His was a very exciting trip for us, not only were we going to see Karl in Brighton (where he is currently studying for his MA), but we were also going to take our first holiday as a family in ages – and who know when, and if, that will happen again.
Norbert and I landed at Heathrow on Sunday morning June12. The flight was not too bad – considering it was a non stop from LA to London, it felt pretty short. Perhaps the good food and entertainments helped. Kevin came in on the same morning from New York, and after a while we found each other. Then we picked up the car (Mazda 6 diesel Turbo) from Practical Rental and set off – in the wrong direction!
Norbert HAD loaded a GPS program, which was not bad – but we made the mistake of sometimes ignoring it. Also N drove so fast that often times we overshot the roads we should have taken. Also the roads in the UK are a bit weird – the roads that look like little alleys, (or, in the country, small leafy lanes) are, in fact, major roads that one should have taken. Anyway, we drove straight into London and got a little lost there, but at last extricated ourselves and set off on the M4, & M25 towards Brighton.
We found Karl’s apartment way before we found our Hotel – even though the plan had been to do the opposite. We parked at the railway station and walked down to the apartment. The University of Sussex holds some great real estate…Karl’s apartment, which he shares with 5 other international graduate students) is right on the seafront on Kings Road, overlooking the Brighton Pier. The apartment is clean and neat – 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a small living room, kitchen, and dining area. The bedrooms are of a good size and all overlook the seafront. We met some of Karl’s flat mates who all seem very charming. Christian was very delighted with the laptop computer we had lugged over for him and presented Norbert with a bottle of sherry that we were to drink over the next few evenings when we would assemble in Karl’s room last thing before facing the walk back to the Abbey Hotel. The other Christian is also very charming and hails from Texas.
Brighton is a charming little city, windy, and rather hilly. Kevin stayed with Karl in the apartment and Norbert and I had booked a room in the Abbey Hotel. Brighton seems to be made of 2 cities melding together – Brighton and Hove. Our hotel was down the King’s Road toward Hove, and then up a few steep hills. We had a grand view of the city from our room. The first day we parked on the street, but later we were lucky enough to get parking in the courtyard of a house that seemed to have some arrangement with the hotel. It was quite an ordeal to park, however, as one had to open the combination lock and reset it each time, and the driveway was pretty narrow – but it was bliss having a space!
The first evening Karl took us to a pub near him to have a traditional Sunday roast dinner. I had roast lamb and mint – delicious.
The Abbey Hotel was amazing – an old building being renovated into a hotel – none of its drawbacks and “quaintnessess” were apparent on the Web when I made the reservation. First the staff seemed a little bemused that they had patrons at all. Then the lift was so Tiny only 2 persons could fit into it t a time. We only got our cases up by dint of putting them on our heads! The room was large with a bed and kitchenette. Shower and loo were over the passage and shared with the other rooms in our wing. Our room, despite having large windows was usually hot, and the loo was wonderfully cool. Once the shower went out of commission, but N talked to them about that.
On Monday morning Karl showed us around the “Lanes” and area of old streets and shops near his apartments. It is very quaint. We had lunch at a pub nearby - one of the many pubs we would become very familiar with over the next few days. Karl also showed us the new Brighton library.
Later we toured the Brighton Pavilion. Also known as the ’Royal Pavilion’, Brighton Pavilion was built in 1784 and bought for the Prince Regent, George IV – tho’ it was quite small. Between 1815 and 1821 the Pavilion was rebuilt under the direction of the architect John Nash who employed a mixture of classical and Indian styles which have been labelled ’Hindoo-Gothic’. It was a great tour by a young French student. Later we walked onto the Brighton Pier – the matching Pier has been destroyed by fire and awaits rebuilding. The Pier was great and we had found a biltong seller straight off! I was very impressed at how clean the sea was while we were there. It was a lovely blue, and the beach was pebbles. I am very sad that I never got around to picking a few pebbles as mementoes, as I wanted. The houses and streets also seem to have taken advantage of all these pebbles for building. Under the esplanade road, lining the beach, are all manner of little shops, pubs, museums, and galleries, lining the beach. We had a beer on the beach, and visited the Maritime Museum. These little “shops” are deep and have rounded roofs – very picturesque. We had dinner at a nice Italian place near Karl – we shared pizzas and drank wine.
