Last day in Berlin (Wednesday 6th September 2017)

Today we slept in, accidentally. The cleaner had closed the window yesterday so we weren't woken by the morning traffic as we had been in previous days. Anyway, the extra sleep didn’t hurt a bit. I wrote a couple of emails still chasing Kerry’s lost bag then we headed out for a late breakfast. It was raining this morning but still not cold – about 17C. Still no need for a jacket or jumper.

 

Breakfast was once again a coffee and croissant at the place we stopped at yesterday. This time we sat inside. Yesterday the cafe had these fantastic paintings of well-known, but “troubled”, rock stars from over the last few decades. Even Aussie Nick Cave scored a guernsey. But today they were gone. What shame!

A bit further down we dropped into girls fashion store so Kerry could finish off her wardrobe. The girls there were so helpful and understanding of Kerry’s plight. I’m especially grateful to one of the girls who was understanding of my plight – and bought me a stool to sit on! We took the gear back to the apartment and then headed for Alexanderplatz to catch the bus to the airport. For the princely sum of EUR 2.80 we took and interesting ride through the lesser known parts of Berlin. At the airport we followed up on our inquiries about the bag, thinking a face to face conversation might help. It didn’t. However, the girl we spoke to offered a small ray of hope saying that, “Your bag maybe amongst those” pointing to dozens of trolleys full of “lost” baggage. Astounding! Of course we weren’t allowed to go and search for it ourselves. I gave the supervisor the address of our next hotel in Prague, even though I’d already done that in the morning email I had written. By the way, I’ll never again think that Melbourne Airport is behind the times as an International airport. I have never seen such a dodgy airport as Tegel, Berlin. It’s a very shabby, very grubby, cobbled together airport if ever I’ve seen one. Nothing a good bulldozer wouldn’t fix. Well, as it turns out, that’s what would have happened already but for the delays in the construction of the new airport at Brandenburg.

We caught the bus back towards Alexanderplatz but in a whim jumped off at Turmstraße U-bahn station on Alt-Moabit. There we found a Turkish bakery where we bought a coffee and some sweet delicacies. Good decision, as shortly after we sat down the heavens opened up. While we enjoyed our afternoon tea we watched the rain come down quite heavily. It eased off after 15 minutes we headed off on foot in the direction of the bus. It was very enjoyable walking in the drizzling rain through a neighborhood that would see too many tourists. Buses kept flying by, not stopping even though we were occasionally art a bus stop. Eventually we made it to Hauptbahnhof – literally, the Main Train Station - where the buses had to stop, so jumped back on there and rode into Alexanderplatz.

I’ll just divert for a moment to make this observation. There is construction or re-construction everywhere in Berlin. Everywhere one’s gaze turns there is a crane to be seen. Many old buildings are being restored to their former glory of the 19^th century. Lots of empty lots with new buildings going up. I reckon Berlin will be getting close to its former glory in 10-15 years. It’ll be great to see then. Also, if you’re in Berlin and can catch a tram, the network is very extensive, then you must be in East Berlin because there aren’t any trams in West Berlin. I was a little apprehensive when I booked the apartment in Mitte, East Berlin but I’d come straight here again next time without hesitation. It’s a bit gritty, full of life, served by great public transport (including trams), bars, cafes, little boutiques, parks busy streets and quiet lanes everywhere. There’s lots of young people everywhere and children and babies too. It feels very safe.

Back at Alexanderplatz we went back to Primarck to return some items and bought a new suitcase for Kerry. This one is bright aqua so nobody will be able to say that they didn’t see it!! It cost just EUR 45 too. Which reminds me, as the Lonely Planet says, Berlin is not an expensive city to live in. For example, tonight’s dinner, two large Turkish pides covered in Turkish salami, tomatoes, mozzarella cost just EUR 3.00ea. From our corner grocery store we bought a 0.5 litre beer, a 0.7 litre mineral water, 250gm raspberries, 250gm blackberries, and an orange for less than EUR 10.00.

Kerry had a hankering for frozen yoghurt so we didn’t make it past the shop next to the grocery store. Sehr gut!! We bunged the pides into the oven to warm them up while we re-packed our bags ready for our train journey to Prague tomorrow morning. Berlin‘s been great, despite the troubles with the bag. Highly recommended!

Off the tourist track (Tuesday 5th September 2017)

We stopped on our way to Alexanderplatz in a coffee shop in Weinmeisterstrasse for a coffee and croissant, enjoying the warm sun. It’s still just tee-shirt weather but all the locals a mostly wearing jackets. If you’re ever planning to visit Berlin then Mitte is the place to stay. It’s in East Berlin right in the centre of everything. Loads of shops of all sorts, cafes, bars, trams, parks and friendly locals.

