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The final port on our cruise itinerary was Warnemünde, just north of Rostock, Germany. While we could have chosen to tour Rostock or spend the day on the beach, the only excursion we really even considered was the tour to Berlin. We knew that it would be a long day on a bus, and that we wouldn't spend even close to enough time in Berlin to satisfy us, but this was the first opportunity we've had to experience the city, so we decided to get a little taste, even if it means we'll need to come back to explore more thoroughly.
Our drive to Berlin was all on the autobahn through farmland. We did see villages out away from the highway, and the landscape was dotted with dozens of wind turbines for most of the trip. This tour focused on the history of Germany since the Second World War, and our tour guide pointed out how we were driving through what had been East Germany for forty years, the Soviet sector of occupied Germany, and noted that during the Cold War, it would have been difficult for us to have visited this part of Germany.
When we reached Berlin, we stopped briefly at Alexanderplatz to pick up another guide who would show us around the city. Our tour began on the bus, as we drove through the historic city center, down the Unter den Linden past the Cathedral and the Humbolt University and on to the government center with the Reichstag and Chancellery, before we headed into the Tiergarten. Finally, we stopped at the Brandenburg Gate and got off the bus to see more of the city on foot. From the Brandenburg Gate, we walked through the Berlin Holocaust Memorial and stopped briefly at the site of Hitler's bunker, before visiting a remnant of the Berlin Wall. We made a stop at Checkpoint Charlie, which is a reproduction of the original US Army checkpoint at this location, created to satisfy the tourists, which means it is exactly as tacky as you would expect.
We finally made our way to the Berlin Concert House, where we reboarded our bus for the long drive back to Warnemünde and the ship. As we had expected, this was the merest appetizer of a taste of Berlin, leaving us hungry for more. Berlin struck us as a vibrant city, busily rebuilding itself. They are recreating many of the historic buildings that didn't survive World War II, and while only traces of the Berlin Wall itself remain, the winding path of the wall through the city is clearly marked with a double row of bricks laid into the pavement and sidewalks. We saw an incredible number of museums and performing arts venues, none of which we had time to visit. Berlin is definitely a place that we will need to visit again.
Our drive to Berlin was all on the autobahn through farmland. We did see villages out away from the highway, and the landscape was dotted with dozens of wind turbines for most of the trip. This tour focused on the history of Germany since the Second World War, and our tour guide pointed out how we were driving through what had been East Germany for forty years, the Soviet sector of occupied Germany, and noted that during the Cold War, it would have been difficult for us to have visited this part of Germany.
When we reached Berlin, we stopped briefly at Alexanderplatz to pick up another guide who would show us around the city. Our tour began on the bus, as we drove through the historic city center, down the Unter den Linden past the Cathedral and the Humbolt University and on to the government center with the Reichstag and Chancellery, before we headed into the Tiergarten. Finally, we stopped at the Brandenburg Gate and got off the bus to see more of the city on foot. From the Brandenburg Gate, we walked through the Berlin Holocaust Memorial and stopped briefly at the site of Hitler's bunker, before visiting a remnant of the Berlin Wall. We made a stop at Checkpoint Charlie, which is a reproduction of the original US Army checkpoint at this location, created to satisfy the tourists, which means it is exactly as tacky as you would expect.
We finally made our way to the Berlin Concert House, where we reboarded our bus for the long drive back to Warnemünde and the ship. As we had expected, this was the merest appetizer of a taste of Berlin, leaving us hungry for more. Berlin struck us as a vibrant city, busily rebuilding itself. They are recreating many of the historic buildings that didn't survive World War II, and while only traces of the Berlin Wall itself remain, the winding path of the wall through the city is clearly marked with a double row of bricks laid into the pavement and sidewalks. We saw an incredible number of museums and performing arts venues, none of which we had time to visit. Berlin is definitely a place that we will need to visit again.
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Date: 2017-06-19 07:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-19 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-06-19 10:19 pm (UTC)