Left our Heidelberg apartment early about 9am. We caught the 9.27am train back to Mannheim. Arrived about half an hour later – plenty of time before our Berlin train was due to depart. Found some coffee and snacks for the the ride. This was our last and longest train ride on the trip – 5 hours. We shared a compartment with 2 others for a while, then we had it to ourselves for the rest of the trip. Nice train. We all enjoyed the ease of travelling from country to country on a train.
We arrived to a sunny Berlin. Took a taxi from the train station to the Brandenberg Apartments. We got a top floor apartment looking out to the Holocaust Memorial on one side and the Berlin Tower on the other side. It was a bit sparse and older looking than our last place, but very spacious. First impressions of being in Berlin were a bit weird and eerie.
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| Berlin Photos |
Notes
The Journey
• Heidelberg Alstadt - Mannheim: S-Bahn, 22 minutes
• Mannheim – Berlin: ICE, 5 hours
The Sights and Transport
• Taxi from Berlin Hbf to Apartments am Brandenburger Tor
• Mall of Berlin
Monday, 09 October
It was another cool day, 13˚C (55˚F), but mostly sunny. Went for a walk by myself and did the grocery shopping in the morning. Ulrich Supermarket was just down the street. I usually hate doing groceries back home but I actually found this experience amusing and fun. It was interesting to see different brands and types of food.
It was a chore to get the kids out at lunchtime. Once out we walked to the Holocaust Me morial which they enjoyed. They liked walking between the concrete blocks which felt like a maze getting lost within the tall columns. Then Nicholas started jumping from one block to the other which we later read was not allowed. As we were standing at the edge just watching the kids, I found myself getting emotional. Tears just came all of a sudden. I told Phil that it felt a little weird and unsettling being in a place where such horrible actions happened in the past. Then we both recalled the watching the Wall falling on TV in ’89. So much suffering.
We walked towards Potsdamer Platz and found this free “science museum” along the way. So we stopped inside to investigate. It was interesting. It turned out to be a company that makes prosthetics. The exhibit was interactive which kept the kids entertained.
Lunch at Subway afterwards with a stop at Starbucks. Walked to Potsdamer Platz where there were small sections of the Berlin Wall on display mostly covered with gum. Walked through the Sony Center and over to Tiergarten to find a playground. Lovely woodsy park. Nicholas happily played and Catherine was a bit tired I suspect. She found the playground challenging and scary. Walked back to the apartment via the Brandenberg Gate. Definitely a tourist spot – this was where the celebration happened when the Wall came down. The Wall ran through it.
A rest back at the apartment before heading out again for dinner. We went to the food court at the Berlin Mall just a few streets away from us. The mall had a big 2-storey indoor slide which the kids and I went down a few times. This was another challenging activity for Catherine who is usually the more adventurous one. She was quite upset that she found the slide too scary to go down by herself. Phil later left for a work dinner at Café Brel in Savignyplatz.
Notes
The Sights and Transport
• Holocaust Memorial
• Potsdamer Platz
• Tiergarten
• Brandenburger Tor
• Mall of Berlin
• U-Bahn train to and from Mohrenstraße to Berlin Zoologischer Garten
Tuesday, 10 October
After starting up a load of laundry, I went for my morning routine walk to buy more groceries via a detour to check out a couple of tourist-y shops on the main avenue. It was 14˚C (57˚F) today, cloudy with some showers.
Today Phil and I wanted to get to a free lunchtime concert at the Berlin Philharmonic. Trying not to set our expectations too high we managed to convince the children to go. Went via the mall and the big slide again. Takeaway lunch from McDonald’s then quickly walked to the concert at 1pm. The kids were able to eat their lunch inside. The foyer was packed with people. Schumann’s Dichterliebe Op 48 was on the program with piano, viola and poetry. We sat on the floor listening for about 45 minutes. It was a pleasant cultural experience. Catherine fell asleep at the end. Phil and I were happy we made it.
Then it was off to the Spy Museum back at Potsdamer Platz for the rest of the afternoon. The museum was ok. Not that interactive except for the password hacking and the laser beam challenge. Seeing some of the spy gadgets was cool too. Catherine attempted the laser beam but got scared and upset. Phil did it before her and got more than half way through before he touched one and failed. I attempted it just before we left and made it! That was fun to do and fun to watch other people do it too.
Takeaway dinner that night. Phil came back with currywurst, bratwurst, bockwurst and vegetarian pad thai – all very tasty!
Notes
The Sights and Transport
• Berlin Philharmonic
• The Spy Museum
Wednesday, 11 October
The weather in Berlin was a lot like Canberra. It was a tad bit warmer today, 16˚C (60˚F), still cloudy with showers. Went to check out Aldi this time for my morning walk. The products in Aldi Germany were not as nice as what we have in Australia. I did find some Trader Joe’s stuff there which was a nice surprise.
Today’s adventure was at the German Museum of Technology. We took the U2 train to Gleisdreieck station and walked to the museum from there. The kids were hungry and wanted to eat first. So we sat the cafe and I left them there with Phil after they ordered lunch. I went back to the train station and took the U1 train to the end – Warshauer Str. Walked to East Side Gallery and almost finished the entire stretch. Neat to walk along the Berlin Wall with some amazing art.
It started to rain quite a bit when I turned back to meet with my ex-colleague. She was already at the corner where we agreed to meet (across from the East Side Gallery). We walked across the Oberbaumbrücke and had lunch near the bridge. Nice multicultural area. We had Vietnamese for lunch and a nice catch-up. Haven’t seen her for a couple of years after her family left their Canberra posting. We took the train back together and I got off at the museum again.
Met up with the family at 3pm at the foyer. We walked to the nearby science centre building and stayed until closing time at 5.30pm. The kids enjoyed the science centre much more than the technical museum as it was interactive with some neat exhibits. It was a long day for us. Dinner was at the Mall of Berlin food court again. Found another sushi train – 1 Euro per plate. We had 24 plates and there were more options for Catherine this time and more prawns available for Nicholas too.
Notes
The Sights and Transport
• U-Bahn from Mohrenstraße to Gleisdreieck
• Technikmuseum
• U-Bahn from Gleisdreieck to Warshauer Str
• East Side Gallery
• Oberbaumbrücke
• Kreuzberg
• U-Bahn from Schlesisches Tor to Gleisdreieck
• U-Bahn from Gleisdreieck to Mohrenstraße
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