It is also amazing how late it remains light. I had forgotten that. It is light early, and stays light till about 10:30pm. Makes the day lovely and long, and one can pack a lot in. Although the shops seem to close earlier…especially the “useful” shops like the grocer and supermarkets. We found that in Germany as well. Anyway, Norbert and I usually got up early, grabbed a few things for breakfast (eggs, bread…) and walked down to Karl’s, and WAITED to be admitted in the vestibule…and had breakfast at the flat…then we would set off on the day’s adventure.
Tuesday we set off to explore the neighbouring town and castle of Arundel. It was so lovely. We toured the castle, which is still home to the Dukes of Norfolk, and set in 40 acres of lovely grounds. Modern royalty and ancient (like Queen Victoria) have stayed here. Parts of the castle have been in existence for almost 1,000 years – from the 11th century and it has been the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk and their ancestors for over 850 years. From the 15th to the 17th centuries the Howards were at the forefront of English history, from the Wars of the Roses, through the Tudor period to the Civil War. Among the famous members of the Howard family are the 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524), the victor of Flodden, Lord Howard of Effingham, who with Sir Francis Drake repelled the Armada in 1588, the Earl of Surrey, the Tudor poet and courtier, and the 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554), uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom became wives of King Henry VIII (1491-1547).From the tower one can see the River Arun winding its way across the plains to the sea. It reminded me very much of scenes from Tolkein. The Motte (hill) overlooking the dry moat was covered in small with flowers like stars. The older parts are interesting, and include a dungeon, but it is wonderful to wander through the “livable” parts of the caste and see the carvings and furnishings. They have a marvelous library, and a collection of weaponry including one huge sword.
After the castle we looked around the Fitzalan chapel and gardens, then walked into the town. We stopped for a beer , and walked down to the river where some swans were playing at resisting the tides. There were some great antiques stores…but I did not go in as I would have been so tempted.
We had a late, great curry dinner in OUR area of town – we all got something different and a bit of sharing went on. It was really delcious. There was a bit of resistance from Karl – but he was satisfied when he saw how diverse the offerings on the menu were. Finished off, as usual, with a visit to ANOTHER pub for beers, ales, bitters, stout…
This morning, Wednesday, we decided to go to London for the day. The night before we had devised a plan to drive as close as one could and park at the most outlying tube station and get the tube into London. Our hotel concierge quite obviously thought this the most daft idea he had ever heard. We were hoping he would know which was the most outlying tube stop… Despite his heavy disapproval we decided to go ahead with the plan and got onto the M25….the traffic can be awful, as it was that morning, even though we left pretty early. Then we found a likely town and drove round and round looking for parking (very bad) and eventually lucked on a parking area which stayed open till 10pm. Then another hour on the tube. After one or two changes we emerged at Kensington and immediately fell into a Starbucks to fortify ourselves after our ordeal. Then Kevin showed us his old digs when he did his semester abroad in London. Very nice area indeed. Then we walked past the nearby Albert Hall, and Royal Academy of Music into Kensington Park. It is a large park and after admiring the statue of Prince Albert we got a little lost, but that was part of the fun. We found the Peter Pan statue that I wanted to see
And tried to find the new Princess Diana fountain, but only half-heartedly, and were content to merely find pretty guide stones that were really no aid at all in finding the real thing as other tourists later asked us where the fountain was, so they could not find it either, despite the markers. We ended up at Kensington Palace and looked at the gardens and gift shops, but did not go inside. We then bought lunch from one of the many sandwich shops in the area (rather delicious rolls actually) and went back to the park to rest and eat. Then we took the tube to the embankment and looked at the Millennium eye and visited the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms opposite St. James Park which are part of the basement of what is now the Treasury. The War Rooms were constructed in 1938 and were heavily used by Churchill during WWII. However, the Cabinet War Rooms were abandoned not long after the war. One can seethe Cabinet Room itself, where Churchill's War Cabinet met. The Map Room is located nearby, from where the course of the war was directed. It is still in much the same condition as when it was abandoned, with the original maps still on the walls and telephones lining the desks. Churchill slept in a small bedroom nearby. There was some interesting interactive stuff and electronic displays as well. After that we walked up past Nelson’s Column and South Africa House to Covent Garden and browsed the shops. Norbert and I bought a talking alarm clock to help us get up early on Friday – we have been sleeping very well and we need to be up for that plane on Friday! It was dinner time now, and we went to a bar that John had introduced Kevin to when they met for lunch one day.- the Bok Bar – a South African pub. On the way there I was struck by how the Brits stand around at outdoor pubs having their after-work pint…drinking in the street is not countenanced in the more puritan USA. The Bok bar is pretty interesting – an underground establishment, also a half round building, like a tube station tunnel. The bar is upfront, then further back there is seating and a small kitchen where they make South African delicacies - we all had the Boerewors roll special, with chips, that came with beers… The boerewors was great but they slathered the rolls with chutney, which I could have done without. Norbert and I got the feeling that the place is only really popular with expat South Africans and Rhodesians/Zimbabweans and the like – but we had a good time. Then back on the tube for the long ride back to the car.