Everything is so casual and relaxed in Berlin. People don’t get stressed or angry at others. They don’t smile too much but that’s OK just go along with the “live and let live” vibe and you’ll be OK. I even bought a little “I Love Berlin” badge for my Renault cap today. So it’s official, I’m converted, in spite of the bad start.

Yesterday we had bought a two-day sightseeing bus ticket so today we jumped in the bus that goes to the lesser known parts of Berlin, off the well-beaten tourist track. We went out into the the ‘burbs – if you could call it that – to get a sense of where the real Berliners live and work. We spent about an hour on the bus and then jumped off at what is known as the Eastside Gallery. It’s the famous section of The Wall down by the River Spree (I didn’t know Berlin had a river until yesterday) which has been subject to much graffiti, street art and murals. The focus of everyone’s attention is the mural entitled My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love which depicts Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a fraternal embrace reproducing a photograph that captured the moment in 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic.

From there we walked to the Warschauer Strasse station and caught the S-bahn (overground) train to Frederich Strasse station. From there, via a bratwurst seller, to the Memorial of the Murdered Jews.

This time the exhibition was open. It’s a free exhibition with just a donation on the way out if you choose. It’s a story that we’re all too familiar with. Generally speaking the Berliners make no bones about their city’s past. After all, one would be foolish to deny that all those atrocities between the rise of the Nazi Party to the re-unification of Germany ever happened. I do wonder how the psyche of the 21^st century Berliner is different to that of a forbear from 100 years ago. A lot, I’d say, and for the good too. They have been witness to so many lives being snuffed out or torn apart for no good reason that it’s not a wonder their current day egalitarian view of life in the community they live in has prevailed.

After the Memorial we got our hiking boots on and headed down the famous boulevard Unter den Linden back to Alexanderplatz. One the way we stopped at the Protestant church St. Marienkirche for a moment of quiet reflection and to view the famous Dance of Death fresco painted in 1485.

Our mission at Alexanderplatz was to visit the department store Primarck (sort of like a Germany Target) to get some new clothes for Kerry. We spent some time there and a manged to put together the makings of a wardrobe that will suffice for the trip.

We strolled home, had a drink at our hotel while we again watched all the workers head home, bought some fresh fruit from our corner Asian grocery store and headed for Rosenthaller Platz for a pizza and beer. A gelati as we walked home toped off a great day.

The “Big Tic” tour (Monday 4th September 2017)

Today we awoke relatively early – about 7:00am. Overnight our Travel Agent had found out the Emirates reckoned they could track the bag to Berlin. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. If it did make it to Berlin then where did it go? I contacted our new South African friend and she has heard nothing at all, not even an “interim” email. That’s a bad thing.

After a coffee and a croissant downstairs before we headed back to Alexanderplatz to jump on the hop-on/hop-off tourist sight-seeing bus. As we sat outside on our little street, Gormannstrasse, we witnessed the Berlin Monday morning peak-hour rush….. of bicycles!! Every man and his dog (literally) ride or ride on bicycles. Men in suits, young girls off to work, mother and fathers with babies and young children in tow all heading somewhere important to them. The courtesy, respect and consideration amongst riders, walkers and drivers is something to behold. If only our world could be modeled on that it’s be a way better place.

The tourist bus is a good way to get one’s bearings in a foreign city and, as the title of this blog entry suggests, tick off some “must-see” items. BTW, “Big Tic” is their spelling, not mine. We did a complete lap which took about 2 hrs. “Must-sees” included the Brandenberg Gate, The Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and Portsdamer Platz. We headed back to the Brandenberg gate on the bus and then alighted to do most of the rest of the day on foot. It seems the Reichstag is by invitation only (ie: you’ve gotta book) so we’ll try to get back there in the next two days. The Holocaust memorial was not far away so we visited that. The associated exhibition is closed on Monday’s (of course) so we’ll try that one again too. Checkpoint Charlie was novel – a little wooden box in the middle of busy Friedrickstrasse – with actors dressed up as Americans and Soviets.

It’s funny, but those places were just places we’d heard of, and now seen, until we visited the former site of the infamous Gestapo and SS headquarters later in the day. An extensive memorial called the “Topography of Terror” has been created there on Niederkirchnerstrasse, formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. Part of the Berlin wall can be found there which, in itself, is worth the visit but the real history is in the exhibition centre and the remnants of the once famous hotel that the Nazis commandeered in the 1930s from which they ran their terrible programs. The very large permanent exhibition relates the history of all aspects of the Gestapo’s reign of terror upon the German citizens of that time. We spent a long time there as there was so much to absorb. The photographs and words, none of which I’d send or heard before, shed a very different light on some of the places we’d visited earlier in the day. Don’t miss it if you’re in Berlin.

