Thursday June 27 – Berlin

Princess Cruises chartered a train to take us to Berlin today.  It is quite an ugly city since most of the buildings were constructed after the second world war when there was little time for the finesse of architecture and the great necessity to provide accommodation for people.  80% of this city was destroyed in the war.  Nevertheless, it is a very vibrant city with large numbers of young people moving here over the last five years.  Everywhere we went we saw workers setting up for outdoor summer concerts.  There is also an enormous amount of new buildings being constructed as there is a lack of accommodation in this city. They are also rebuilding the palace which the Russians refused to do when they controlled East Germany.  It will most probably become a museum.  Today, there was a convention for Real Estate Brokers in Berlin and we saw young people demonstrating outside the convention about the high price of rental apartments.

  

The wall that split Berlin into East and West Berlin was constructed in 1961 and pulled down in 1990.  One hundred and thirty six people died at this wall, trying to escape from East Germany.  We saw the paintings on the wall, which we really liked.  There is one of  the dove of peace, a car crashing through the wall with the number plate for the day it was decided to pull the wall down, Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing,(this kiss actually happened in 1979) and one of people moving through the wall after the first hole was made.  The expressions on their faces speak volumes.

We saw the Brandenburg gate, The Adlon hotel where Michael Jackson held his baby out the window, the square where the books were burned in front of the library during the Nazi regime and the Victory column.  The St Nicholas church has been left as it was after the bombings so that people can see the results of war.  Hitler’s bunkers have been found and some historians wanted to open them up for the public but the decision has been made not to as it is feared that Neo Nazis could use them for their propaganda.

Bill here: The bus tour lasted until 3:30 pm so lunch was a necessity before further walking. So Bill and Barbara drank beer with the Bear in Berlin along with a pizza.

Bill and I spent some time in Ka De We, a department store that is very like Harrods in London.  We had cake and coffee on the sixth floor of this building.  The cakes were delicious, many of them covered with berries that are in season at the moment.

Bill here: It was another 2.5 hour train trip back to Berlin so arrival at the ship at 10 pm required a glass or two of wine before a late supper in Horizon Court. There was a German band playing on board the ship but we had to give them a miss due to the lateness of the hour. We now have an exciting time ahead after one more day at sea with 4 different countries in 5 days – Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Russia (overnight). Can we handle the pace? – you betts we can!