It was a rainy day in Berlin, Germany on Thursday, October 4, 2013, and we were there to enjoy it to the fullest. Mom & Bob, Diana & Tom, Bryan & Erine, and I continued our trek-on-foot through the historic industrial city. As it was now 1pm and we had finished up at Potsdamer Platz without finding anything to eat, the first order of the afternoon was to nourish ourselves. It didn’t take us long at all to find a perfectly acceptable cafe with the unlikely name of Eleven. Diana & Tom treated us to lunch and I had the tasty Spaghetti Carbonara. There was also a bit of drama going on as one of the customers wiped dog poop from their shoes to the entrance mat and was called out on it in German. Eeps!
The elders enjoy the eats at Eleven. The restaurant, not the time.
Some swell spaghetti carbonara. I can taste it now.
The big water closet exit
Rainy day Berlin stroll
After lunch we continued our walk in the rain to the Dauerausstellung Topographie Des Terrors (better known to us as the Topography of Terror museum). Part of the museum is presented in the open air along a stretch of the Berlin Wall, which is the second largest stretch of the Wall currently standing (we did not visit the largest stretch known as the East Side Gallery). The rest of it – which is a newer addition – is located inside a building known as the ‘documentation center’ and contains informational displays regarding the buildings and institutions (which once lined the same street – Wilhelmstraße – on which the center is located) of the Third Reich, along with details of their crimes against humanity.
The fact that museum denouncing the Nazi government now stands on the site of their government buildings is the ultimate slap in the face. Admission is free to the museum – although we had to watch out for people asking us to sign petitions and then expecting donations as well. We spent a good hour browsing the fascinating information. In fact, by the time we got out of the documentation center, we really didn’t have much time to look at the information on the outside, so we pressed on…
Checking out the Topography of Terror documentation center
The hanging informational displays in the documentation center
What once was: here is Wilhelmstraße and the Nazi government buildings on the occasion of Hitler’s 50th birthday in 1939. My how the mighty have fallen…
The open air exhibits along a stretch of the Berlin Wall
All in all, he’s just another brick in the wall…
As we walked eastward along Niederkirchnerstraße (which became Zimmerstraße), we happened upon the Berlin Hi-Flyer. Although it doesn’t really have any historical significance, it is one of the largest helium balloons in the world and has become a trademark of Berlin. We didn’t partake in going up on it, but I was certainly happy to get a photo with it while it was on the ground.
The big balloon in Berlin. Boy!
We pressed on to Checkpoint Charlie just a few minutes’ walk away. This was the former location of the most well-known crossing point between East and West Berlin. The building that was standing there in 1990 at the time when the Berlin Wall was dismantled was removed and now sits in the Allied Museum (which we opted to not visit). Currently on the site is a reproduction of the original checkpoint shed, as well as a pair of actors who can be ‘hired’ top pose for photos with tourists. In fact, when I originally posed for a picture at Checkpoint Charlie, they hid their faces from the camera. Once I offered them a couple of Euros, they were more willing collaborators.
Checkpoint Charlie and his partners Greedy and Stingy McMoneygrubber
There was no way that I was going to leave Berlin without visiting the Rathaus Schöneberg, so that was our next stop. This building is the city hall of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg borough of Berlin, most far more important than that was the fact that it was where American President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech on June 26, 1963. We were able to get into the train station closest to Checkpoint Charlie, catch the train, and then switch to two more trains quite successfully – almost. In one case, we all rushed to catch a train that was getting ready to depart, and Diana almost missed getting inside the door. I saw her coming and was prepared to jump out if she didn’t make it, but at the last second she hightailed it and got in the door.
We arrived at the Innsbruker Platz station and then walked (still in the rain) to the Rathaus Schöneberg. A plaque now marks the location of the speech, although it is in German. We were able to go inside the building but there wasn’t much of historical value – at least of the American variety – inside. There is more coverage of this location in my John F. Kennedy posting located here.
Fulfilling my quest of visiting the Rathaus Schöneberg
Mom & Bob and the kind of plaque that after-dinner brushing will never resolve
Brad and Berlin Bear outside the Rathaus Schöneberg
Bob & Mom under the Rathaus Schöneberg. Note the location of the plaque above that square car.
When we had finished taking photos of the JFK site, we took another trio of trains to the Norbahnhof station. The station in itself was quite historic because it was located in East Berlin, while a north-south train that went through it made only stops in West Berlin. Therefore between the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and its demolition in 1990, the trains would go through this ‘ghost station’ without stopping. The border between East and West Germany ran right through the train station, so barriers were erected in the entrances to make sure that there was no passage between the two countries.
Indicating where the Berlin Wall actually ran through the train station in some form
But the station was not the real reason for our journey to this area. Within walking distance from the Norbahnhof was the Berlin Wall Documentation and Memorial Center. This is the third largest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. But it is only here where the visitor can see a reproduction of the ‘no man’s land’ that existed between the Berlin Wall and a smaller secondary wall or fence. This was created by East Germany so that a person who was trying to escape would have to pass through this area before even getting close to the Berlin Wall itself. Guards were posted in watchtowers, and many people were shot and killed trying to escape.
Unfortunately during out visit to this site, the rain really began to start coming down hard and we were forced to head back to the train station. We did not get to go up into the ‘watchtower’ to get an overview of the ‘no-man’s land’. If anything, the rain made it more solemn of a place, which also included a memorial to the 192 people who had been murdered by the guards.
