Europe Trip 2011 #12: Checkpoint Charlie and Museum

It's drizzling today with occasional rain, which is actually a big relief! The cloud and drizzle has kept the temperature down to 21 degrees as of about 2pm - almost 10 degrees cooler than previous days! Yay for rain! :-)

I had intended to take today fairly easy anyway as I had been rushing around a lot the past few days, and I'm supposed to be on holiday, and therefore taking it easy :-) Yeah right! Today I have been to Checkpoint Charlie and to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Checkpoint Charlie is around 5 minutes walk from my hotel, so very close and convenient.

It is a bit "fake" in a sense [for example, there used to be a huge checkpoint here with 8 or 10 lanes in and out], and the poeple in US uniforms are genuine, original German actors :-) However, it's a good place to visit, in fact, one of the "must see" attractions. Around the area there are large areas of fences with information in several languages about the historical significance and happenings not only at this location, but also other places where the wall stood.

Similarly in the museum there are large number of exhibits and information displays about many of the awful, and brave things that occurred while the wall was up. There are many stories of escapes, and attempted escapes, as well as displays of artefacts from the era, from both side of the wall. Moving and very interesting. I didn't get a lot of pictures from inside the museum itself - there were very few cameras out and I didn't want to be that tourist looking for pictures but not taking anything in.

Anyway, on to a few pictures. firstly, 2 pictures of the checkpoint.

Next is a piece of the wall. note the post next to it. It says DEUTCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK [German Democratic Republic]. Democratic? Yeah right :-(

Next up is the outside of the museum, followed by two photos from inside. Click on the one with the picture of Stalin - it shows what people think of him these days! The odd contraption that follows is a home made aircraft [looks like a weight-shift trike] which was used in a successful escape. The caption beside it read as follows:

The first self-built escape aircraft until now. Manufactured components were only a Trabant car motor tank and wheels, all other parts, even the propeller were self-made. 100km/ 4. Aug. 84

Last photo is a bit different. It was raining hard for a few minutes after I got out of the museum... so hard that it even [temporarily] got between me and a tasty rostbratworst sausage... My stomach won eventually though :-)

Europe Trip # 11: The Berlin Wall and a river

It wouldn't be a trip to Berlin without seeing some of the last remnants of the wall [or die Mauer as the locals refer to it]. On one hand it's hard to believe that that people would deliberately cut themselves off from others in such a way, but then, I guess Governments continue to do this today, with or without the physical barriers.

Following this are a couple of photos of a river on the way home from the Deutsches Technikmuseum.

Europe Trip # 10: Visit to the Deutsches Technikmuseum

Today's big trip [well, ok, a 30 minute walk in each direction] was a visit to the Deutsches Technikmuseum, or German Museum of Technology. I had read their website before goin and was really looking forward to seeing many of the aviation exhibits [which will be covered in my other blog, www.flying.geek.nz]. I was however very surprised to see a large number of other worthwhile exhibits, covering trains, buses, some cars, photography, cinematography, computing, shipping and more. I didn't get a lot of photos of these other exhibits [far too interested in the planes!].

A big surprise was that for weekends [or is it just Sundays?] in September, they are running their own 10 minute vintage train ride to another site which houses a large number of trains, buses, cars, even a tank! This was included in the cheap EUR6 entry fee, so an extremely reasonable day out. Actually, this would have to be in the running for "Rodney's World Travels And Other Grandiose Stuff Value For Money Award 2011" :-)

A further big surprise was the Enigma machine. Anyway, here are a few photos. If I run out of things to do in Berlin [unlikely I might add], then I might just head back for another look. Well worth a visit if you're a train spotter [I'm NOT one!] :-)

Europe Trip #9: Welcome to Berlin - Fernsehturm

The final adventure for today was a visit to the Fernsehturm or TV Tower. I saw this as I went around the Hop On, Hop Off bus, and this was one of the places I hopped off. The viewing platform is 203 meters up, and the lifts take 40 seconds at up to 6 meters/ second [around a 1000' per minute if my maths is correct?].

On purchasing a ticket, you are given an estimated entry period consisting of a 10 minute timeframe - in my case, around an hour after ticket purchase - and if you miss the allocated time, then tough bikkies.

Despite a little bit of haze in the area, I still gor a great view around the city, and wow, it's big! Following are 4 pictures - the first of the tower itself, the second and third are general photos. The fourth shows the Brandenburg Tor and Siegessäule [blue and red arrows respectively]. Keep in mind that the distance between those arrows is almost 3kms!


As you can tell, it has been a busy first day! Tomorrow I hope to walk to the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin [German Museum of Technology Berlin]. It should be about a 25 minute walk and it contains several sections, including an aviation section which I am particularly looking forward to.

Europe Trip #8: Welcome to Berlin - Tiergarten

Tiergarten is a huge bush/ park area in the middle of Berlin. I think the name translates something like "zoo", and yes, there's one of those hidden in there somewhere. I really only saw a little bit down a couple of edges as I walked from the Brundenburg Tor to Siegessäule and back - a distance of roughly 3km each way in a straight line, so probably just over 6km [total] since I walked through the park area rather than straight down the road. Did I mention it felt like a heatwave?? I was sure glad that I had some shelter from the sun!


