Day 4, the Jewish museum, the journey home and just in time. Berlin to Bristol.

It was time for breakfast, we'd packed, checked out and stowed our kit in reception. Today we were heading for the Jewish museum so we headed south from the hotel, stopping in the cafe we visited on the first morning before continuing past Checkpoint Charlie and further towards the southern end of Friedrichstrasse, we were well wrapped up today as even though the sun was out and was warming on the face the air temperature was still down around the freezing mark and if you stepped into the shade, you knew it.
 As we walked we found ourselves behind a group of 5 Americans, I listened to their conversation as we walked, it was at this point we were stopped by a couple walking in the opposite direction, the man asked me in an eastern European accent, "Where is the Berlin wall please ?". At first I was a little taken aback by the question and I immediately blurted, "Its gone, got knocked down in '89", it was then that it hit me that I had paid no thought for the barriers present, he may well have meant, the checkpoint or the section of wall that stands across the road from it or he may of meant "Do you know where the wall used to be?", I recovered a little kindness and offered, "The checkpoint is back that way and there is a bit of the wall there". He looked a little confused and moved on, I prayed that he hadn't made a pilgrimage from some distant eastern land hoping to see the mighty Soviet construction only to have his dreams dashed by my instant rebuttal. Surely that couldn't be the case? This was a thought that puzzled me for a few days.
 We arrived at the Jewish museum, it was surprisingly busy, we put our coats in another free cloakroom and
donned our audio guides, the first section was bizarre, several zigzagging corridors with dark displays and barely legible display boards, the second section was long winded and far too in depth about Jewish ancient history but the latter sections regarding more modern history were very good, obviously this is only my humble opinion and probably reflect what I went there wanting to know rather than the quality of the museum. There were some very interesting and clever sections of the museum that the architect referred to as "voids" these included an empty, unfinished 30 foot high concrete room that is completely black other than a small opening in the roof that lets in a small beam of light and a little noise from the outside world, a garden with high concrete pillars and a large, high ceilinged room with several thousand hand cut metal plate faces on the floor. It is called "Fallen leaves" you are encouraged to walk across it and the noise it makes alone is haunting enough without looking down at the screaming faces, layer upon layer, each different, some looking like crying children and some like heartbroken mothers compounded by the realisation that they each represent thousands of lives terminated in one of mankind's darkest hours. If the museum had to be only one exhibit, this should be it, the room could be a standalone monument and will stay with me for a long time.

We returned to the hotel, collected our bags and soon found ourselves back on the retro train to Schonefeld, upon arrival we discovered our flight was to be delayed, it's a small airport and by the time we'd had some food, something to drink and a look around the limited shops we were soon kicking our heels. It came to me that we were in an airport, surrounded by Germans over the Christmas holidays.....it could easily have been the set of a Die Hard movie. All the shops packed up early because it was New Year's Eve, leaving even less to do, eventually we were called to the gate and boarded the plane, Bruce Willis never did arrive.
 As we flew over Berlin and subsequently the rest of Germany we were waved off by display upon display of fireworks, premature in terms of the celebrations to come but perfectly timed to usher us home, I have never seen fireworks from above before, it was a nice parting gift.

Bristol felt almost muggy as we arrived in the rain, we were out swiftly and on the road back home, we made good time and were in Instow to see in the New Year with a drink in hand and surrounded by friends, there were more fireworks but they just weren't the same.
 I found Berlin to be a very interesting city that I would certainly urge people to visit, there are some things that stuck in my mind though, all the interest in the wall and the cold war are encouraged but there is an almost embarrassed veil over anything to do with WW2 or the Nazis, I guess this is understandable but needless, lets face it, they weren't the choices of modern day Berlin and it is a part of history that needs to be remembered so that it is not repeated. I was a little disappointed that everybody speaks English and most signs are repeated in English, it was helpful, sure, but I almost enjoy the idea of getting lost or having to scramble your way through a conversation with the language barrier firmly intact. The city seems to be 20 years behind other major cities, I can only surmise that post war reparations and communist involvement are to blame for this, it's not a bad thing, just an observation. None of these things detract from the visit, almost the opposite, the add to the experience, I found Berlin to be friendly and clean despite the drab concrete and bleakness that can be the first impression. It's a city that suits winter perfectly.

