Up early on Sunday morning taxi to Main Station Prague and boarded our train at around 8.15 for a 8.29a.m. departure, all went well until about an hour and a half into our journey, at a small town called Decin, still in the Czech Republic, an announcement came over to get off the train as this train could not go any further because of breakdown. Staff on train knew little except there was a problem, no one can take this train, or else someone could die, Oh OK! Luckily we had ran into a relieving Manager from our apartments Uniting Age Well the day before at the Palace in Prague and they were also on this train going to Berlin, he spoke German and the station person could speak a little German too, nothing was in English and the staff that were on the train went elsewhere. Bruce was able ascertain that we would have to catch the next train which would in 2hrs. Anyway it and they hooked up some of the carriages from our original train and we finally hit the tracks again. The scenery along the train route was really lovely so the
time did go quickly and most of the way the train followed on the banks of the Vltara and Elbe Rivers, so pretty! Arrived in Berlin about 3hrs late and walked from the station to our hotel which was not too far in the suburb of Mitte. Mitte is a great spot and we are about 300 metres from Checkpoint Charlie, which I might add is a real letdown, just a fake checkpoint shed! First night we went for a ripper meal at Mundo Tapas, second night we thought we had better have a typical German meal being a pork knuckle at Maximillians Berlin, a beer hall/german, was also fantastic! Monday we took a walking tour of the main sites which were virtually all in the East Berlin side of Berlin, again we had a fantastic guide, an English women, Pip, who had done her masters in history and has lived in Berlin for 8 years, learnt heaps and you just couldnt get around and see everything and have great explanations without being with a guide. This walking tour went for four and a quarter hours, we were knackered so found a beer spot and have a couple of
beers, dinner and fall into bed. We covered a lot The Brandenberg Gate, Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, Former SS and Gestapo HQ, The Reichstag, The Red Town Hall, Book Burning Memorial, State Opera House, Museum Island, Victory Column, The Prussian City Palace, Berlin Cathedral and lots more. The thing is with Berlin most buildings were damaged or bombed out during World War II, some were not repaired properly until after the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989. A lot were reconstructed to look like they were before and others demolished and something else built there so a lot of the city is relatively newish, like the dome of the Berlin Cathedral which of course is in East Berlin, restoring sort of started in 1975 and the full restoration was in 1993. Like everywhere there are so many scaffolds around buildings being cleaned etc. Having been here for 4 nights I can say its kind of a bit grungy Berlin, we have been into the suburbs and done the city area, walked 10s of kilometres and have really loved it! Took a look at the Jewish Museum which was a fantastic building amazing architecture.... but it
leaves you feeling a little depressed but I guess that is what it is supposed to! Our last day out to East Side Gallery, which is a huge chunk of the Berlin Wall which is still intact, where lots of different artists have made their mark on the wall! Lovely spot here on the River Spree. Knackered again and slipped down to the riverside and had a couple of nice cold beers, like kiosks on the river can sell you beers and so reasonably priced like 1/2 litre bottle for $3.75.... we are getting ripped in Aus! Potsdamer Platz is the area where the wall went straight through it.... went and visited there and its all new buldings with Marlena Dietrich Street in remembrance of their loved singer, all very modern, good to see the young and old.
