Monday 4 September 2017

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.

5 comments:

  1. Berlin and Germany are on our "to do" list so glad you are enjoying it, apart from the airport experiences. No mention yet of Kerry's suitcase turning up.

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  2. I think I'll add Berlin to my list. It sounds so interesting. I hope Kerry gets her bag soon!

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  3. What a very full day you had. Interesting historical places.

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  4. What a very full day you had. Interesting historical places.

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  5. Just finished reading you blog Greg and Kerry, it was throughly enjoyable and quite fascinating. Very envious, come home safely and I can hear all about it - Mum

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