Thursday saw us waking down to Karl’s again in the early morning – must be 2 miles, not too bad in the morning as it is downhill, but the evenings can be tough – Brighton is really steep. We went for a lateish cream tea breakfast. Karl and Kevin had English breakfasts while Norbert and I had the tea and scones. We staggered out to the car and into the WORST traffic yet. The plan was to go to Eton and then the nearby town of Windsor and then end up at John Gibbs house for a BBQ. But it was such slow going that we only got to the area we were interested in at about 2. Then, as we were turning across a lane to turn right, Norbert had an accident with another car that crashed into our right front side. It was a little Chinese lady. A real international accident. I took pictures of the car damage (hers and ours) while Norbert spoke to her. I also called the Car Rental people to see what we should do. The lads wandered off to the nearest pub and subdued the worst of their shock with a few quick beers! She insisted on waiting for her husband to arrive and help her through the intricacies and so it was around 3 when we made it to Eton – a charming little town, and we parked and took a walk up the high street where there are many antique shops, and tailors that outfit the Eton boys. We managed to get into the last Eton College tour of the day. I found it very interesting. Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. The College originally had 70 King’s Scholars or ‘Collegers’ who lived in the College and were educated free, and a small number of ‘Oppidans’ who lived in the town of Eton and paid for their education. Today it is a ‘high school’ for boys between the ages of 13 and 18, all of whom are boarders. The lady who took us on the tour was the proud mother of 3 sons who had all attended Eton College, and one was a Master there now. It was very amusing. We even got to sit in one of the classrooms. By then it was high time to get over to John’s as we were past the time we had arranged to be there. We had to sadly abandon the idea of Windsor. Luckily all these little towns are really close together, and we only got a little lost.We found Engelfield Green eventually. A cute row of identical little houses. Very picturesque indeed. John and Vicki were waiting to greet us. The house was exactly as I had imagined from the few photos I had seen, and fro Mom’s description. John and Vicki live there bow while Irene and John are in other corners of the globe. There is a lounge (with snake), kitchen/dining area, a large “sunroom”, then upstairs a bathroom with a large whirlpool tub, a tiny boxroom, and a spare bedroom that John and Vicki have turned into a cosy den. Vicki says this is where they spend most of their time, and they have the computer and tv here. They also have two cats. The made a delightful BBQ for us and we had a great time with them. When we got home we saw the fog was coming in strong from off the Channel and we took some moody shots. We checked out, and got our normal coffee from the vending machine and negotiated the treacherous lift. We also set our talking alarm to go off at 4 in the morning as tomorrow we must be at the car rental place to hand back the car ( and get the accident issue sorted out) at 6 am , and then onto the airport for our flight at 9.
Friday saw us up at the crack of dawn – the talking alarm clock works very well. We drove down to Karl’s and loaded their cases, plus the case of books we are taking home for Karl. We got to the Practical Car rental by 5:50, pretty good going as we were early enough to beat most of the traffic. They were supposed to open at 6, but the fool only showed up at 6:20 (he blamed the traffic). He took the news of the accident in his stride, but said that we would lose our $500 deductible. Then the bus to Heathrow and a welcome breakfast. The airports there are very strange, not telling you (or being very late to tell you) which gate you are leaving from. Very annoying. The flight to Berlin was uneventful, and took about 2 hours. There seems to be a 1 hour time difference. We landed at Tegel airport and collected the car. The man helped Norbert load the GPS into the car. This was an extra expense that we opted for as we were not too confident in our own maps. In England our home loaded maps were VERY helpful, but often seemed to favour odd and time wasting little roads. I am very glad we opted for the local system, as I think it was the best program I have yet encountered. It was never wrong and very quick. We got on the road for Bremervorde and made good time on the exciting autobahn despite lots of reported roadworks and some heavy traffic. Norbert even got to drive at 150 mph which delighted him. We got an Open Vectra. We stopped once for a late lunch at on roadside restaurant. We immediately had to get used to the system of paying someone a few pennies to use the restrooms – very annoying system. The fact that one could get a beer any, and everywhere, did much to soothe the boys feelings. The lads had their first bratwurst. We got to Bremervorder, and Onkel Wilfried and Tante Dorte in time for supper. After supper we chatted - and Onkel Wilfried aired some old family history. Then a good nights sleep. Karl and Kevin were in Jen’s old room, where they stayed 15 years ago when we were here last. Norbert and I were in Berta’s old room. This part of the house looks to have been recently remodeled. Everything is so clean and pretty – and they have a super huge bath. We have a lovely view of the gorgeous trees and rooftops from our window.
