29/7/24 Hamburg

 

     Yesterday ( Sunday ) , we travelled to Hamburg by train again - we are enjoying the train , it's an easy affordable way to get around . We packed and got to the subway , then to Berlin HBF , finding our platform and waiting for our train to arrive - the other confusing part of this station is when trains arrive from one direction , you expect them to continue that direction - not here , they come in one way and go back out the way it came in ???? The electronic boards tell you which carriages you can go on - 1st class , 2nd class , how many carriages and their location on the platform . We jumped into our carriage and grabbed some seats , and ended up at the back of the train , then we left the platform we became the front of the train . 

 I forgot our story from the trip to Berlin , so here it is - our seats were booked , but they were 2 window seats , one behind the other - not what we wanted . A younger couple came and sat beside Lyn , she told them we had these seats booked and they suggested we sit together , then they could also sit together , so we obliged . After a while on the train we started to find out about all these young long haired girls wearing uniforms and laughing and chatting the trip away . They are the German Rhythmic Gymnasts on their way to Berlin training camp before the olympics . They weren't going to the opening ceremony , but would be there for the closing , as their events weren't on till the 2nd week . One girl in front of us was stripping tape & decorations from one of her hoops ( there was at least half a dozen in her hoop bag ) . She stripped all the old tape off , before starting to redecorate it with shiny gold , red , orange & yellow tapes . She was cutting tapes in half , then meticulously cutting patterns into others , then applying them to the hoop , before putting a clear layer over the top of it all . It was fascinating watching her do it all - when I say all , it took her all the trip to decorate nearly half of one hoop - that's 5 hours !! All the rest of the girls ate , played and did each others hair into plaits & braids - things they have to do for each other prior to competing daily . It made for an entertaining trip seeing their characters come out .

   Back to our trip to Hamburg , we arrived early , dropped our bags off and headed down to the one supermarket that was open on a Sunday at Hamburg - the airport !! Best part , we went back to the bus stop , jumping onto the next bus and took it 3 stops and we were there . Shopping done , we headed back on the next bus and walked back to the apartment . We'd booked this apartment because we needed another room to accomodate Justin & Isla who were arriving this afternoon . The apartment was enormous - it was in a large building that looked like a small factory . We were on the 2nd floor , so that meant lugging the bags up 4 flights of stairs . There were a couple of businesses operating out of the lower floor and apartments ?? above - think it may have been all for small businesses , but didn't sell , so someone decided to turn it into living spaces - they needed to go back to design school , there was lot's of wasted space , but it gave Isla some room to run around !

  Finally , we're off into Hamburg , Movie Golf was the first stop - an indoor mini golf setup with lighting and movie themes throughout , a fun time was had . We had to sit and have some lunch - quite handy that outside Movie Golf was a playground and some grass to sit on with some trees for shade .

   From here we wandered across to a canal , following it around past many apartment buildings and some old warehouses .

    The bricklayers did a great job with all the retaining walls , making patterns in the brickwork , taking the blandness out of a blank wall .

   

    This building is the Elbphilharmonie , an extraordinary building that houses one of the largest and most acoustically advanced concert halls in the world . It looks quite amazing , has hotel accomodation & bars and you can do tours through it . You can see people on the open walkways below all the windows .

   We found some fish as well - more clever brickwork - as well as some of the old loading cranes on the docks .

   Another view of the Elbphilharmonie 

    Opposite Elphi is an old house that is being used as a police station . The water is  green & brown , definitely not dipping a toe in there !

   That was the day , we headed back on the train & bus . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=13tYmao9ApsunU7Hd0K286wJW07BW_jg&usp=sharing

27/7/24 Checkpoint Charlie , Brandenburg Gate ,Berlin HBF

 

    Today we head into Berlin to have a look at something that moved the world - Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall . We picked the best day to be out & about yesterday , today however, is looking to be wet. We took the subway to the checkpoint and walked down the street , the original building at the entrance through the wall has gone , and is in the Allied Museum . This one is a replica - it didn't have a quiet moment while we were there , people snapping photo's all the time - even in the pouring rain .       

