Day 6 - On to the swamp, Dresden, the eastern most city in Germany.

We boarded our bus at the usual time, 8:00AM and set out on our way. We had a replacement bus driver, apparently there are strict government regulations about how many days/hours in a row you can drive a bus. Atilla rode on the bus with us but as he put it, he is on vacation...too funny. 

Dresden was heavily bombed late in WWII and there are lots of opinions on the necessity of it due to the loss of life (25K) and the destruction of so much art.  The buildings have pretty much been restored and the city is now vibrant again. 

The Prussian royalty built a beautiful city, the churches and other buildings are just stunning. This is a statue of the protestant leader Martin Luther in front of Frauenkirche, a church built in the early 1700s. 

Notice the banner, it reads "We can rebuild everything but the Climate".

The inside of the church is also spectacular.

The city is full of art. The Procession of Princes is a l01-meter-long mural representing the history of the Wettins, Saxony’s ruling family, as a larger-than-life procession of riders.

It is done on Meissen porcelain tiles, more than 24,000 of them. The detail is amazing. 

After a brief orientation we were left on our own to wander and find lunch. There is much to see and many nice cafes.  Of course we had to have a beer with lunch. 

After lunch we gathered at the bus, about 2/3s of our group was doing an optional excursion, touring the Treasury and another Castle. We elected to not do the tour so boarded the bus to take us to our hotel. We thought we might get an hour or so of down time then walk back into downtown.  Unfortunately the Germans are rule followers, the check in time is 3PM or later, not 2:59, so we hung out in the lobby for an hour and a half.  Around 4PM we set out for the town, it was only a 20min walk. 

The buildings and architecture are impressive. 

We wandered the town and the Dresden Fortress, which is just massive. 

At one point a quick rain shower passed through, we ducked under an umbrella at a café and were treated to a beautiful rainbow over the plaza. 

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel and grabbed dinner at a local café.  It was another full day and we were bushed. 

Day 5 - Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdam

Wednesday morning we slept in, we did not have to board the bus until 8:15! After the late night partying last night I think we all needed that extra 15 mins and we did not have to pack our bags because we were returning to the same hotel for a second night. It was also our turn to ride in the front of the bus, every day we rotate seats so that every one gets a turn in the seats with an unobstructed view out the windshield. 

When we boarded the bus we were met by Tobi, our local specialist. 

Our first stop was the TV tower where we went up 200+ meters for a 360 degree view of Berlin.

Everything looks pretty small from the tower. Brandenburg gate and the Victory Tower can be seen in this picture. 

The Berliners love their donuts. Everyone talks about the Berliner, a jam filled donut, but frankly June and I did not find them in bakeries, but we did not stop in any of the donut shops. 

After the TV tower we drove to a section where the Berlin Wall still stands now as a museum and reminder of the past. This section of wall is painted with government approved graffiti.

In reality there were two walls, the area in between was called the death strip, seeing it is very sobering. 

There are some famous paintings on the wall.  This is one of the most famous, the Fraternal Kiss which depicts Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a socialist fraternal kiss, reproducing a photograph taken in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic.

In the Mercedes Plaza across from the graffiti wall was a very interesting piece of art. It reads the same thing from both sides, very creative. 

Our next stop was the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, it is a monument to the murdered Jews of Europe. It is very plain, so interpretation is left up to the individual. It consists of 2700 randomly sized blocks of concrete. 

We also stopped at the location of Hitler's bunker, there is nothing more there than a plaque. There is no historical marker due to the fear that it would become a place of worship for those that still follow his twisted beliefs.

Our final stop with Tobi was checkpoint Charlie. Tobi was a great guide, it was really interesting to get his perspective since he grew up in East Germany during the cold war. 

Checkpoint Charlie today is smack in the middle of a growing city but the guard shack is still there for us tourists. 

Nearby there is a wall with many pictures of the era and the confrontation that nearly started WWIII in  October of 1961. The Cuban missile crisis followed this, it was a very tense time. 

The streets have a row of cobble stones that mark the location of the Berlin Wall, they are everywhere in the city. 

After Checkpoint Charlie we returned to the hotel for a short break. When we returned to our bus we met our next Local Specialist, Vivian. She also grew up in East Germany. Having local specialists that grew up in East Germany during the cold war does provide one with a unique perspective. Tobi described it as, we were never hungry, but we did not get things like bananas but once a year and you had no trust in the government because it was just continuous propaganda. Vivian said when going from West Berlin to East Berlin it was like going from a color movie back into an only black and white world. She related this as the description people that came from West Berlin gave her since East Germans were not allowed to travel to the west. 

