It was a quick city trip before my real holiday in August. Again i went with my friend Karen, a real go getter for which i am eternally grateful! Our flight was at 6am which meant getting up at 2:30am to get to the airport for 4am. Unfortunately, i had been up till all hours the night before as i had a friend in town from Canada. 2 hours sleep and i was raring to go...............not!
I have always wanted to go to Berlin for very personal reasons and............... shoe shopping. I didn't get the shoes but will order them on-line as i couldn't decide which ones to get. As for the other, it was well fulfilled. The day didn't start off great as it was very misty and drizzly, so photos were difficult. We did most of the historical sites on on the first day and some were a surprise. I was a basket case by 9pm and we still hadn't eaten. Had the best steak of my life at 11pm! Sorry, no pictures. Crawled into bed at 12:30 sans makeup and slept till 9am! For those that know me, that is unheard of.
The second day was way more mellow.............sun, beer, wine, sight seeing and just general things, with dinner at 9 with a Doner Kebab, drinks in the lounge and off to bed. We had to get up early for flight home.
Some of you might recognize the Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson held one of his children upside down over a balcony. There was none of that going on but there was a huge amount of police outside when we were there, unfortunately, just a political figure that we did not know!
Drinks on the River Spree and seeing the sights from the TV Tower, The Brandenburger Gates and of course the Berlin Wall were highlights. We also saw the last remaining check point called Check Point Charlie which segregated the American Quarter from the the others of Berlin. The Brandenburg Gates had been heavily bombed during the war but have now been fully restored. It is so sad what the German people had to go through, right up till 1989 when the wall came down.
Now it is a city of contrasts! It is a leader (3rd in the world) of artistic design, architecture and arts. So much was destroyed that it is now more modern than historic.
But the history lies in the people, their dedication to preserving the past and not letting us forget. Memorials and tributes are everywhere. Please go and see this most amazing city, they have come along way!