There is a sting in the tail to this travel diary, as I said it would be my first with a girl and sadly it will be my last, certainly with this particular girl, we'd been friends for years and maybe we are better off as friends, intuitive as ever she spotted this before I did and we split only a couple of days after returning from Germany, I refuse to say anything bad about her and I refuse to let it spoil the memories I have of either us or Berlin, I only have myself to blame and besides, she always was too good for me.

So that leaves Bergen, the next trip, coming up in only a few weeks, what was to be a romantic trip to the Norwegian fjords for Valentines day in a superior double room with a romantic balcony view has now turned into a boys weekend away in a superior twin room with romantic balcony view and drinking sessions in the world's most expensive country for alcohol consumption and a local night spot called "Klubb Kok".

I nearly forgot to mention the latest book.....I've just finished "Travels with Charlie" by John Steinbeck, everybody should read it, however it has done nothing to help settle a man with a dog that enjoys writing about his journeys, the summer is suddenly wide open and plans building, the only guarantee is that at least the Badger will miss me.

Day 3, progress, pomp and possibly the best view of Berlin.

An early start today, fairly easy after another night in the monster bed. We were out of the revolving door of the hotel by 0720hrs and on our way to stand in line to make a reservation for the Reichtag dome tour. We were there by 0745hrs but we were not the first. It was decidedly colder today, both of us had opted for thermals and plenty of layers. It was still cold and the small office full of warm air was bliss after the 30 minute wait in line. We had to show our I.D and select a time slot for our tour, we plumped for an evening slot, deciding that it would give us the whole day elsewhere and that it may be even more spectacular after dark.
 We headed off in search of breakfast and found a great restaurant just down from the Brandenburg gate, it was almost art-deco inside and served good eggs Benedict. Warmed through and well fed we headed to the nearest U station for a 15 minute train ride down to Mockernbrucke for a visit to the German museum of technology, needless to say this was my idea but my accomplice was polite enough to at least pretend to enjoy it. The Museum is huge, it doesn't look it but it is and charts the progress of computers, boats, aviation, robotics, textiles, communications, trains and space exploration from their infancy to the present day, it really is quite staggering how they managed to fit so many exhibits into one complex, well in fact they didn't, there is a Douglas "skytrain" on the roof. The price again was very reasonable and worth every penny, if you have even a passing interest in technology or science.
 Time to move on.
 Back on the train, this time heading west for Charlottenburg, both of us noted that this particular line was similar to a retro styled version of the DLR....only cleaner and quieter and on time. We jumped off at the Sophia-Charlotte-platz stop, nipped into a small coffee shop owned by the world's campest but friendliest man and began the walk along Schlossstrasse towards The Charlottenburg Palace, a long tree lined promenade that made for a very pleasant stroll with the contrast of bright sunshine and crisp frosty air. This one was not my choice and if I'm honest I was struggling already to be polite enough to pretend I was enjoying myself and we weren't even inside yet. At this point I will admit I was wrong. This was the most expensive entrance fee we had paid to date, still only 18 EUR each with an audio guide and cloak room included. All the museums we had visited so far offered a free cloak room, I liked that.

 Inside we were guided by the well spoken man on the audio guide through the private residence of Sophia Charlotte, built at the end of the 17th century as a retreat for the then queen of Prussia on the out skirts of what is now Berlin, the building is very much built in the Baroque style and showed the queen's love of music and science at every opportunity. The palace is flanked by huge gardens that visitors also have access to and a newer wing that was added by subsequent generations including some very grandiose ball rooms, I managed to take a photo of one before a burly security guard told me off. I offered my best, sorry-I'm-a-dumb-brit-tourist look and he seemed appeased, it was noted that he didn't tell the pretty girl in the short dress off despite the same crime being committed countless times in each room, next time I'll shave my legs. So like I said, I was wrong, it was very interesting and by the end I wasn't even pretending to enjoy it, I actually was. I'm glad the choice was made for me because if it wasn't I wouldn't have ever contemplated going there.

