Our Europe trip -Part 2 Berlin --- Hier Kommen Wir
Hi pals,
As promised I am back with more of our Europe travels. We had to travel by bus from Amsterdam to Bad Bentheim and from there we traveled by connecting trains to reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof which means Berlin Central railway station. Traveling by train (not the tube or metro ones) in Europe was my dream, as the trains will be much cleaner and less crowded. It is also a good opportunity to see the changing landscapes from one place to another. Though dozing off is common during these journeys, I tried to stay awake to my best to see and enjoy the landscape. There were acres of farms with no people, some places had trees with fall colours. We could see the typical Dutch homes at first, and then when the train set foot in Germany, the changes began to become visible. There were some car manufacturing factories like Volkswagen along the way. We reached Hannover and from there we had to catch another train to reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof. We were amazed by the sheer size and magnitude of this railway station which had high glass ceilings. This station is multi-leveled which includes shopping malls, upper levels for local trains. I have tried to capture its essence in my phone.
We had to take a local train to reach our hotel . The hotel is an old one and which would have one of the smallest lifts in the world which cannot squeeze in more than 2 persons, forget about the luggage. We had half of the day left in our hand and so after freshening up, we started to explore the city.
If Amsterdam was idyllic, Berlin city was magical and magnetic. The huge buildings, wide roads, wider pavements make the city look bigger. And of course, I found that if a country is small so is its capital, and if the country is big, so is it's capital. If the roads of Amsterdam were narrow and full of tramlines, and also the cycling lanes full of cyclists, Berlin gave us a totally contrasting picture. There were cyclists on the cycling lanes, but cars were more. Many tourist attractions were close to each other, if not walkable. The first thing which caught our attention was Kaiser Wilhem Church which was partly in a ruined state. It was still tall, imposing and eye catching due to its colour combination.The Church was built around late 1800s and was destroyed in the air raids during the second world war. After lots of debates and discussions about restoring it fully, the Government and people agreed to leave it in that partly ruined state, maybe as a scar reminding them of those bad times. The inside of the church had many photographs of the royals, war scenes. And as with most of the churches, this one had intricate paintings on the ceiling, a statue of Christ with a broken arm, and a souvenir counter at the center. I, being a souvenir addict, bought some magnets and postcards. This Church was the only visible scar of Berlin reminding them of the turbulent 20th century. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine seeing the city of today that this was a place which was once upon a time suffered huge destruction due to the heavy bombing of the allied forces during the war.
Kaiser-Wilhem memorial church
Next destination was the Reichstag building or German Parliament. This one was also damaged during World War 2, but was restored afterwards. Its main attraction was the glass dome through which the city can be viewed. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to go inside the building as we had to book in advance to take a tour up to the glass dome. I had to be content for now to watch one of the YouTube videos of Reichstag glass dome! So folks, you need to book in advance if you want to have a memorable time on the top of Reichstag! It was already getting dark and we headed to the well-known Brandenburg Gate. This is a major landmark of the city and a witness to the tumultuous history of Germany. But now, it is a favourite hangout place and a shopping area. The roads are wide, there were locals and tourists clicking in front of the gate. Near the gate, we had French fries and coffee while enjoying the view of the lighted gate. There was a big holocaust memorial less than a Km from the gate, but we did not visit. It was built by the German Government to honour the murdered innocent Jews, and a gesture of apologizing for the horrendous crime they committed under Hitler.
Reichstag building
Brandenburg gate
colored bears in a souvenir shop near Brandenburg gate
The next day was fully ours to explore the city. Weather was cold, but sunny and tolerable. We hopped in and out of the local buses to go around the city. The main spots we visited were Alexanderplatz, Postdamplatz, Mall of Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie used to be the border where people were prevented going to the capitalist West Germany from Communist East Germany. After the unification of Germany, it has become a famous tourist spot. A couple of men dressed as soldiers pose for the tourists there. Beware of pickpockets in these crowded spots. There were pictures of the turbulent history of Germany, walls filled with graffiti art, pieces of Berlin wall sold as souvenirs. We spent there quite sometime trying to understand the past events.
