Berlin 2001

Grand Tour of Europe 2001 – Berlin

7 April – Travel day number two. Wow, we’ve been at this a full week now. Since we couldn’t catch the very first train to Berlin, we got to sleep in and finally left that hostel behind forever (yea!). We stopped at the 7-Eleven for juice and bagels before walking on the to the train station. I seriously need to lose some junk from my bag… We waited in the station for a while, then caught our train – pretty spiffy. The neatest thing was when we took a ferry ON THE TRAIN into Germany. That ferry only lasted 45 minutes, so we both got out to look around at the gray skies, gray water, and people scuttling to buy things from the duty-free shop. We changed trains in Hamburg, then finally bade it into Berlin around 7:15. We got our reservations to Munich taken care of, got transportation for the next three days, then took the S-Bahn to our hostel {A&O Backpackers}. Gorgeous sunset over the city. The hostel’s pretty nice (oh, so much better than the last one). A little spartan, but they have “blankets” and “8-person rooms” and “showers with hot water.” Loverly, loverly. (Madeline is giddy because she likes this hostel so much). {To be fair, our expectations were very low…}

8 April – After a nice, cozy night in the hostel, Madeline and I ate a nice breakfast of rolls in the kitchen before heading out. The first thing we did was take the S-Bahn to the Tiergarten. We got a few pictures of the bombed-out Gedächtniskirche. Then we walked down the street to the Story of Berlin. It was kind of expensive, but the first part was in 3D sound - they gave us these things to hear on our heads hat looked like sci-fi purple alien ships (We couldn’t stop laughing because we looked so ridiculous {too funny to even take a picture of ourselves looking so ridiculous for posterity. Sigh.}). There was a lot to take in and see/read, and it was hard to take it all in. After that whole experience, I bought a guitar pin at the Hard Rock Café. From there, we directed ourselves towards the House on Checkpoint Charlie. Took some pictures. It’s also a museum, but we didn’t feel like going in. Instead, we took the U- and S-Bahns out to Schoß Charlottenburg. We walked around the palace and the gardens – lots of walking. On our way back, we stopped at the Zool. Garten Station so Mad could buy a phone card and we could buy some food. Came back to the hostel for some quiet time and a chance to rest our poor feet. Oh, and we also did some emailing after going to Hard Rock. Madeline went to make some phone calls, while I sat in the room and finished the Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book that I had been reading. Went to bed early, seeing as we’re getting up early in the morning.

Cara and Madeline by the Gedächtniskirche

Pieces of the Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

9 April – Got up this morning at 7, ate breakfast, and we were out around 8:15. We went to the Reichstag building to climb the dome. Got there and in line at 9:25. It was a long line to get in but seeing as it was pretty chilly, and the line wasn’t moving, many people deserted. The doors finally opened at 10, and we were able to go up up up and have a good look around. We came back down and decided to walk Under den Linden to the Victory statue. Then we walked through the Tiergarten, past a few embassies, Potzdammer Platz and a few opera buildings to Gendarmenmarkt. Took a picture, then took the underground back to the internet place. Spent a little time therebefore jumping on the S-Bahn back to the hostel. Spent some rather frustrating time after a brief nap trying to make reservations in Venice. Madeline and I went out and bought falafel for dinner, said hello to our new roommates, then relaxed. I don’t think we’ll be going out anymore tonight.

Reichstag

See me?

Berlin Cathedral

10 April – Finished off seeing everything I wanted to today. The Alexanderplatz, Rotes Rathaus, Nikolaikirche, Berliner Dom, etc. I mailed a package home – I was so proud because I did it all in German. I was about to go to the Pergamonmuseum, but just bought postcards of what I wanted to see. I went and checked my email, then went to the Kaufhaus des Westerns (KaDeWe) – Europe’s largest department store. So huge. Great fabric section. Did a little more looking around the shopping area before getting on the bus that drove around to the major sights, just in case I missed anything. It was raining when I came back. Ate a little, quiet night. Leaving tomorrow.

East Berlin green man
{52.506339, 13.470400}

The adventure continues in Munich…
{transcribed 2/17/2020}