The yellow tourist bas came along so we jumped on and got back to Alexanderplatz. There we found a bar with deck-chairs for the patrons so we stopped for a drink and enjoyed the late afternoon light and activities in the square.

A 20 minute walk along the now familiar route to our apartment, dodging the evening bicycle peak along the way, ended a very good day. I’m really warming to Berlin.

A quick look around Mitte (Sunday 3rd September 2017)

After a much needed long sleep we surfaced from our apartment at about 3pm, still very physically tired from the travel and emotionally tired from the lost luggage dramas. From the time we arose in Maiden Gully to the time we got to lie down in Berlin we had spent just shy of 48hrs traveling. It's all a great experience but tiring nonetheless.

A coffee in the bar of the accommodation house was the first order of the day. Next we headed towards Alexanderplatz which was no more that an easy 20 minute walk away. It's Sunday so many families are out and about. We spent some time sitting at the fountain watching the world go by and then continued to wander around the area, grabbing a light bite to eat in the station. Searching for tourist information bureau we found a small one in the nearby Park Land hotel, picked up a Berlin map (the Spanish one, Doh!) and then asked about the Berlin sightseeing buses we'd seen trundling past all afternoon. The girl who sold us the Spanish map didn't want to give too much away about the bus services so we went and spoke directly with a very helpful bus driver instead.

The architecture in this part of Berlin is very "Socialist". Not surprising really when you consider the city was flattened by the Allies at the end of WWII and there were millions of people looking for a home. No time or money to waste building attractive buildings. Indeed there are many abandoned buildings that might have been torn down along with the Wall in the eighties but they still remain, perhaps as monuments to the bad old days of Soviet rule. I can only imagine Berlin was a much nicer city before 1945.

From there we strolled back by a different route to out apartment, had a drink under the awning out the front while watching the rain come down and the people go by (Kerry was wrapped up in one of the bar-provided blankets as it was cooling down a bit), strolled back to Rosentalerplaz, had a kebab and beer and then came back home and crashed out like light again.

Dubai to Berlin (Saturday 2nd September 2017)

As you can imagine nothing much happened in Dubai. Somehow we managed to see off four hours and then boarded to plane to Düsseldorf. After about six hours flying time we arrived at our destination. Thankfully the flight path we took skirted Syria (but only just). Somewhat to our surprise, the Customs check was actually in Düsseldorf.

We got through there very quickly and then tried to figure out what to do next. No advice from the Customs official was forthcoming. There were rows upon rows of baggage carousels but we didn’t need to got there so as our bags were booked through all the way to Berlin. After a lot of tooing and froing we finally found a helpful airport work who explained that we needed to follow the thin green line on the ground to get to our connecting flight. There was not a single sign hanging from the ceiling where most people will look for advice. Anyway we made it to our gate with lots of time to spare. The flight to Berlin was only about 45 minutes. Kerry got some more sleep and I had another listen to the new Midweek Blues record.

Berlin airport has signs hanging from the ceiling directing passengers with connecting flights – not much good to us as we’d reached our final destination. The baggage carousel spung into life and after a long wait two of our three pieces of checked luggage appeared. We waited and waited for the third piece but it didn’t materialise. Kerry’s suitcase was lost!! She was not the only one, but that provided little comfort. Eventually an official told us there were no more bags coming and advise that we go to the Lost & Found section to report it missing. BTW, no advice was forthcoming about what to do or where to go. Just work it out for yourself!

It was bedlam in the L&F hall. Completely shambolic. There is a self-service registration app that runs on an iPad. There were just two working iPads in the place. One chap who spoke English and one who didn’t were on hand to “help” the weary travelers. Because we’re non-EU we had to also complete a Customs declaration form in paper. On the form I need to quote my registration number. “Where do I find that?”, I asked the English speaking assistant. “It’s in the email the app sent you”. I didn’t even bother to ask how they expected me to get to my email from there. Luckily I had my computer with me, so I could. Colette from South Africa didn’t so I lent her my computer when I’d finished. What a debacle. So far the fabled German efficiency and organisation is a myth. We wait inn hope that Kerry’s bag turns up.

A twenty-five minute taxi ride later we arrived at our accommodation for the next five nights – Karlito Apartmenthaus in Mitte, on the old East Berlin side. We found an Italian place down at the nearby Rosentaler Platz, had a drink and something to eat and then collapsed into bed.

Bendigo to Dubai (Friday 1st September 2017)

It’s Wattle Day in Australia and our backyard and all the bush around Maiden Gully is blooming magnificently with the green and gold of our national flower. It is a wonderful sight this year, much better than I recall from recent years. Perhaps due to the good rains over winter or the many frosts we’ve had.