The last stop of the day was the most awaited one for me in the whole of Berlin trip. Of course, I am talking about Berlin Wall Memorial which was situated towards the east of Berlin. The vibes that I felt when we saw the remains of the wall was inexplicable! To walk on the side of that historical wall, enter it through the rods and walk on the lawn which housed watch towers, a chapel, pictures of those who were shot by the guards while trying to escape the dull and the drab East Berlin, is something I will remember for a long time. This walk spurred the interest in me to know more about the division of Germany, World War 2, the ever number of Holocaust stories, the Nazi ideologies, the most feared dictator-Hitler. As this wall was close to East Berlin or East Germany, I could see some visible changes like more tramlines. Wish I had not missed seeing the other side of the wall which had a colorful graffiti art which was the way Germans expressed the political struggles! We discussed about how the allied forces and the communist Soviet tried to keep Germany divided for less than 30 years and ultimately weakened their hold on Germany. German folks' or volks (volks-people) strong commitment to be united made the Berlin wall fall. Henceforth, Germans united and prospered and Germany is still growing every day. Germans learnt to give up the failed Nazi ideology after Hitler's fall, concentrated on rebuilding the war-torn city. Now the united and formidable Germany is one of the most sought after places to live.
Berlin wall memorial
Watchtower viewed from the opposite side
On the last day of our stay, we headed to 'Victory Column', which is a tower with Victorian statue on the top. This is a major attraction in Berlin, and it is accessible through the tunnels that were built below the junction. To go to the top of the column, one has to buy tickets, but it will be worth it as the tourist can have a beautiful view of the city. This tower faces Brandenburg gate one side, and Reichstag building on the other side. After that, we visited the beautiful Berliner Dom which had 'Lusty Garden' in front of it. We did not go inside the church, but now looking back, I feel I should have seen the beautiful architecture inside. Close to that, we booked tickets to go to Museum Island which showcased sculptures, artefacts, old paintings, ornaments from the 3 civilizations i.e Egyptian, Greek, Roman. These museums have quite a lot of collections and one needs to come multiple times to get a good grasp of these ancient civilizations. Many of these historical buildings were built in Neo Reniassance style.
Berliner Dom
Victory Column
The jewellery and the artefacts in the Museum island
The Museum island building
As the time was running out, we went back to our hotel to collect our checked out luggage and headed to the airport go to our next destination, ie. Vienna. Of the European cities we visited, Berlin seems to have charmed me very much, and even today it has not stopped amazing me. Germans have put behind their unpleasant past, apologized to their fellow Jews and still continue to pay reparation amounts. Anybody who visits Berlin or any other city of Germany can see that the country was rebuilt and restored so much that it is difficult to find traces of a country heavily destroyed during 2nd world war. Really Unity is strength, unity is prosperity. Something India needs to learn now, given the current political situation!
Lots of love,
A hungry traveller...
As promised I am back with more of our Europe travels. We had to travel by bus from Amsterdam to Bad Bentheim and from there we traveled by connecting trains to reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof which means Berlin Central railway station. Traveling by train (not the tube or metro ones) in Europe was my dream, as the trains will be much cleaner and less crowded. It is also a good opportunity to see the changing landscapes from one place to another. Though dozing off is common during these journeys, I tried to stay awake to my best to see and enjoy the landscape. There were acres of farms with no people, some places had trees with fall colours. We could see the typical Dutch homes at first, and then when the train set foot in Germany, the changes began to become visible. There were some car manufacturing factories like Volkswagen along the way. We reached Hannover and from there we had to catch another train to reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof. We were amazed by the sheer size and magnitude of this railway station which had high glass ceilings. This station is multi-leveled which includes shopping malls, upper levels for local trains. I have tried to capture its essence in my phone.
We had to take a local train to reach our hotel . The hotel is an old one and which would have one of the smallest lifts in the world which cannot squeeze in more than 2 persons, forget about the luggage. We had half of the day left in our hand and so after freshening up, we started to explore the city.
If Amsterdam was idyllic, Berlin city was magical and magnetic. The huge buildings, wide roads, wider pavements make the city look bigger. And of course, I found that if a country is small so is its capital, and if the country is big, so is it's capital. If the roads of Amsterdam were narrow and full of tramlines, and also the cycling lanes full of cyclists, Berlin gave us a totally contrasting picture. There were cyclists on the cycling lanes, but cars were more. Many tourist attractions were close to each other, if not walkable. The first thing which caught our attention was Kaiser Wilhem Church which was partly in a ruined state. It was still tall, imposing and eye catching due to its colour combination.The Church was built around late 1800s and was destroyed in the air raids during the second world war. After lots of debates and discussions about restoring it fully, the Government and people agreed to leave it in that partly ruined state, maybe as a scar reminding them of those bad times. The inside of the church had many photographs of the royals, war scenes. And as with most of the churches, this one had intricate paintings on the ceiling, a statue of Christ with a broken arm, and a souvenir counter at the center. I, being a souvenir addict, bought some magnets and postcards. This Church was the only visible scar of Berlin reminding them of the turbulent 20th century. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine seeing the city of today that this was a place which was once upon a time suffered huge destruction due to the heavy bombing of the allied forces during the war.