On the train again, making the most of our day pass and headed towards Friedrichstrasse, we had a short wander around, saw a Mercedes showroom/museum/cafe, wandered around a souvenir shop that was selling amongst other things chunks of concrete proclaiming to be bit of Berlin wall, I doubted their authenticity and didn't buy one.....they could well have been from a wall in Berlin but not necessary THE wall. There was also a cool little shop selling souvenirs of the red and green pedestrian crossing men at every set of lights at every intersection in Berlin made notable by the fact that they appear to be wearing a flat cap, this one small feature makes the characters instantly endearing and I held no surprise that they had their own merchandise shop. The men are in fact called Ampelmannchen and are one of the few remaining relics of East Germany in modern day use, given the choice over the more generic figures seen elsewhere, I can see why they survived.

It was time for what could be considered the main event for the day, the Reichtag tour. We joined (another) queue to enter the security checkpoint, our ID and booking form were checked and we passed through an airport style metal detector and bag scanner before being led up the step and into the foyer of the Reichtag building itself. There is a brief wait there in front of a security guard clearly bored of the tirade of tourists that has continued all day and now well into the evening, he clearly saw none of us a threat as he barely looked up. A group of about twenty of us bundled into an elevator that rocketed us up to the top of the building, I was still somewhat unsure of what to expect but as soon as the doors opened it was pretty obvious, we were now on the roof of the parliamentary building and outside of the glass double doors was a massive glass and steel dome, spiralling its way up the dome is a walk way that later turned out to be two walk ways, one for the way up and one for the way down but it plays tricks on your eyes and seems not to make any sense ! In the middle is an array of mirrors and polished steel convexing that is a mix of clever heating and air conditioning systems. The dome is open to the elements in places so was remarkably cold on the evening we visited. Entrance to the dome and the audio guide are free and as you meander up the corkscrew path the latter stops you a various points to provide you with trivia and an explanation of the magnificent view, as we looked out across the 360 degree view of the city would pointed out everywhere we'd visited and enjoyed the view out across the river Spree and the New Year's Eve preparations going on around the now lit up Brandenburg gate. It was amazing to see how a building nearly entirely destroyed by RAF bombers had been rebuild into this marvel to the design of an Englishman. It was worth the queue.

All that was left for the night was to find something to eat, it was quite late and the Christmas market we visited last night was on the way back to the hotel......

Tonight we experienced some Spatzle, traditional German noodles with cheese and truffle washed down with a nice cold beer and for good measure I had another ham and mustard roll. As this was our last night we had a nice stroll around all the stalls again before wearily making our way back to the hotel, we'd covered some miles today.

Day 2, the Checkpoint, Currywurst and countless other things.

After a sound night's sleep in a ridiculously large bed it was time to don the thermals and see what Berlin had to offer. We knew we were close to the infamous Checkpoint Charlie (the hotel name gave it away) but we didn't really know quite how close. As we set off in search of breakfast we got no more than 200 yards down the road before finding ourselves at site of the former wall crossing. It would be easy to underwhelmed with what physically stands in front of you, a small wooden structure with two actors outside posing for tourist photos in US and Russian military uniforms and what appear to be the original wooden signs warning you that you are leaving/entering the American sector of Berlin along with a very crowded and not very enticing museum are what awaits the hoards of people that flock to this "attraction". It needs however, a deeper thought, this site stands for more than it could ever be visually, people lost their lives trying to cross what is now just a street, it's the only place in history that American and Russian tanks have ever leveled their weapons at each other in anger and come within minutes of surely changing the shape of history, it has made influences in pop culture (the first time I heard the words Checkpoint Charlie I was about 13 and they were being sung by Elvis Costello) and it was the most notorious of crossing points on the most famous divide of people, culture, wealth and politics in the 20th century. As we sat in a small self service cafe eating breakfast and drinking coffee I noticed that within 50 yards of the checkpoint there is a Domino's pizza, a Starbucks and a McDonalds...it appears the Americans won the encounter after all.

After the hearty and if I'm honest, cheap, breakfast we walked our way along Friedrichstrasse, which runs the length of the centre of Berlin and forms the north/south axis of the cross roads that gives access to most things of importance or interest to visitors with Checkpoint at the southern end and Friedrich train station at the other, the east/west axis will take you from the Berlin Victory column made to celebrate victory in Prussia, past the Reischtag building, across Museum Island (a world heritage site) and over to Alexanderplatz and the TV tower.

