Berlin, Germany
03 August 2015
Virginia and Dennis Johns
Wed July 29 We arrived at the airport and took the metro to our hotel, the Park Plaza Wallstreet, which had some quite original décor playing on the 'wallstreet' theme. The hallway carpet is a stock ticker tape image. The carpeting in our room is a huge image of a US $1.00 bill. "Buy stocks and go to sleep for a long time" was on our headboard in four languages. Behind the reception desk was a picture of money raining down on men in suits. With all this capitalistic imagery it was ironic that we eventually discovered that our hotel was located in what was formerly East Berlin. Outside the hotel were two large bears holding up the signage. Stock markets can be Bull or Bear with Bear being a market in decline. We thought this was unusual, but actually these bears have another meaning for Berlin and are all over the city. The bear is in the Berlin flag and coat of arms. From Wikipedia: The bear has become the symbol of Berlin. Especially the Berlin Buddy Bears: They can be seen everywhere, colorful, cheerful bears with their arms stretched up high. They have become Berlin's symbol for tolerance and "Weltoffenheit" (world openness). With the Buddy Bears, the centuries-old heraldic animal of Berlin took on a new shape and adopted a new role: The bears are a cheerful welcome for Berliners and their guests as well as ambassadors promoting tolerance and living together in peace all over the world. As we headed out for dinner we asked at the desk for directions to restaurants, not having seen any on our approach to the hotel. We thought we had understood the directions but after circling for eight or ten blocks we returned to the hotel and had hamburgers in the bar.
Thu July 30 Our hotel was fairly close to Museum Island (an island in the river Spree) so we walked over there to check on the situation with the museums, passes, etc. The lines were very long and mostly without shade so we decided to do some sightseeing and attack the museums early morning another day. We were spending 5 days in Berlin so we had more time here to play. After wandering a bit we found a traditional German food restaurant for lunch. It was so quaint with great food and service. We enjoyed the schnitzel with mushroom sauce -need that recipe. We topped it off with apple strudel ala mode. Our first site seeing stop that afternoon was Checkpoint Charlie -the name given by the Western Allies to the most often used Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin, during the Cold War. Nearby was one small standing piece of the wall and an area with several poster pictures describing the construction and attempts to defect over or under the wall. That evening we went out to dinner and finding another traditional German food restaurant, we enjoyed bratwurst with sauerkraut and potatoes and a dessert with layers of vanilla custard and bread pudding, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Then onto Rotbart -a bar with a standup comedy night with English speaking comedians! It was standing room only and we should have made reservations -who knew? Our seats were in the very back but it was a small, intimate area and we had a comfy couch and were able to see the performers fairly well. There were half a dozen comics, each with their own style. We sometimes have to pinch ourselves and ask are we really in Berlin watching an English-speaking standup comedy show?
Fri July 31 We took a bicycle tour of major sights in Berlin. It was a group of just 10 of us with our guide Andy who was originally from the UK but married a German woman and has been living in Berlin for 15 years. Each bike had a basket on the back, which was convenient to carry our backpacks but Virginia is used to swinging her leg over the back of the bike when she starts out and the height of the basket prevented that. She entertained the group when she tested out her bike and she immediately hit the basket with her leg and went down along with the bike. She had a big bruise for days as a souvenir but otherwise was not hurt. The tour organizers found her a smaller bike and all was well. The tour was very entertaining and educational. There were sobering moments: hearing the story about how Jews had originally been invited to come to Germany to escape persecution elsewhere (by a leader prior to Hitler); observing that all Jewish temples are, even today, guarded by the police; the Holocaust Memorial, learning about the design of the wall and all the impediments put between the east and west walls to deter escapees (in addition to the manned gun towers). We rode by some of the iconic historical structures such as the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin's Triumphal Arch), Basilica, Pergamon Museum, Reichstag (historical edifice in Berlin, constructed to house the Imperial Diet (parliament) of the German Empire). And were introduced to some of the more modern sections of the city: Humboldt University, Bundeskanzleramt (Federal Chancellery), The Fernsehturm television tower (a Space Needle type structure), etc. Andy told us an interesting anecdote about the Fernsehturm. It was built by the East German communist government to serve as a symbol of prosperity and advanced technology. Ironically, the sun shining on the sphere reflects a cross as if it were a symbol of Christianity and religion is the opiate of the masses according to Karl Marx -oops!
Sat Aug 1 We spent most of the day at the museum complex. First up was the Pergamon, famous for its huge exhibitions, such as the Market Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. These were indeed remarkable. Walls of tall buildings within the museum building. It felt a bit sad though to see the Miletus gate here inside a museum in Germany when we had visited the actual ruins at Miletus in Turkey where of course this magnificent piece was absent. But it is true that these items are better preserved for history in a place protected from the weather elements. At the Neues Museum we saw an Egyptian collection, including burial chambers and the two major items of the museum: the famous Golden Hat which is a Late Bronze Age artefact made of thin gold leaf, and a bust of Nefertiti, a 3,300 year old painted limestone bust of the great royal wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten -it is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt. Each were in their own rooms with extensive descriptions. The building itself was old and beautiful inside. After experiencing the one in Brussels, we couldn't resist the Musical Instrument Museum. It wasn't as extensive as the Brussels one, primarily mechanical (keyboard) instruments but still interesting and nice and cool....the weather was quite a bit warmer again in Berlin. Our Amsterdam cool weather respite was behind us.
Sun Aug 2 At the Bode Museum we saw more paintings and sculptures of the masters, some intricate ivory carvings, mosaics, and one of the world's first casino games carved out of marble. We were near that quaint restaurant we went to for lunch the first day but they had a limited menu for Sunday so we opted for some quick sandwiches before heading over to the Museum Berggruen which had paintings by Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti but also 80 pieces by Picasso. We had one more site to hit before we left town. The East Side Gallery is a long section of the Berlin Wall where the western side had been painted by various artists during the time the full wall was standing. Some of the artwork is more recent, but all is thought provoking and/or entertaining. And just walking slowly along that section of the wall for the viewing was in some ways sobering and in some ways jubilant. In each city we search for some cultural events to attend but the symphony orchestras and opera companies were all on vacation during August. Nevertheless we found that a UK opera group was touring Berlin that week. So we got tickets to the Berlin Opera House to see a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar in English! After we bought the tickets, we realized that we had not packed clothes for 'going to the opera'. Virginia had a dress but Dennis only had blue jeans that he had bought in Paris in expectation of cool weather in Brussels and Amsterdam. We did our best and when we arrived at the Opera House we relaxed seeing several attendees in shorts and T shirts. Dennis was amazed that the place was sold out for an Andrew Lloyd Webber Rock Opera. There was a digital display off the side of the stage that was keeping track of the story in German. It was a fun evening and we knew all the music!
Mon Aug 3 At noon we hopped on a train and arrived in Frankfurt 5 hours later. Daytime train rides are enjoyable as you can see the countryside along the route.