Memorial to those killed trying to escape East Germany
Inside ‘no man’s land’ with a map of ‘no man’s land’
Another lengthy stretch of the Berlin Wall
It was about 5:15 when we made it back to the Nordbahnhof Station. There was only one major thing left on my list and it was a visit to the Victory Column, a large monument that dated back to 1873 to commemorate the victory of Prussia over Denmark. I won’t go into all the history except to note that a) it was featured prominently in the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire, and b) it had been moved from its location near the Reichstag to a spot that was both difficult to see and difficult to get to. Even once we took a pair of trains to the location, it required a good ten minute walk in the rain and cold to get to it.
The elders waited at a local bookstore/cafe while Bryan, Erine, and I walked to it. Time and weather and the absence of everyone in our party (who eventually got kicked out of the bookstore since it was closing and had to wait at the train station) stymied any notion of actually going up in it, so I was okay with just getting some photos to prove that I had made it there.
Victory at the Victory Column
The size might be deceiving
Soggy and cold, we loaded up and took the trains back to Pariser Platz. 45 minutes later we arrived, ready to eat again, at it was now approaching 7pm. We settled on a nearby restaurant called Alt-Berliner Wirtshaus (and got to see a German police officer scold a citizen for jaywalking). I thought the Zilles Grilled looked good, as it included a meatball, two grilled sausages, and a pork steak served on home-made pickled cabbage, sautéed potatoes with a small salad. Turns out it was not only good, but it looked like a meat-lovers dream. I’m surprised that Germans don’t have heart attacks every five minutes.
Our soggy crew gets fed a hearty meal
Truly they don’t get much heartier than this
You might recall that we were given a return time of 9pm to come back to the Reichstag and tour the dome, so that was where we headed after leaving the restaurant. Walking back though the Brandenburg Gate, which was now delightfully lighted, we got back to the Reichstag right at 8:30pm. We didn’t have to wait long at all before they took us through security (similar to an airport), and let us into the building. Security was tight and never allowed two doors to be open at the same time. In other words, we entered a foyer, the entrance door closed behind us, and then we entered the building through the next set of doors.
Night view of the Brandenburg Gate
Heading into the Reichstag on a rainy evening
We were given headphones and an audio device which would trigger each successive snippet of narration as we passed over hidden sensors on the ramp that took us to the top of the dome. Naturally, I was among the few that tried to start out by going up the ‘down’ ramp. Eventually I figured out what I was doing wrong and continued the winding trek to the top. I was mostly interested in finding photo opportunities, but due to the large amount of glass and mirrors, it wasn’t all that easy to find any. And it would have probably been nicer to get an overview of Berlin during the day rather than the night, but hey – we did it. We went up in the Reichstag Dome. It was done. In essence, Berlin was done.
Near the top of the dome
Bob & Mom and Germany behind them
Hans and Diana at the top of the Reichstag dome
Looking down into the government seats…literally
It’s all done with mirrors
Since Bryan and Erine hadn’t gotten passes to tour the dome, they had already left following dinner to go back to the hotel. The five of us headed that way after our tour and made it back around 10:45. I picked up a nice cool bottle of water near the train station closest to our hotel. That night Mom bunked in the room with Bryan & Erine and me, as we tried to arrange the best possible snoring combo. I was so tired that I didn’t hear a peep out of anyone.
Friday, October 5, was mostly set aside to be a driving day. We did all get up and paid a couple of Euros to have breakfast at the hotel. The place was an interesting one, being a combined hotel and hostel, and it was a place unlike any that I’d ever stayed. I snapped a few photos of it, just to remember it unusual-ness:
The lobby of Plus Berlin
The hallway to our room
The dining area where we had breakfast. Note the light fixtures featuring famous Germans, I reckon.
The Plus Berlin’s courtyard with metal ping-pong table
We were ready to hit the road a little before 10am, but naturally Bob could not be found anywhere. We waited in the lobby for a while with our luggage, and then finally loaded up the van. Eventually, as we all waited near the van, Mom located him and came out of the Plus Berlin with him in tow. It looked like this:
Mom escorts Bob to the van
It took a little over seven hours for the journey from Berlin to Trippstadt, during which time I mostly dozed and listened to my iPod. Oh, and I used one of the most disgusting rest area restrooms that I’ve ever seen. Apparently as clean as Germany is in other areas, they are exactly that dirty in their rest areas. We got back to Bryan & Erine’s house at around 5:30pm. Mom, Diana, Erine, and Tom went out looking to buy some candy, and Bryan and Bob went to pick up their dogs Merlin and Emma, plus added a friend’s dog named Blue. I stayed at the house and got caught up on Facebook and email. Eventually Bryan and Bob made it back, picked me up, and we met the others at the restaurant.
The evening dinner was at the Milano Restorante Pizzeria, where I continued my love affair with gorgonzola cheese and ordered the Pizza Gorgonzola and a glass of red wine. I couldn’t resist the Wiener Quarkstrudel mit Vanilla (ice cream) either. It was actually bit disappointing, but the pizza was so good that I was okay with the whole scenario. But I still don’t understand why every German isn’t hugely fat.
Another family dining experience back in Trippstadt
Wiener Quarkstrudel mit Vanilla. It looks better than it was.
When we got back to Bryan & Erine’s, I kicked back with the dogs in their comfy living room chair, had a couple glasses of wine, watched some Leno and Letterman and a movie in Spanish, while Diana looked through some of my old postings from my first trip to Germany, and then Mom commandeered my laptop for her own use.
Fascinating study of the reclining canine
Why does the guy who doesn’t want the dogs always get the dogs?
It had been a terrific road trip through Germany that had in all lasted almost seven days. It was full of family fun, historic sites, amazing food, adult beverages, Bill Cosby impersonations, Coleman jokes, and lots of laughs. Memorable quotes included “Look at this. Look at that.” and “Are we doing it?”
We were back in Trippstadt, but the vacation wasn’t over yet. We had one more full day to explore a little bit more of Germany.
The Germany trip will conclude in the next posting…
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