After breakfast on Saturday Onkel Wilfried took us on a walk through Bremervorde, where we were lucky enough to cath the annual Shutzenfest parade. This is a parade of all the local shooting clubs in the areas, with their own uniforms and banners. There were some bands and it was a pretty sight. I also stopped in at a chemist as I have developed a bit of a cold. Then we went on to the cemetery to visit the graves of Mom and Dad. We took flowers. The family gossip is that Dad’s side of the family does not keep up the graves as they should. Anyway, they looked better with our flowers there. Onkel Wilfried also showed us they other family members graves. In the afternoon there was a big family gatering for us. Jens and his wife and their two adorable children were there, and Berta came a little later. Jens is a chemist, as is his wife, though she is home right now with the young children. Berta sells pharmaceuticals. We had a lunch of asparagus. I had never seen such huge yellow asparagus in my life. Then we all sat in the lovely garden and chatted and played with the kids. We took some nice family shots. It was great to connect with the family again.
After Sunday breakfast we took leave of our kind hosts. It is not to be a long farewell however for Wilfried and Dorte will be in LA in September and will be visiting us there. Got to Berlin without a hitch and found the Hotel Griefswald , in the older ex-East Berlin sector without too much trouble. The hardest part was finding the entrance. Then we discovered that in this part of the world everything is courtyards! So the entrance was like a small garage looking entry – or wide pathway (it was a narrow squeeze for the car – probably designed for the more leisurely time of horse and carriage). Once inside there was a largish courtyard for gardens - or parking. The Hotel is old and charming, and lots of semi famous bands and musicians and entertainers stay here – it seems to be close to lots of clubs and so on. We had booked an apartment and the very nice young manager took us upstairs. (Three flights – no lifts – this is how Europeans stay fit and trim) However, the last tenant’s baggage was still there, so he offered us free coffee and cake while they cleaned the room. The apartment consisted of a large sitting/dining room – which had 2 beds for K & K, a large bedroom, and a kitchen and bathroom. It had very high ceilings and incredibly thick walls, and I loved it. It felt like an old European apartment from Paris or something. Very evocative of another age. After putting our luggage away we explored a bit of the district on foot. This is a charming area, not too much rebuilding has gone on here, so the area retains a lot of its old world charm. There was a very ornate water tower which we admired, lots of clubs – including a punk club right next door to our hotel. Lots of restaurants and beer gardens – including the oldest beer garden in Berlin, which we made our first stop. It is obviously used as a concert venue as well, for it is very large and has a raised stage at one end, lots of trees, very restful and a great place to spend a few convivial hours. I think we tried 2 beer gardens before we settled on a lovely outdoor restaurant for dinner. We are having so much fun with the camera, and Karl, especially loves using it to take experimental shots. Kevin and I took a walk later looking for some coffee, we also bought some champagne to drink one night.
