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.