Our first stop was the location of the Wannsee conference where 15 of the top Nazis planned for the 'Final Solution'.  It is just unfathomable that educated people would get together and plan the murder of millions. The minutes of the meeting are posted for all to read, they literally discussed how much of a Jewish bloodline was too much, it is just nuts. The location itself is idealistic, beautiful and on a lake. 

After that sobering experience we set out for the Glienicke Bridge or The Bridge of Spies.  I am sure many have seen the Tom Hanks movie, Vivian said during the filming they shut down the bridge for 4 days and it was a nightmare for the locals. This bridge separated the city of West Berlin from the City of Potsdam, which was in East Germany during the cold war. It was the preferred location for exchanges of high ranking spies between the east and the west. The border ran right through the middle of the bridge and is now marked by a bronze strip. 

We walked across the bridge and into Potsdam. From the bridge you could see several palaces. Potsdam was the jewel of Germany and attracted the wealthy who built lavish summer residences. 

While in Potsdam we visited the Prussian place of Sanssouci which was Frederick the Great's summer residence. I think this Frederick would also be comfortable there...just saying. 

We walked and walked and only covered a very small portion of the grounds. I guess being a King has its perks. 

After the palace tour we drove through the forest to a secluded restaurant on a lake, Wirtshaus Moorlake. 

We also said our goodbyes to Vivian. We very much enjoyed her sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm about German history. I found it interesting that Vivian described East Germany as lacking color, being in black and white, yet she was dressed all in black. :-) 

The restaurant was in a picturesque setting looking out on a lake surrounded by forest. 

The meal at Wirtshaus Moorlake was excellent. I had Venison and June had Trout.

After dinner we set back for the hotel arriving a bit after 8PM. June and I wanted to go see the Victory Tower (Chick on a Stick) up close and since it was only a 20 minute walk, we set out for it. Unfortunately, they close the monument at 7PM and even turn off any lights on it.  It was still a good walk. 

It was a long but fulfilling day, tomorrow we make our way to Dresden. 

Day 4 - Berlin can be fun

Tuesday, we drove from Hamburg to Berlin. The contrast as you pass from West Germany to East Germany is obvious. Western Germany is cities, towns, businesses and industry while in the East it is open spaces, basically farming. It is clear that the Soviets did not invest in East Germany and stifled any creativity. There are also quite a few solar fields and wind farms, probably because the space is available. We drove the only road to Berlin that was permitted during the cold war. The highway itself is beautiful, and left lane moves very fast….not sure how fast but they pass the bus like we are parked. 

On the bus we watched a documentary on the cold war and the wall coming down, it gave us a perspective that we don’t appreciate as Americans. It was a very emotional time for the Germans. 

We arrived in East Berlin around lunch time and had a few hours on our own. East Berlin has been under construction since the reunification in 1990. Many of the old Block shaped (boring) buildings are being replaced with new modern architecture structures, the skyline is dotted with cranes. In this picture you can see the old soviet style buildings on the left and the newer on the right. 

I love the world clock in Alexanderplatz (you can tell we are in Soviet territory by the name). 

We walked around the plaza taking in the sights and finally settled on a quick lunch of Currywurst which is a staple in Berlin. They even had JD and coke in a can, I had never had it so gave it a try....the wurst was great, the JD...hmmm. 

We were met at Alexander Plaza by a local specialist, Tobi, and we boarded the bus for a driving tour of Berlin. As Vanessa our Tour Director put it, TD's know a little about a lot, Local Specialists now a lot about a little. Tobi grew up in Eastern Berlin, lived through the reunification of Germany and is truly an expert on all things related to Berlin. 

Our driving tour ended at The Museum Island (Museumsinsel) a museum complex on the northern part of the Spree Island in the historic heart of Berlin.

We were dropped off in front of the Berlin Cathedral, built in 1895-1905. It is an impressive structure. 

The columns of nearly all of the buildings are covered in patches, these are the repair patches from the bullet holes of WWII. They left some with the bullet holes, but somehow I did not get a picture, it seemed there was a bullet hole every few inches. One of the last battles between the Soviets and what was left of the German army was fought on this ground.

We even walked by former Chancellor Merkel's building, she still rents an apartment, nothing lavish for this former East German. 

From Museum Island we got back on the bus and moved on to Brandenburg Gate. 

It is one of those places you need to visit, so much history between WWII, John F. Kennedy, the Berlin Airlift, Ronald Regan, etc.  It is something to behold. 

Napoleon stole the statue on top of the gate and took it to Paris during his military campaign. After he was defeated at Waterloo, the Germans returned it to its rightful place and named the plaza after Paris as an insult to the French. 