After a delicious breakfast, we used the bus/tram system(H Bahn) and U Bahn, joining forces with a young German lass from Munich, and made our way to the Kufurstendamm area. Here we got on a city bus tour and determined to go around once non-stop, have lunch, then get on again and get off at the interesting sights. The tour took about 2 hours and was very interesting, especially seeing where the old Wall had, overnight (August 13, 1961), divided the city in two. The Berlin Wall, an infamous symbol of the Cold War, was about 96miles, with a height of about 12 ft. The Wall went through about 4 iterations. The Wall was opened by the East Germans in 1989, then torn down in 1990, when Communism collapsed. Some lengths of the wall have been kept as reminders – but because people kept digging away at it for souvenirs, these bits have been encased now in Perspex. There is also a monument of crosses to those who died trying to cross the Wall to the freedom of the West. We also passed the famous KaDeWe store, the Reichstag, Humbolt University, the airplanes that were used during the Berlin Airlift, the Sony building... For lunch we went to the famous Café Kranzler. Before the war it was one of the great cafes of Europe, with poets and writes hanging out there, after the war many KBG and CIA agents and spies would be found there. Not much is left of the original Cafe Kranzler which was founded 175 years ago, and became one of the city's finest cafes and went on to become a major tourist attraction in its own right. It used to have a sidewalk area, and 450 seats, but now only occupies a much smaller space in the new development. It still offers wonderful views over the famous shopping street of Kufurstendamm. We were lucky enough to get a seat outside on the upstairs terrace. The boys had a sandwich for lunch, and Norbert and I sampled the cakes which were nice, but not earthshattering. We are so warm as Berlin seems to be having a heatwave – unless this is their normal Summer weather. After lunch we got back on the bus and got off at sights like Checkpoint Charlie, where I took some pics of the lads at the checkpoint. The city of Berlin, after the war, was divided into American British French and Russian sectors with several crossing points like Checkpoint Charlie There also used to be a big tower here, but that has been removed.There were some enterprising people dressed up as American and Russian soldiers taking pictures with tourists. We saw bits of the wall that have been decorated by local artists, and other reminders of the area’s Soviet past.We next disembarked at the Brandenburger Tor , or Branderburger Gate- the unification point of the two parts of Berlin, Frederick the Great's 1791 symbol of Prussian imperial splendour. It is a Romanesque triumphal arch, which is always flooded with tourists, including us. The Tor was designed by Carl Gotthard. The quadriga of victory crowning the gate was built in 1793 by Johann Gottfried Schadow. Originally it was a symbol of peace. During Berlin's occupation by France in 1806 Napoleon ordered the quadriga to be taken to Paris. After the Battle of Waterloo, the quadriga was triumphantly taken back to Berlin, and it was turned into a symbol of victory. Situated at the end of Unter den Linden, the 60m tall gate was part of a wall surrounding the city and was the main entrance to the city. It is the only gate that remains of this former city wall. At this time there was also an exhibit on the huge plaza showing what the Tor looked like at the end of the war – after the bombings. We walked down the famous Unter der Linden. Unter der Linden, the fashionable avenue of aristocratic old Berlin, extends from the Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz, once the heart of socialist East Germany. We walked to the nearby Sony building to have a look around – very dramatic play of light from the architecture. The building’s outside has been built to echo Mt Fuji, and the shape is supposed to be lucky and tranquil. Our last stop of the day was the lovely Schloß Charlottenburg, on the northwest corner of the city, which is supposedly the best example of royal Prussian architecture in Berlin, also amazingly well restored from severe war bomb damage. The Castle was closed – our luck to pick the “wrong” day – but we walked around the formal French style grounds and relaxed then cought the bus back and took the U/S Bahn back to Alexanderplatz. On the train we met a Chinese lady with her 2 small children. Her husband was an academic at one of the Universities. We had a nice chat with them on the journey. Back home and the search for supper and refreshment – beer - was on, and we found another great local place. This area is great for pavement restaurants. All over the city, too, one sees Bears (the city symbol) all decorated by local artists. After dinner we found a great “heavy metal” bar, for a late beer, and watched some soccer.