  Checkpoint Charlie marked the start of the American sector in Berlin , the other side was East Germany , with heavy communist control . Residents on the east side weren't allowed to go through to the west , and many people died in attempts to cross over , after being shot or injured in the attempt .  

 There's an outdoor museum on the opposite corner which we looked at , it had 2 sections of the wall . On top of that was a steel pipe - put on so that escapees couldn't get a grip on the top to climb over .

     The atmosphere created by the displays was quite moving . We decided to go 500m down the street to check out more sections of the wall that were on display . There were some strange people wandering the opposite direction , but we carried on finding the wall sections at the end of a large square . Some pieces were lying down , some upright . Each section was 3.6m high ; 1.2m wide and weighed 2.75tons per segment . Each one cost 831.50 East German Marks .

    We headed back up to Checkpoint Charlie as the weather was looking like it was about to pour rain . We made it back up and went into McD's for a toilet stop , just as the rain really started coming down . We sat it out until the restaurant got a bit busy , then moved out to a covered section just up the street . Back to the subway when the rain eased and up to Brandenburgh Gate - the one in the city . There were crowds of people as we made our way up , there were gates & barricades up and police , but we kept going and approached one of the police . He told us we couldn't get access into the gate as it's closed for an event , Pride Parade apparently - that explained the odd outfits we'd been seeing !! This was as close as we could get .

    Back to the subway and to my least favourite train station , rain was starting to clear , so we headed outside into the square . This is the outside of the Berlin Train Station .

    Here's some of the inside the S platforms were down below , the U platforms were up & to the right and the other outside platforms were up again and to the left . There's lot's of shopping in here as well .

    Outside in the square is an appropriate building - the Cube Berlin .

    Across from the square is the Spree River , the Berlin TV Tower could also be seen .

    The path we followed took us down to the parliament building . There's a glass dome at the back , apparently you can get in there and walk around in it . We didn't , the concert area wasn't far away , we could see the barricades again , and the police presence was certainly there as well, so we headed back to the apartment .

    Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1lNyPdpKEf4rKBZL8a-nzXsUVnRt3FRE&usp=sharing

26/7/24 Schloss Sansouci

 

     Today , another palace - Schloss Sansouci . This one is further out than yesterday , usually you need an extra pass to go into the C zone of the transport area , but our Berlin Pass covers this . So it's off to Potsdam by train , then a bus around to the palace . It's a short walk up a hill to the palace entrance , the walls of the outer building were interesting with seemingly loose rocks used for the lower wall .

     Further up , through the gates is an information map . The green area on the map marks out the palace grounds - one huge area .We are at the entrance , where the 2 areas of white are - people have worn the paint off .

    This is to the side fo the palace , looking at one end .

    There are 2 of these gazebo's , one each end .

     The palace in our opinion , is not very pretty , this side looks out over the vinyards & ponds & fountains below . The roof and walls are decorated with statues - not something that grabs us at all .

     At the front entrance there are 2 covered walkways , very grand with tall roman columns .

    Between the 2 covered walkways is a viewpoint over a fountain ( one of about 80 here ) up toward more ruins .

    This is the side looking down over the vineyard , with some of the forementioned statues on the walls - looks like they need a lot of TLC on the palace .

    Here's the view down to the main pond and fountain , grape vines line the edge of each level .

     Below the grapes are glass doors covering up fig trees , grape vines in between .

     Just one of the many marble statues with fountain .

     The grounds have their own windmill as well , used to mill produce .

     More walkways with views to the new palace .

     This is looking back up to the palace , the grounds definitely better to look at .

      Gardens are very well looked after with flowering plants lining the pathways .

    This is definitely the easy way to trim hedges , especially when there's kilometres of them .

    There's a church on the palace grounds , when you've got this much money you can do this . The inside is plain compared with others we've seen , but still interesting .

