Berlin 16th, 17th & 18th July

16th July
We headed into the Reichstag, which is an imposing structure, but as the line to climb the dome was miles long, we decided to skip it. Roughly following Lonely Planet's walking tour took us to:-
*the historic Brandenburger Tor & Pariser Platz, boundary between East & West Germany & now surrounded by the major embassies.
*Unter Den Linden, Berlin's Champs Elysee, with its grand hotels and department stores, which sport their own art & futuristic attractions.
* the infamous Checkpoint Charlie.
* the Gendarmenmarkt, a beautiful if somewhat impersonal square, bounded by the opera house, Konzerthaus, & imposing German & French Huguenot churches. There was a great historical exhibit in the Deutscher Dom.
* Bebelplatz, where the Nazis burnt all the books, is also bounded by beautiful buildings and statues.
*Deutsches Historiches Museum, a large museum (they all are in Europe) with an extremely moving photographic display about the construction and fall of the wall, Napoleon's hat & sword, ancient armour & heaps more.
* Pergamon Museum, which contained outstanding displays from antiquity, most notably Ishtar's Gate, the Pergamon Altar & the Market Gate of Miletus. All of these exhibits are huge, detailed & awesome. The originals have been transported & reconstructed inside the museum.
* The Berliner Dom, Berlin's imposing Cathredal - but they wanted E7 p.p. for entry. After all the fabulous cathedrals we have seen throughout Europe for free, we weren't about to start paying to get into them. This area, situated right beside the Spree River, proved very expensive for any kind of refreshment as well.
A big but most interesting day.

17th July
Today, we all wanted to head straight for some of the more serious & contemporary historical sites in Berlin, so we headed for the Berliner Mauer War Memorial, which proved both fascinating & moving. Families ,streets, communities, clubs, neighbours, parishioners, cemeteries, you name it, split asunder in one fell stroke.

Next, we visited Potsdamer Platz, which we can totally recommend. We wandered around taking in the sites, before Rod & I bought ourselves a ride in a Tesla (my namesake), a very very fast & flash new electric sportscar - 0-100 kph in 3.9 secs. And we did this on the six lane road running up the middle of the Tiergarten. They wouldn't admit to having paid off the police, but I'm pretty suspicious. The racing car driver insisted he had to drive! Spoilsport! I love this car.

Meanwhile, Pat had chosen to ride the fastest elevator in the world to the Panorama Observation Deck to get the scenic view over Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz is a great spot for people-watching & just hanging about. There's lots of activity, new products on display & an Aussie pub cum cafe, which serves COLD beer and nice food, including kangaroo & crocodile if that's what you're into. We settled into the pub for a few beers, a good meal & a spell.

Reluctantly leaving a most enjoyable time at Potsdamer Platz, we headed towards town to visit the Holocaust Memorial. It is a labrynthine-like modern art memorial to the victims. After a security check, we toured the underground museum - a sad reminder of Berlin's troubled history.

While we were in the museum, a storm had developed, so we took shelter in a nearby cafe for a while, before heading out to the Ku'damm - an extensive shopping precinct, for a look around. On a foray the previous evening,Rod had discoverd this lively area with it's bombed out church, performance artists & market stalls.

Weariness had set in, so Pat & I jumped on a bus for a quick look at Charlottenburg Castle & headed home, via a very authentic Berlin beer garden at one end of the Tiergarten. Rod continued enjoying the Ku'damm area for a while longer.

18th July
By now, we had had a pretty good look at Berlin, so we headed into the city to check out some of the quainter quarters. First, we visited the jewish quarter, the Scheunviertel, with it's synagogues & cafes. Then, we headed past the staue of Marx & Engels to the Nikolaiviertel - which we thought was a bit of a tourist trap with its expensive cafes.

After lunch, Rod headed off to look at the largest building on the planet??? at the airport while Pat & I did a little shopping & headed back to the hostel.