Tuesday morning we walked up the Ku’damm a while and Norbert used an Internet café where he discovered that his department at Toyota was going to be rearranged! And then we explored Ka-De-We (Kaufhaus De Westes), Europe's largest departmental store with a food hall that is truly amazing – sort of like Harrods. On the way we sidetracked a little to the Hard Rock Café – Berlin, for a beer, and for Kevin to buy a shotglass there for a friend who collects shotglasses from the Hark Rock cafes around the world. Once at KaDeWe we split up to look around, then all met on the 6th floor – the food hall to choose items for a picnic lunch. We got rolls, and cheeses and hams, wines and beers. It was hilarious – we had no bottle opener – and we spent many fruitless minutes looking for a penknife with attachments – so eventually the kids and Norbert found the area selling bottle openers at ridiculous prices) and we used the demo opener to surreptitiously open our wine. I was supposed to keep lookout, and, according to the rest of the family, I did a terrible job, with my nervous moaning and peering about. We decided to walk to the Tiergarten Park to eat lunch – this is when Karl staged a near rebellion as he was tired of walking. I was fine – tho I must say we DID walk a lot and I had developed a HUGE blister on my toe. Anyway, he heroically battled on and we collapsed at the first leafy corner of the Park we came to. Berlin is a very green city – a quarter of the city is given over to parks – it makes it great for strolling – and useful too – after the war, when there were dreadful food shortages, the people used the parks to grow vegetables, and so survived. We had a delightful picnic, and the family fell asleep (all that walking) Karl was outraged/amazed to see that we had chosen to sit in a spot much favoured by nudists. We spied one doing cartwheels behind a bush, another got off his bicycle near us, spead a towel, shucked off his shorts and tanned a while than left… Amazing…still, the weather was very warm… We later walked to the Reichstag, and got inside, but were told that the new glass dome area was shut for renovations. Very annoying. Still we went up, security was tight and I had to surrender my picnic knife and retrieve it afterwards. We all had to squeeze into a lift, about 30 at a time, at regular intervals. Got some nice pictures of the lovely views of the city. Designed by Paul Wallot, the Reichstag was built between 1884 and 1894, mainly using wartime reparation money from France. The famous inscription 'Dem Deutschen Volke' (To the German People) was only added in 1916. After the unification it was decided to move the government workings from Bonn back to Berlin. This decision led to new reconstruction which started in 1995 and was completed in 1999. The design by Sir Norman Foster added a glass dome with double helix stairway over the plenary hall. The dome has become one of the city's most recognized landmarks, and once the building was “wrapped” by the artist, Christo. We went back to Alexanderplatz, and went up the Fernsetum (TV tower), the most visible landmark of the city. After enjoying a beer, and wonderful views. We decided to have dinner there at the famous revolving restaurant. There was a crowd, but it was worth the wait. We enjoyed the revolutions, tho I did find it disconcerting at first. We (like many other people) put a penny on the windowsill, and timed how long it took to come around – 1 hour. Alexanderplatz is very well known, especially since the Fassbinder film “Berlin, Alexanderplatz” - At the beginning of the 19th century, the Alexander-platz was one of the busiest squares in the city. Originally it was called the Ochsenmarkt or oxen market, but after a visit by Tzar Alexander I it was renamed Alexanderplatz. As the center of the former East-Berlin, the square was used as a showcase of socialist architecture. This resulted in some plain bulky buildings and a huge television tower.The TV tower, known as the Fernsehturm or the Tele-spargel (toothpick) is one of the largest structures in Europe. The total length to the top of the spire is 365m or 1197 ft. It was built in 1969 by a team of architects with the help of Swedish experts – thank goodness there was a lift!
I was really looking forward to finding the “flea market” area described in one of the guide books. Sadly my guidebook was a little out of date and when we got to the rail station where the market was reported to be, we could not find it, nor did anyone seem to have heard of it. Eventually we discovered that it DID exist, but now as a more respectable antique market, and we looked around. The lads were a bit bored, but Norbert and I were fascinated. Things were pricey, but there was some gorgeous stuff. Eventually we bought an antique pen holder. We walked past the Humboldt University where Einstein, Max Plank, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, Engels, Heine and Bismark – to name a few - had been students. It is the oldest university in Berlin, founded in 1810. It has had several names, We stopped at the book sale that was going on in the University courtyard. Norbert and I bought an old map of the city, featuring East Berlin. While part of East Berlin, the University was strictly controlled y the Communists and the Free Universty of Berlin was developed in West Berlin as a counterpoint to the Humboldt University. Very interesting. Just a little way down the road is the famous square Bebelplatz aka Opernplatz, where Nazi book burnings took place, and there is a view into an underground area showing empty bookshelves symbolizing all the knowledge and ideas lost and suppressed. We got some wursts and beer at an imbuss and picnicked on the square in front of the Dom for lunch. Karl took a solo tour of the Dom, we were too tired and contented ourselves with a look in the cathedral gift shop where we bought a great map of Berlin. Kevin just slept in the square. The Berliner Dom/Cathedral was built in 1905, and is located on the historic Museum Island on the River Spree. There is a famous organ inside and great views from the roof. Karl took the pictures. We noticed outside an old sign belonging to the Dom that was riddled with bullet holes from the war. There are many such reminders, and the city has been amazingly restored. Museum Insel has many museums, but we chose to focus on the Pergamon Museum. This internationally renowned ancient history museum contains several fantastic artifacts, including the huge Altar of Zeus and the famous Ishtar Gate from Babylon. They provided earsets for a self tour, but I found them hot and itchy so just wandered about reading the inscriptions that I could. There are several smaller museums within the Pergamon. On getting home we just ate at the Chinese restaurant next to the hotel, which had incredibly cheap beers. The “Hells Angels” also came to town, and some are staying at our Hotel. We left Karl and Kevin enjoying cheap beer and we went to the nearby bar/laundry (what a great idea!) to wash our clothes. While we were there there was a huge storm. Back in the hotel we drank our champagne as it is our last night here, and we have had a lovely time.