This morning we woke to minus one in Bendigo (probably minus 3 in Maiden Gully) but the sky was clear and the sun warm. A great day for traveling. We’ve decided to go the whole way under our own steam, despite the kind offer from our neighbors, John and Margaret, to drive us to the station. So just after 8:00am we made our final checks, locked up the house and wheeled our bags down to the bus stop on Pioneer Dve. A brief detour down Bath Lane to the travel agent was required. She rang up in a panic yesterday afternoon because she had forgotten to hand our formal travel documents to us. It was never a drama for us as we knew our booking number for the flights and we’d received all the car hire documentation from Renault Eurodrive months ago. Everything else for the trip we have organised ourselves and is under control. Booking the car through the travel agent was a good move as it saved us a couple of hundred dollars compared to what it might have been if I’d done it myself. A Bendigo Bank staff discount essentially.

Another bus up to the Bendigo station saw us on the platform in plenty of time for the 10:37am train to Southern Cross. Our 2017 European Adventure is underway!

As a side note, Emily has arrived safely in Paris, having left two weeks ago. She spent the first week in a hostel (St. Christoper’s) in the Montmatre district and then moved into a studio apartment in the 13th arrondisiment. She’s sharing the apartment with a young man from Lima, Peru. Ricardo Amaya Anaya is also studying law at Sciences Po for the same semester as Emily. We’ve been in regular contact with her via WhatApp. Just as she’s done since she left home after Year 12 she calls us every second night. How good is that! Free phone calls from the other side of the world – all we both need is a wi-fi connection.

We’re slowly making our way down to Melbourne where we’ll catch to SkyBus to Tullamarine. We’ll be in plenty of time to catch EK405 at 18:00 to Singapore and then Dubai.

As I write we’ve just left the Australian continent. We’re traveled 2333 miles with 1522 miles to go. We’ll be in Singapore just before midnight. The flight left just a couple of minutes after 18:00, unlike last time when it was an hour late getting into the air. The seats we reserved (for a fee) are great – Row 51, only a dozen seats from the front of the aircraft. We reserved two seats in the middle section at the back of a small cluster between two bulkheads. There is no row behind us and only ourselves to climb over of we need to get out. There are no seats to our left, just the emergency exit and the hostie’s seats. Dinner was very nice, washed down with a couple of glasses of French red wine. These days all Emirates A380-800 flights have on-board Wi-FI. The first 20MB lasts for two hours and is free. After that you can pay. Nevertheless, it is just mind-blowing to think that I can sit here, 38,000ft in the air above outback Australia and talk to my family and friends on WhatsApp, send and receive emails and browse the web. How far things have come since our first trip to Europe in 1986 when it was astounding that we could see a flight information.

I took the time to watch a moviie called “A United Kingdom” which tells the story of how Botswana was freed from British colonialism to become an independent, democratic republic. Thankfully, like Australia, it was achieved without bloodshed. Kerry watched the highly-regarded Australian movie “Lion” about the “orphaned” Indian boy adopted by Nicole Kidman and Peter Wenham who went I search of his real family. Both movies are based on a true story and are excellent viewing.

There was a 1hr40min wait in Singapore for the continuance of our flight to Dubai so we for a bar and had a beer and a lime and soda. It was 2:30am in Melbourne (about 00:30am in Singapore). We both got some sleep on the next leg, arriving in Dubai at 04:30am. Now we’re got 4 hours to kill until the third leg leave. Time for a coffee!

2017 has finally come so we're on the road again!

It's been four long years since we came home from our last adventure during the European summer of 2013.

Emily had a brief sojourn in Hong Kong helping to organise and run a conference for lawyers in the Asia-Pacific region. I've been to Las Vegas and Orlando for work conferences but Kerry hasn't had the chance to leave our shores.

In  mid-August Emily is heading off to Paris to complete her post-graduate Law degree at the prestigious Sciences Po university. She'll be there until December 21 and then she'll tour around Europe and perhaps parts of the USA. At this stage she's planning to spend Christmas in New York with her old Brunswick house-mates Claire Sonnet and James Bruest or in London with some friends from St. Mary's College. Either way, she'll be back home for my birthday in February.

On September 1st Kerry and I will be boarding an Emirates flight bound for Dubai and Dusseldorf and our next European Adventure will be underway!! We'll get a connecting flight to Berlin - our first stop on our seven week journey.

We'll be visiting Berlin, Prague, Frankfurt, the mid-Rhine and Mosel, the Black Forest region in southern Germany, through Switzerland to the French Alps, across central France to the Perigord and the Dordogne, a quick detour to Britanny and then up to Paris where we'll catch-up with Emily (which will be fabulous). Then it's a fast train to Florence and Rome and finally back home.

Stay tuned for a day by day description of all the highlights of the trip!!