Once we had walked up as far as the Brandenburg gate it hit me that all the history we were about to see is real, that might sound stupid but its not ancient history, its not mythical, it is stuff you learned about at school and can watch on grainy black and white film, I've seen the footage, I know that Nazis gathered around these landmarks to hail their leader, it is modern history in it's truest form and it was instantly striking. We stood gazing at the Reichstag building taking in it's might and importance whilst realising that it was open to visitors, we knew it was possible to visit but that you had to book in advance however when I had tried to book before we arrived in Germany the website had stated it was closed during the time we were there, it clearly was not. We queued up for around 10 minutes only to be told we need to queue in a different line on the other side of the road....and looking at that line it would be more that 10 minutes....quite a bit more, so we decided to head back there in the morning and try and be at the front of the queue.

From the Reichstag building we headed back to the crossroads, on our way we spotted one of the very helpful blue sign posts that point the way to various tourist sights, it brought to our attention the existence of the Holocaust memorial that was a short walk away. We chose not to take the tour which appeared to head underground but instead spent some time wandering the undulating paths that led between the 2711 oversized concrete blocks that commemorate the murdered Jews of Europe. After the short detour we continued on the mission of finding Alexanderplatz, after having seen the recent spooks movie and wanting to emulate Harry Pierce I desperately wanted to stand on the north west  and look out for former cold war spies, my desire was not shared but we headed that way anyway guided at this time only by the TV tower, Germany's tallest building and a landmark that is visible throughout the city. on our way we stumbled across the French cathedral at the Gendarmenmarkt square, a place we would later visit for the Christmas market. The cathedral boasted a walkway around the domed roof and both of us, eager to get a better view of the city opted to go in. The entrance fee was nominal but the flight of stairs to the top was not, it was far from arduous but it made the knee strain a little, on the way up the spiral staircase you were greeted by some impressive artistic photographs and the sense of something large looming at the top, the structure of the chimes hanging there looking mare like some form of space ship that the bells of a church. The view from the top was spectacular and well worth the climb.

We trekked onward towards the TV tower and Alexanderplatz and found ourselves on "Museum Island", a section of land caught between the river Spree and a canal, this area is a World heritage site, it contains the Nation art history museum, the Berlin history museum and the Berliner Dom or cathedral. This was the busiest I had seen the city so far, nowhere near as crowded as tourist sights in, say, London but still much busier than the quietness we'd encountered up until now. We made the decision to keep on our church theme, both readers of the 2500 miles blog will know how much I appreciate a nice church, so the Dom was next on the list. the entrance fee was around 12EUR and a couple more for an audio guide, I hadn't opted for one this time and didn't really miss it. The cathedral itself is very grand and ornate and definitely worth a visit, the highlights are the walkway around the dome, similar to the French cathedral only higher and bigger but be warned the steps are plentyful, steep and narrow at times, certainly not for the faint hearted and the tombs under the building which are full of carved wooden and cast lead caskets of royalty, nobility and dignities.

After the Dom we continued just up the road to Alexanderplatz where we were pleasantly surprised to find a Christmas market in full swing, the stroll around the stalls perusing the wares and conversing with vendors was very pleasant but I was growing hungry, not an unusual occurrence. It was time to chalk up one of my must-do experiences, try a Currywurst. A simple conception, a Bratwurst sausage chopped up and served covered in a curry spiced ketchup with fries. I can see why to some it may not sound or be appealing but I wanted to try one. I liked it and was watched with disgust as I merrily stowed it away.

After lunch we headed back to the German history museum, complete with audio guide this time and again for a reasonable price. It is a very impressive place and one that comes highly recommended, it satisfied my need for cold war and world wars knowledge.

A whole day on our feet and wandering around museums and churches meant it was time to retire to the hotel for a shower and time to look at map to piece together a plan for the morning.