Next morning, after our usual great breakfast we checked out, and packed the car – sticky from some berries or something that have been dropping onto it from the trees. We then navigated our way to our other hotel in another part of Berlin – actually at the other end of the Kufurstendamm. This hotel is called Propeller Island, and the interior is the work of German artist Lars Stroschen. As it is a highly unusual place – one is “living in a work of art”, it also has highly unusual practices, and so we had to arrive early to make sure someone was there to check us in. Earlier, off the web, we had chosen the “Upside down” room, as it had 4 beds and a private bath. We look forward to trying other rooms in the future. Frankly, the room looks better on the web and in the pics than in real life, and the art is not as comfortable to live in as a real hotel – but having said that we had a lot of fun, and I would recommend it highly. The rooms “real” furniture was hidden in the floor, seats and beds (which were perfectly comfortable) and the hotel furniture was all on the ceiling. It looked amazing and really altered ones perspective. Even the view from the windows was upside down. Karl had a lot of fun posing us for very inventive photographs. There was an area for breakfast decorated with plants and wonderful nature photography, and the manager cooked us delicious breakfasts the two mornings we were there. We were also lucky in that there was plenty of parking down that end of town. We also found a supermarket nearby where we stocked up on chocolates, and Karl found a bicycling jacket, and Norbert some useful swimming briefs. Later, we walked back to KaDeWe via the Internet café at Adenauer Platz, as we also wanted to buy souvenirs for home. We split up after that and arranged to meet back home. Norbert and I wanted to look at the the ruined tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, left standing, and not renovated, as a reminder of the destruction from World War II bombing raids of 1943. I looked at the “Cross of Nails”. A new church (rather ugly) was built next to it during the period 1957 to 1963 using a lot of blue glass – it looks a little better from the inside where the blue light is rather pretty. For dinner we went to a steakhouse on the Kufurstendamm – great fun.
Friday was our last day in Berlin and we decided to go and explore outside the city. We went to see the summer castle of Friedrich the Great - SanSouci – meaning No Worries/No Sorrows, built around 1747. It is at the town of Potsdam, on the Havel river, a very short trip from Berlin. The palace grounds are immense - but it certainly is beautiful and well-maintained. We saw the working windmill, walked around the low one-story palace, and walked in the grounds – also in the French style. We drove a little through the neat city of Potsdam where the Potsdam Conference took place after the war following the surrender of Germany. We decided to spend the hot afternoon at the Wannsee lake beach. We could not find it at first and had to lunch at a lovely beer garden as we were rather puckish. We asked while we were there, and found we were very close – just another mile or two down the road. There seem to be a lot of medical institutes on the Lake – among them the famous Aspen Institute. It is an area with a lot of Nazi history, and beauty. Norbert remembers coming here once with his family when he was a lad, and it was interesting to sit in the same beach loungers that I remembered from the old photographs of his boyhood. The beach buildings are rather run down now, looking quite gloomy in fact, but the beach was very popular on this hot day. The lake is pretty clear and calm, and has a wide shallow edge before dipping down into deeper waters. They also have lots of boating and slides and entertainments. We had a lovely afternoon there. That night we had a great dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant on the Ku’damm, with many rounds of beer – a brilliant end to a fantastic holiday. Berlin is definitely a city I would love to visit again.
Saturday, up early, dropped the car at Tegel airport, and we all parted. Kevin had a different flight to Frankfurt, then home to New York. Karl parted from us at Heathrow to go home to Brighton, and Norbert and I carried on the Los Angeles – where, I am glad to relate – all was well.