     From the church , we wandered down to Luisen Platz and to Brandenburg Gate - there is more than one Brandenburg Gate in Berlin , there have been 18 of them . This one in Potsdam is 18 years older than the one in Berlin .

     It lines up perfectly with a church spire in the distance .

     Back into a bus before the rain took hold , we made it back to the apartment without getting wet - bonus !! Day done , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1OdA-NdV3qGEOk2VGcLQasK3DwX86JEg&usp=sharing

25/7/24 Zitadelle Spandau Berlin

 

    Yesterday was travel day , from Stuttgart to Berlin - a 5&1/2 hr train trip . We did the smart thing and booked seats on this one . Turned out that was a clever move , as people were sitting in the aisles for the whole trip . You had to dodge them whenever you needed to go to the toilet . 

   Arriving in Berlin was okay , then we got out of the train into the biggest and most confusing station we've come across on this trip . There were multiple levels and arrows pointing in all directions , some with U some with S . They also had numbered platforms but not individually - there's an S1 and a U1 etc etc etc , so it gets very confusing when you're looking for platform 6 , but it's U not S . We went to the information desk , he gave us directions and a printout of where needed to go , change etc . Over to tickets and got a Berlin Pass which covered all our travel for the next 4 days , then headed for our apartment . 

   It was 6pm and we had no food , so walked down the street and found a restaurant , where we got a really nice meal for a reasonable price . Next , it was across to an Aldi supermarket to stock up , and make our way home . We walked past a parkland area that was once an airstrip , it now has huge trees and gardens , and is very popular with the locals .

   The apartment was a good size , with reasonable facilities , excellent for our 4 days . It was on the top floor of 4 . 

   Today we headed off to one of the Summer palaces a bit further out of Berlin , it needed to be a train , train and bus to get there , which we accomplished quite easily . But we ended up at another palace to the one planned , which needed another bus leg to get there - cant win em all !! We got off the bus and walked about 400m to Zitadelle Spandau . This is the entry & exit . The palace is surrounded by river water , which also acted as a large moat - not that it was necessary , as it was never attacked apparently .

    The high walls leading up from the water are impressive , and the complex has 4 corners - best seen in the map at the end of the blog .

     There are many large buildings inside the compound . some used as museums . There are stables as well .

   The entry gates are about 10 inches ( 250mm ) thick , and there was a drawbridge once upon a time .

    In the museum at the entry are all sorts of artifacts and items on display - this one was interesting , it's a strong box made of iron/steel with an intricate locking system on the lid , as well as 2 hasp & staple type locks on the sides . It was obviously used for taking / transported money or valuables around .

    There were many old flintlock rifles on display , here's the mechanism of one .

    We had access to one tower , so we had to go up . You come up through a tight spiral staircase before getting to the stairs on the inside of the walls 

    Then you get to the final staircase to get outside , near the domed brick roof .

    Here's the view from the top - all the buildings are in use , ones on the left are used for artists & creative people , the central square is setup primarily for concerts , with a fairly permanent stage & lighting etc . We didn't get to the buildings on the far side though .

    Chestnut trees , we have never seen so many chestnut trees anywhere before like this place . They must have survived on them during their fruiting season . These ones are bigger than golf balls , but not quite as large as a tennis ball , and there were thousands of them !!

    This is the tower we were up - different patterns & materials indicate how long it took them to build it , and the the material availability at the time .

   This is just 3 chestnut trees - 30m tall !!

     Down below is a nightclub - we think used on the concert nights - there were some interesting tunnels and arches , and the cobblestone walkways .

    You do have to watch where you're walking , as you can trip or roll an ankle fairly easily .

    The spiders seemed to like it down here too .

    Then we headed back to the bus stop , waiting , waiting , we gave up and walked further up and got the subway back into town , changing another couple of times before reaching our apartment again . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1uBZCB9dew_45qRT-SQzylapRMx3Ad-c&usp=sharing