Next destination was the Reichstag building or German Parliament. This one was also damaged during World War 2, but was restored afterwards. Its main attraction was the glass dome through which the city can be viewed. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to go inside the building as we had to book in advance to take a tour up to the glass dome. I had to be content for now to watch one of the YouTube videos of Reichstag glass dome! So folks, you need to book in advance if you want to have a memorable time on the top of Reichstag! It was already getting dark and we headed to the well-known Brandenburg Gate. This is a major landmark of the city and a witness to the tumultuous history of Germany. But now, it is a favourite hangout place and a shopping area. The roads are wide, there were locals and tourists clicking in front of the gate. Near the gate, we had French fries and coffee while enjoying the view of the lighted gate. There was a big holocaust memorial less than a Km from the gate, but we did not visit. It was built by the German Government to honour the murdered innocent Jews, and a gesture of apologizing for the horrendous crime they committed under Hitler.
The next day was fully ours to explore the city. Weather was cold, but sunny and tolerable. We hopped in and out of the local buses to go around the city. The main spots we visited were Alexanderplatz, Postdamplatz, Mall of Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie used to be the border where people were prevented going to the capitalist West Germany from Communist East Germany. After the unification of Germany, it has become a famous tourist spot. A couple of men dressed as soldiers pose for the tourists there. Beware of pickpockets in these crowded spots. There were pictures of the turbulent history of Germany, walls filled with graffiti art, pieces of Berlin wall sold as souvenirs. We spent there quite sometime trying to understand the past events.
The last stop of the day was the most awaited one for me in the whole of Berlin trip. Of course, I am talking about Berlin Wall Memorial which was situated towards the east of Berlin. The vibes that I felt when we saw the remains of the wall was inexplicable! To walk on the side of that historical wall, enter it through the rods and walk on the lawn which housed watch towers, a chapel, pictures of those who were shot by the guards while trying to escape the dull and the drab East Berlin, is something I will remember for a long time. This walk spurred the interest in me to know more about the division of Germany, World War 2, the ever number of Holocaust stories, the Nazi ideologies, the most feared dictator-Hitler. As this wall was close to East Berlin or East Germany, I could see some visible changes like more tramlines. Wish I had not missed seeing the other side of the wall which had a colorful graffiti art which was the way Germans expressed the political struggles! We discussed about how the allied forces and the communist Soviet tried to keep Germany divided for less than 30 years and ultimately weakened their hold on Germany. German folks' or volks (volks-people) strong commitment to be united made the Berlin wall fall. Henceforth, Germans united and prospered and Germany is still growing every day. Germans learnt to give up the failed Nazi ideology after Hitler's fall, concentrated on rebuilding the war-torn city. Now the united and formidable Germany is one of the most sought after places to live.
On the last day of our stay, we headed to 'Victory Column', which is a tower with Victorian statue on the top. This is a major attraction in Berlin, and it is accessible through the tunnels that were built below the junction. To go to the top of the column, one has to buy tickets, but it will be worth it as the tourist can have a beautiful view of the city. This tower faces Brandenburg gate one side, and Reichstag building on the other side. After that, we visited the beautiful Berliner Dom which had 'Lusty Garden' in front of it. We did not go inside the church, but now looking back, I feel I should have seen the beautiful architecture inside. Close to that, we booked tickets to go to Museum Island which showcased sculptures, artefacts, old paintings, ornaments from the 3 civilizations i.e Egyptian, Greek, Roman. These museums have quite a lot of collections and one needs to come multiple times to get a good grasp of these ancient civilizations. Many of these historical buildings were built in Neo Reniassance style.
As the time was running out, we went back to our hotel to collect our checked out luggage and headed to the airport go to our next destination, ie. Vienna. Of the European cities we visited, Berlin seems to have charmed me very much, and even today it has not stopped amazing me. Germans have put behind their unpleasant past, apologized to their fellow Jews and still continue to pay reparation amounts. Anybody who visits Berlin or any other city of Germany can see that the country was rebuilt and restored so much that it is difficult to find traces of a country heavily destroyed during 2nd world war. Really Unity is strength, unity is prosperity. Something India needs to learn now, given the current political situation!
Lots of love,
A hungry traveller...
Comments
Post a Comment