We left Koblenz's Hotel Brenner on Sunday the eighth, and our van took us to the Frankfurt airport where we caught our flight to Berlin, landing at Tegel. After picking up luggage and getting a Berlin Welcome card (including a three day transit pass), we transferred to our hotel in the former East Berlin, the Art'Otel Berlin Mitte. Whatever forebodings about being in East Berlin we may have had, they were quickly dispelled, as our hotel was quite modern and comfortable. Our guide met us on checking in, and suggested that rain might short-circuit our walking tour scheduled for the next day. He offered to do it today instead, and four of us, John, Phyllis, Donna, and I, took him up on the offer. (The others opted for the river cruise.) With the smaller group we had a more intimate and informative tour, so it worked out for the best. Our tour took us from the hotel to Unter den Linden, the Friedrichsstrasse commercial zone, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, and to the site of Checkpoint Charlie. After returning to the hotel, I dressed for the opera; had dinner at a nearby café; and hopped the #2 U-Bahn, conveniently located just outside the hotel; and went to the Deutsche Oper where they were performing Nabucco. A satisfying production. The lack of sub- and/or supertitles was a litle surprising, but in some ways a relief, as one could concentrate on the stage without distraction. A subway ride back to the hotel, and a good night's sleep.
My plan for the next day, which was a little rainy, was to do the river cruise, but when I got to the dock, I discovered that the lockkeepers were striking, and the barge was thus unable to do the tour. So I opted for Plan 2. My battery having run down toward the end of our walking tour, I returned to the end of the tour to get some shots I had missed. Then walked through the Topography of Terror, an outdoor display chronicling the way the Nazis had systematically eliminated their opponents during their rise to power. A subway ride to Wittenbergplatz dropped me at KaDeWe, a mammoth department store, where I had a curryworst lunch (alledgedly a Berlin specialty) in the top floor food court. A subway ride took me back to Alexanderplatz where I changed for the S-Bahn to Hackescher Markt, and from there a short walk to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, where I bumped into John and Phyllis. I spent much of the afternoon there, then walked to the Nikolaiviertel for dinner at a restaurant that the Taylors had enjoyed the evening before, the Restaurant St. Georgsbrau, returned to the hotel to change, and then on the U-Bahn again to Potsdamer Platz, and a concert at the Philharmonie by the Philharmonia of London. (The Ravel and Debussy were fine; the Lutoslawski pieces were eminently forgettable.) Returned to the hotel for an evening's sleep.
Day three started by a U-Bahn ride to Alexanderplatz; a change to the tram, which I hadn't ridden yet, as far as Hackescher Markt; and another change to the S-Bahn which took me to the Hauptbahnhof. For the first and only time in Europe, there were a couple of men checking passes on the S-Bahn, but I had mine and was legal. At the Hauptbahnhof I went down, down, down to the U55 line that took me to the Reichstag, where I got a few pictures, then further on to Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate again for a couple more pictures. Then it was the S-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz and a change to the U-Bahn for a ride to the zoo. Wandered around the zoo, where I also had lunch. A really well-done affair, and much better than one would expect from a center-city zoo. After the zoo I saw the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and had a look down Kurfürstendamm, the main shopping street. Got back on the #2 U-Bahn to Stadtmitte and changed for the #6, which took me part way up Friedrichstrasse. It was raining when I got out of the subway, but it was only a short walk to the book, music, and software store Dussmann, where I picked up a book for the return flight. (Worth a visit on another Berlin trip!) Returned to the hotel where I relaxed a bit and waited for the rain shower to end, then met John and Phyllis, and we went to dinner at Brauhaus Mitte near Alexanderplatz. There was alas more to do than I was able to accomplish—certainly seeing more of the museums, the river cruise, and a visit to the Olympic stadium. But they will all have to wait for another time.
An early van shuttle took us to Tegel airport Wednesday morning, and our connecting flight to Frankfurt. We parted there and caught our final flights back to the U.S., me to Boston and the others to their own local airports. It was a superb two-plus weeks.