Check Point Charlie

On Tuesday we took the train from Rotterdam to Berlin, a journey of about 7hrs. It was a beautiful sunny day, still cold but at least clear and non-gloomy. The scenery was farm lands most of the way, the train tracks are clearly built out of the main cities and traffic. 

We arrived at Berlin Hauptbahnhof which is the main train station in Berlin and made our way to the hotel close by. The interesting thing about the station is that it has solar panels which supplies 13% of its required energy. Exploring Berlin started on Wednesday with a visit to Check Point Charlie and the Check Point Charlie Museum. Check Point Charlie was one of three allied border crossing points between East and West Germany during the Cold War when Germany was divided. The other two check points were Alpha and Bravo. There is a lot of history in this area which the museum covers quite well. The photo's in the museum are quite moving and help to portray what it was like during that time. It is quite amazing how the wall came about in the first place and why people do these things to each other, it boggles my mind. There is so much history in Berlin and it is amazing how events chain react to cause the next all the way from before the First World War. Bron felt a bit cheated that it isn't the original Check Point building in the street or even the original sign. Those were removed when the wall was taken down and a token building and sign erected later. The original sign and piece of road with white markings denoting East and West is in the Check Point Charlie Museum. 

The next stop was to see the remains of the Berlin Wall and the Art on the Wall which was done since the fall of the wall. It is quite hard today to imagine the city divided but there is a row of two bricks all along where the wall used to be as a reminder and about three places in the city where sections of wall still stand. Sometimes I believe that forgetting is a better to way to move forward as a united people but I guess remembrance is a way to ensure it doesn't happen again, bit of a catch 22. 

After the wall we made it to the Brandenburg Gate in time for sunset. There was some kind of protest going on about the situation in Egypt and Bron was not impressed when Justin just carried on walking like a real tourist with his camera! We went back to the gate twice after that and preferred it without the protesters! It was quite nice to see the gate at different times of the day. After Brandenburg Gate we wandered on to the Reichstag or Bundestag. We wanted to go into the dome of the Reichstag but apparently you have to book 7 days in advance which we didn't know. But at least we saw it from the outside. After a short walk in the Tiergarten or park we headed out for a yummy traditional German dinner complete with sauerkraut and spaetzl! In Berlin we also saw the airlift memorial, the Soviet war memorial and the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. 

On Thursday we took the train to Potsdam and walked around Park Sanssouci. Meaning 'without worries' or 'care free', the park has many palaces and a church from the time of the Prussian kings. It was really pretty walking around but also very cold! The pond near the church was half frozen over and we felt sorry for the swans, although they are quite strong and managed to break the ice to get to some food. Our favourite saying in Berlin was 'it must be really pretty in summer!'. And crowded with tourists.

Thursday night was our last night in Berlin and on Friday we took the train to Prague, a trip of about 4hrs 40min. Today we have had a great day exploring Prague but more about that next time!

Have a kewl weekend!

x

 Bron at Check Point Charlie 

Check Point Charlie 

A Trabant, the mode of transport in East Germany 

Bridge over the river Spree

Bridge over the river Spree

Berlin wall art 

  

Brandenburg Gate 

Tiergarten

 Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

TV Tower

Park Sanssouci 

Yummy traditional German fare

The Berlin Bear, the symbol of Berlin