We walked through the Brandenburg Gate from what was East Germany to West Germany, saw where the wall once was and in the distance you can see the victory column which the Americans named "Chick on a Stick".

We stood at the location on the West side where Ronald Regan famously told Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall".

There is even a plaque in the road....

This is the Reichstag building, with Tobi in the picture, where Vice Chancellors of Germany are voted upon. Days before the election in 1933, there was a fire which was blamed upon the communist. It is now believed Hitler's Nazi party was responsible and used it to swing the election his way. 

We ended our day tour and went to our hotel to rest up for the evening. 

After a break at the hotel we boarded the bus to go downtown for dinner. Berlin is known as a party city and we just had to oblige. It was raining when we arrived at our restaurant but that did not dampen our spirits. 

There was plenty of food, drink and conversation at every table, we packed the place. 

We had live music provided by a single performer on a keyboard (top left).  He played all the classic American hits, it was hilarious to here something like American Pie sung with a German accent.

There was lots of dancing and singing along, of course June is in that mob somewhere.

From the party we went back to the Brandenburg Gate for some photos. It is beautiful at night. 

We ended the evening with drinks at the bar with new friends, it was a great day. 

Day 3 - On to Hamburg

Monday we traveled to Hamburg.  It is a bout a 5-6 hour bus ride with 'Pay for Pee' stops every few hours. 

We are still a bit fascinated with the 'Pay for Pee' process.  The picture on the right is at the kiosk entrance to the restrooms at a stop off the highway.  The kiosk takes money or credit card. If you take your receipt it can be credited for any purchase you make at the stop. What a great business model, if you pay to pee you are motivated to buy a coffee or anything just to feel like you got to 'Pee for Free'. I am thinking of how I might start this business at home in the USA. 

You will have to ask June about the wet toilet seats at the rest stops. 

The German countryside looks very much like the USA, it is not overly populated and there are wind farms in the open spaces. 

Before WWII Hamburg was the largest shipping port in the world. During the war it was reduced to rubble but has mostly be rebuilt and today it is still a major shipping port. 

We arrived in downtown Hamburg on schedule and Vanessa gave us a short introduction. Hamburg is a wealthy city and they clearly show it off.

The town hall is extravagant, it looks more like a cathedral than a town building. 

The inside is also opulent and looks like a church. 

This is a picture of the statue in the courtyard of the town hall....yeah the town hall. 

We walked around downtown Hamburg and took in the sites, the place is very alive with people, swans and traffic. The views are very nice. 

This past weekend there was a Harry Potter Doubles gathering in Hamburg, over 7000 Harry Potters were wandering the streets. I wish we had let Travis, Emily's boy friend, know about it :-).   

There was at least one of the characters still 'floating' around. 

After walking for about an hour, we stopped for beer and ice cream...a great combination. 

There are pedal bikes, pedal taxis and even pedal UPS delivery vehicles...it seems Hamburg is trying to go green. 

After a few hours downtown we headed for the port area, a short bus ride. We boarded a tour boat to go out in the port and see the cargo operations. It sounded a bit boring but it was fascinating. I took way more pictures than I should but everything was of such a large scale it was hard to get your head around it. 

This is a picture of one of the larger ships, it holds 22,000 containers. The entire unloading operation has 24 employees, we saw no one anywhere near the boats. The robots can unload a ship of this size in 48 hours. (Maybe someone can explain the problem in CA during covid when the ships could not be unloaded...Hmm). 

This is a picture of a container being picked off a small cargo ship. I was trying to get pictures but the (automation) robots go so fast it is hard to catch them in flight. 

There were other sights that were worth seeing, the most expensive being the Elbphiharmonie Concert Hall. It is a an embarrassment for the Germans who pride themselves in precision and engineering. This building was forecast to cost $70M and open in 2010, it did not open until 2017 and cost close to $800M.  

After the harbor tour we headed for the red light district of Hamburg because this is where the Beatles played in the St. Paul quarter at the Indra Club, before they made it! Over a two year period they played here a lot. 

The plaque on the building reads (translated by Vanessa): "On August 17,1960 the BEATLES entered the INDRA Stage.  It was their first Germany Engagement and the start of a great career."

The street itself is seedy...it is the red light district.  Vanessa did a special head count to make sure all the men made it back on the bus. 

Some of our new friends (Nate, Lisa, Todd and Joan) from Ohio had some fun being the fab 4. 

We made our way to our hotel around 7PM and all met in the restaurant for a group dinner. It was another long day but full of experiences. 

Tomorrow we head for Berlin.