After freshening up we headed out to find some food, we ended up at the Christmas market in  the Gendarmenmarkt square where we had visited the French cathedral earlier, to find that there is a slightly smaller but almost identical German cathedral at the opposite side of the square. The Christmas market has the reputation of being the best in Berlin and it doesn't disappoint, there are many stalls selling food and drink produce, local trinkets and clothing items. They don't mess about here, they go as far as constructing proper pubs and restaurants on the market site and a small indoor shopping arcade. We decided against finding a restaurant to eat in and settled on grazing upon the deliciously unhealthy food being touted at the Christmas market, we sampled some local cheese, melted and spread on homemade bread with chopped bacon, some deep fried cheese doughballs, some candied nuts and topping the list a crusty bread roll stuffed with Bavarian ham and mustard.....one of the simplest but nicest creations ever. Drinks were good too, you had to leave a 3EUR deposit on your glass of beer or mug of mulled wine in the case of the more discerning but the glasses came embossed with the name of the market and the year so we chose it keep ours. Possibly the highlight of the evening (personally the ham roll wins) was the entertainment, a 5 piece acapella male harmony group called.....wait for it.....A.K.Pella. Genius. They set about entertaining the crowd from a small stage in the middle of the market with a mixture of English and German language songs ranging from "In the jungle" to "Walking in a winter wonderland". The pretty one was taken by the act, I however was not, their blue jeans and suit jackets, joshing with each other in that oh so fake on stage way and their ever-so-slightly of key routine was a bit too cringe-worthy for me, they were like a poorly executed, German version of the Backstreet boys and I don't know if there is such a thing as "Germany's got talent" but if there is then these guys would have been a shoe in.

We watched the set until its end.....and then the clichéd encore routine.....and then the returning to the stage for another bow routine and then we left. Time for bed.

28th December 2015.....Bristol to Berlin.

It's been a while since Reykjavik, almost a year in fact bar a few days, this doesn't mean there has been a lack of adventures just a different manner of adventure, for  a start I spent 9 weeks in a full leg brace after knee surgery which somewhat hampered my exploring lust and destined my faithful bike to a summer in the shed. The Badger was, as ever, good company but as she advances in years she sleeps and when she sleeps, she snores and that is not relaxing.
 The other adventure consists of a beautiful blonde, the one I had to promise I wouldn't eat a puffin whilst in Iceland, we had a week in La Rochelle after I regained the ability to walk more that the length of the hallway, there was no diary of that, so this will be the first travel item I write accompanied by a girl and not just any girl.

I haven't flown from Bristol in a few years, it doesn't seem like a real airport, it's so laid back and small it almost doesn't fit in the UK, it would be fine in France or Greece where a lackadaisical approach to airport procedure are common place but it sticks out like a sore thumb in the world of uptight UK security. It was really nice to only drive an hour and a half to an airport and to only have the same length flight was refreshing. A couple of downloaded episodes of Bosch saw the flight off in what seemed like no time.
 Walking out onto the runway after a smooth touchdown it was noticeably colder than the UK, only about 4 degrees centigrade but worth of a good coat. The "transfer" from Schoenefeld airport to our hotel was to be undertaken by train, a mixture of the S line, essentially an overground network that occasionally heads underground and the U line, a full-time underground service, it wasn't daunting at all, if you've ever used the underground in London or any other major city, you'll find this a doddle. There is however one thing to note, you must validate your ticket, stations appear to be unmanned and tickets for single journeys, day passes and week passes are available from the automated machines that all have the option of English, once you pay and get your ticket you have to present it to one of the small validating machines on the platform, it stamps the ticket with the date. Ticket collectors travel in plain clothes and if they catch you without a ticket or with an un-validated one they will fine you......100 euro! The fares are cheap, a day travel pass in zones A & B cost 6.90 EUR and once you take 5 minutes to figure out the machines you'll be ready for the train experience itself.
 As a lover of all things retro and kitsch I was instantly enamoured, the trains appeared to be a relic of the cold war, bright yellow, small and boxy they were however the most punctual, quiet and clean relic I have ever been on. We departed the S45 train at Templehof and took the U6 to Stadtmitte, as we exited the station and made our way above ground it soon became apparent that we were in the middle of the road ! This, as I was informed, is the same as with a lot of stations in New York, it seemed like a daft idea to me.

The hotel is called Gat point Charlie and was converted from the old Stasi headquarters and as expected for a building formerly inhabited by the state security for the German Democratic Republic, it isn't a pretty building although they have tried to disguise it's concrete coldness with some green neon lights, it didn't work. Inside, in stark contrast, everything is very modern and very white. The room was similar and after we'd unpacked we went for a short stroll around before heading to the bar for a quick drink before bed, I had an ice cold Berliner beer and the pretty one had English breakfast tea, naturally.