Anyway, it's a nice walk through a really nice part of Berlin. The grounds have a number of statues and monuments scattered around - not all of them look like they are being maintained, but strangely, that doesn't feel out of place considering the "untouched" bush in many places. Apparently in summer, Tiergarten can attract 100,000+ visitors trying to get some rest or shade. They'd probably all fit in very easily!


Anyway, here are the photos.

Europe Trip #7: Welcome to Berlin - Siegessäule

After visiting the Brandenburg Tor and doing a scenic bus trip [which included a visit to the TV tower - coming up soon], some idiot [I was by myself... :-)] decided that despite the mini-heatwave, that today was a good day to walk half the length of the Tiergarten [next post] to visit the Siegessäule, or Victory Column. This monument was built to commemorate Prussian victories against France, Denmark and Austria. If I heard the commentary on the bus correctly, there's just over 1kg of gold on there... might be worth visiting one evening? Maybe not!

The first photo shows the monument, the second highlights the detail on the lower landing, and the third picture... well, that's one of the entrances to the walkway under the road to the monument! Even their subway entrances are flash over here! :-)

Europe Trip #6: Welcome to Berlin - Brandenburger Tor

Part of my "day 1" sightseeing was to go to Brandenburger Tor [Brandenburg Gate]. To say that it is impressive would be an understatement. I know that Europe is full of these old buildings and monuments, but this would be one of the more recognisable.

Take a look at the sky - it is blue. Very blue. It was also very hot! I was dressed in my nice new jeans and a shirt that I sister made me buy in London [yeah, Rochelle has more taste than me!], and as I struggled back to my hotel several hours later, I noticed that the temperature gauge was up to 28 deg! Ouch! I rested for a couple of hours in my [non air conditioned but still slightly cooler] hotel room, thinking it would cool down a bit. At 5pm when I went out for dinner, it was 30 deg!! At least it had cooled down somewhat by around 7:30, when it was down to 29 deg :-( Shorts, sandals and t-shirt for me tomorrow!

Anyway, I'll let the pictures do the talking. The first 2 are different views of the gate, the last as I crossed StraBe des 17. Juni while walking back from the Siegessäule [Victory Column].

Europe Trip #5: Welcome to Berlin - Hop on hop off bus

Well, I'm in Berlin now. I've never been here before, but I've been told lots of good stories , so I have been looking forward to it.

I'm in a little hotel called Hotel Kubrat, which is right in the middle of everything, just inside what would have been the eastern side of the Berlin Wall. It is 5 minutes walk from "Checkpoint Charlie" and 10-15 minutes from the Brandenburg Tor [Gate], so really central. More on the hotel in a later post [if I remember] though.

Today's sightseeing consisted of a walk to Brandenburg Tor, followed by a sightseeing trip on the "Hop On Hop Off" bus [EUR15] which was a chance to see the lie of the land so to speak and scout out a couple of other areas to go and see. The following pictures are from that tour. Sorry, I don't have descriptions for all of them, although the first one is part of the Bundestag [German Parliament], the second is the official residence of the German President [although I understand he does not live there], the third is part of the Berlin Wall that has been left up [not sure what part of the city that was], followed by some river we crossed, then the Berlin University and a museum. The last picture is of my hotel, but as I mentioned before, more on that later.

The remaining sightseeing will be covered in the next few posts [BTW - if anyone wants to correct any of the info above, please leave me a comment!].

Europe Trip 2011 #4: Shopping and St Pauls Cathedral

After a lazy start to the day, I ended up shopping with my sister. Apparently [none of you would believe this], I don't have enough style sense to purchase jeans and shirts for myself! Good news however, we went to the local Gap store, and after trying on EVERY pair of jeans and ALMOST every shirt, I came away with some clothing that passes the "sister style test".

The good news is that it was then time for Rochelle [my sister, not the met-guru-flying-instructor] to have a look in a store, so I got to babysit for a few minutes outside with Ferne, who, as could be expected, behaved for her uncle impeccably! :-)

Following this we split up for the day and I ended up doing a bit more sight seeing, including St Pauls Cathedral. What an awesome place this is! It would be hard enough designing and building something like this today, much less several hundred years ago! the "tourist's ticket" [permitting entry to the tower and the crypt] is a tad expensive, but the views around London are great. Here's hoping it doesn't get crowded out by skyscrapers!

Anyway, here are a few photos. Two from the outside and two from the very top of the tower/ dome looking down on the river. BTW - the red arrow in the second picture was where I took the last two pictures from. Nothing but an old iron fence and a thin walkway to stop you from falling! Awesome!

Europe Trip 2011 #3: London Sightseeing

Today was a day of sightseeing. I caught up with Simon L [around the world to catch up with someone who lives about 700kms north of me!] and we had a bit of the look around. This started with a trip on the London Eye, followed by a walk around town, including stopping outside Downing St to see the Prime Minister's residence... well, ok "see" is a bit optimistic - view from a distance past the gate and the heavily armed police!

Eventually we hopped on the DLR and went out to Greenwich. After some lunch we had a look around the National Maritime Museum, then up to the observatory. Eventually we walked down to the Thames and on the walkway under the Thames to the other side. Being a bit lazy, we took the DLR back across the Thames, then got a ferry back down to the Tower of London, then I got the tube back home.

A very busy day! Anyway, the photos are as follows:

The London Eye
View of Parliament from the London Eye
10 Downing St
New Zealand House
The DLR on the way to Greenwich
View from the Observatory
East vs West - the Greenwich Meridian