab….problem solved. Got there in plenty of time to sit and have my egg mcmuffin and a coffee.

This little guy had been on the train all of one minute!

The train ride was uneventful, getting to Frankfurt about 1:30. By 1:45 I had a cache and was heading to find some lunch. Then found a place to get wifi (thank you Starbucks) and found a message from Sheryl that she would meet me in front of the train station……so waited and waited

And waited some more…..finally at about 4:00 there she was, I had just sat down in SB, because my feet were sore from standing. I have found there are not many places to sit down in a train station….

We checked into the hotel and then went to explore Frankfurt. I’m not impressed with what I saw of the city mind you the area around the train station is kind of the red light district….but we did walk quite far up to an area where there is lots of regular stores and apartment buildings, but still not my favourite city.


Monday….Since Sheryl only slept half the night…we got up earlier than the
set alarm clock….packed quickly and caught an early train 7:40 to Mainz where the plan was to go on a boat cruise up to our hotel in St Goar.

Got off the train and learned we were still a ways from the river and the KD boat docks….got on a bus that was suggested at the information centre at the train station. But when he let us off I thought we still had a ways to go and needed to find another bus. We must have looked a little confused when an elderly lady came up to us and asked if we needed help…it turns out that we were really only a block away from the dock….danke danke Frauline or we would still be wandering around Mainz.

The boat from Mainz only leaves at 8:45 and 9:45 to go north to Cologne….it stops at several places along the way to pick up and drop off people. This little trip is one that I had seen in the Rick Steves travel books and it sounded like fun.
　
Although it threatened rain several times along the way and it was cold, the trip wonderful….. vineyards, campsites, villages, castle after castle….rushing from one side of the boat to the other because there was just so much to see.

We landed in St Goar at 1:00. Bonus the hotel I booked the Hotel Rheinfels was right across the road….and it includes breakfast. No elevator though and we are on the 2^nd floor (that’s really the 3^rd floor North American style).

Because we were early and our rooms weren’t ready yet we stored our luggage there and went for a walk up the street….it is a really "cute " village..getting a few souviners and a pair of shoes each (Birkenstocks) We went back to the hotel to take our purchases back and get our luggage up to our room (with help) and when to get on the little train that would take us up to the Rheinfels Castle.

An amazing place built in 1245 and was once the biggest castle on the Rhine. This was very different from the palace we saw in Berlin. This is a maze of rock walls, rooms and towers. We spent a few hours there missing the last little train down and instead walking back to the village. We had dinner at one of the little restaurants along the way, then checked out the train station we have to go to tomorrow (another bonus a block behind us!)

By this time we had run out of battery power on our cameras and Sheryl was starting to get feel tired….She will be on schedule by tomorrow for out trip back to Berlin.

Saturday Mega Day

I woke up to thunder, lightning and pouring rain…..by 8:00am the ground was drying and it was starting to get warm. But learned that there would be no internet until Monday (I’m leaving Sunday)….it seems their system wasn’t made for all the extra equipment the geocachers who are staying here use for their sport. I did use their computer for a few minutes for them to print out some train schedules that I had put together for the next few days. But mainly I was looking for a return email from Sheryl to see where she would meet me on Sunday in Frankfurt…. There is a MacDonalds across the street but, unlike North America, Australia and even Denmark, which have free wifi…..here in Germany you get one free hour if you have a phone number and PIN number…..so no email, no weather for tomorrow (TV is all in German except for CNN and British CNN), no logging caches and no blog!

The Mega event today was fun…chatting to people, wandering around, finding a couple of cache. I had purchased their breakfast…which was a little spread of juice, coffe, a plate with ham, cheese, salami, and 2 rolls. Chatted to a few people including a young lady who was in the parking lot tenting along with lots of other people.

The event was made up of a bunch of games where people got points for their efforts…..Piling up film containers, using a fishing pole with magnet on the end to pick up caching containers (this was in one of the ponds) a few other water events…People of all ages were having a great time. There was also lots of vendors selling caching “stuff”, hiking and climbing equipment, Gamin and Megellan.

She's not praying she's stacking

The day got quite muggy again and in the afternoon, went back to hotel for a shower and a power nap. Then had some dinner at a restaurant that I have been looking at across the field from my hotel….then went back to the event area where there was a band playing and then they handed out the prizes. Then the band played again….it was a really well organized event….and I had a really good time.

Tomorrow up early and head for the train leaving downtown Leipzig at 9:11 for Frankfurt where I will meet up with Sheryl.

PS right now it’s nearly 11:00pm and the thunder, lightning and rain is starting again.

Mega Geocaching Event in Leipzig
　
Thursday was a very lazy day it rained for part of it and then got warm and muggy….I went for a couple of walks in the neighbourhood to get some groceries but mainly did laundry and got ready for my trip to Leipzig

I got a 2^nd class train ticket for this train trip because it was a short one and didn't want to use the Eurail pass day.   It wouldn’t have been too bad except for the people in front of me had an 18 month old that cried for the full hour from Berlin to Leipzig.  I got off the train ( we had passed the place where the event and my hotel was) but I notice the train on the next platform was going to Messe (fairgrounds) where I wanted to be and it was leaving in the next few minutes….so I quickly used my new skills for getting tickets out a machine that speaks German to get a ticket and hopped on…..to a train with 2 men still partying and moaning over last nights loss in the soccer game against Italy….couldn’t make out all the words but “mafiosa” and “Shisse” (Auntie Marie used to say that) were clear!
Luckily only one stop and I got off and made my way to the fairgrounds to check it to see when I could register. It’s 12:30 by this time and registration was at 2 so I went to check out my hotel to see if I could at least drop my luggage,,,,my room was ready Yeah.!

Cleaned up a little and had quick lunch at the big M across the street and went back to register. I figure if there is 2000 people coming I wanted to get that out of the way when it first opened….I’m glad because when I got back at about 7 after a shopping, shower, quick power nap ( I had been up since about 5:30)and caching, the lineups were out the door of the large center.

The fairgrounds are really beautiful, the two large regular type building go down each side of the humongous glass “greenhouse” shaped building that is set back about 300 meters….overhead glass/plastic tube walkways connect the buildings. And then there is a large rectangular lake in front of the glass building that is split in two by a sloped walk that makes it look like you are walking through the water (pictures later)


So I waited around til about 9:30 chatting to people, then went to wait at the starting point of the parade of the nations (did I mention I was to be in the parade!?)….someone came to me with a very large Canadian flag and a few minutes later this nice woman named Kristin came with a “Canada” sign…she was my guide. The parade was set up like the march of the Olympic athletes. The whole theme of the event is Olympics, teams getting points while playing fun games and events tomorrow. So when the parade finally got started (10:30pm)we walked....Kristen in front with the sign and me, the sole Canandian walking behind with the flag!  

 There were teams ther from all provinces of Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, IreIand......and many more.  It was dark by this time so my pictures didn’t turn out that great. We walked down the side of the “lake” and through the path in centre, up the other side and lined up in front of the stage….they light the flame, people carried the flame to the stage,apeaches, there was an athletes oath, and then fireworks…..it was a wonderfull evening. I left at about 11:15, I was very tired….I think there was a DJ and disco that is still going on.

Tomorrow is breakfast and all the events and games. It should be fun…..

I have come back to the hotel and the internet isn’t working so I will have to post this tomorrow morning ….I’m going to bed!