On driving into Dresden we weren't sure where we were in relation to the city centre and stopped outside a hotel. Jim went in to ask the receptionist if she could direct us to the centre, she looked at him with a perplexed expression and said, 'You are in it.' Thankfully she gave him a map.
Dresden is very pretty, with gorgeous buildings and views at every turn, from the Zwingerteich through the Augustusstrasse to Frauenkirche and beyond and we were blown away. Unfortunately we left the camera in the car so we cannot share the sights with you. After two hours, a whistle stop tour, coffee and plum crumble with cream, we set off again.
It began to rain and the nearer to Berlin we got the lower and darker the skies got, the heavier the rain became and the lower the temperature dropped. Our apartment, owned, with several others, by an Australian architect working in Berlin, was on Hermannstrasse which turned out to be about 5 miles long and it took us ages to understand the way the buildings were numbered and hence to find the place. Finally we pulled outside one of those massive, grim, dull German concrete buildings to be met by Thomas, the housekeeper. He showed us into a delightful little apartment. We had a good old chat and a bit of a giggle with him for half an hour then he disappeared and came back with a bottle of wine for us! What a nice man!
Actually, my husband and I have decided we are quite nice too. Why are you laughing? Everywhere we have been we have got on splendidly with people and in every apartment we have had lovely personal gifts of food and wine and some great follow-up e-mails. Anyway enough of blowing our own trumpets. Let me tell you about our impressions of Berlin.
The first part of the week we hated it, couldn't find any redeeming features at all and didn't understand what the fuss was about. The latter part of the week things improved somewhat as we explored further afield and got out into some busy suburbs.
We are staying in an area between Kreuzberg and Neukolln, a multi-cultural area, with busy shops and restaurants of all types. The buildings are not pretty, in fact they are downright ugly, great big apartment blocks, covered in graffiti. First impressions weren't great as we went food shopping on Monday. It was a day for getting our bearings, doing mountains of washing and generally relaxing after stints in hotels.
On Tuesday we took the U to Alexanderplatz which is a commercial square and the main travel hub and therefore many people's first introduction to Berlin. It is dire, with stark monstrosities of buildings, miles of concrete paving and lacks any buzz or warmth. There is graffiti and rubbish everywhere and groups of people drinking all over the place. Uggh. As Berlin is quite spread out we decided to take a sightseeing tour on an open- top bus, if only to help us decide where we wanted to explore further.
Brandenburg Gate was overlooked by cranes and scaffolding.
The Reichstag looked impressive, particularly Norman Foster's dome but we couldn't get in it, tours are booked up weeks in advance. Wish we'd known that, we could have booked it ages ago.
This sculpture represents the unification of West and East Berlin.
Street art? Painted in different colours the service pipes are above ground. There are loads of world class museums and art galleries in Berlin, along with the cathedral and several unusual churches but neither of us felt inclined to visit these places. Who comes to Berlin to look at Egyptian artefacts? The grand palaces and churches are located on Unter den Linden, however they are difficult to see as Unter den Linden is Unter den Scaffolding.
We returned on Wednesday and visited the reconstruction of the Cold War crossing point Checkpoint Charlie, there are loads of display boards nearby which document the division between East and West Germany, the construction of the Berlin Wall, people who died trying to escape, it's downfall, reunification and looking towards the future.
We followed the path, marked out by parallel lines of red cobblestones, of the Berlin Wall to a long section which is part of the Topography of Terror, a museum on the former site of the Gestapo and SS headquarters. It was ok, but the reading...... I got very bored. Better, and much more emotive, was the Holocaust Memorial. There are 2711 upright concrete slabs, all of different heights organised in a grid.
The exhibition underground tells real stories of Jewish families from all around Europe being torn apart.
We were putting the cities we have visited over the past 10 months in order on Wednesday night and at that point Berlin was bringing up the rear so on Thursday we decided to get off the tourist trail and find other places to visit. We began by taking a trip to Neukolln in the south of the city to a 90 acre park called Britzer Garten. It is gorgeous and was just what we needed, an oasis of calm. However, quite surprised that we had to pay €3 each to go in.
On Friday and Saturday we explored the suburbs of Friedrichshain, which is predominantly Turkish and has a fantastic market next to the canal, Hackescher Markt which has great restaurants, galleries and bars and Prenzlauer Berg which used to be a poor district but is now liberal, middle class and trendy. A bit like Chapel Allerton or Headingley in Leeds. The buildings mostly survived World War II bombing and are lovely. After three days relaxing and wandering, sampling different food, taking in the atmosphere in the markets, listening to some live music, having a giggle with stall holders and shopping for quirky souvenirs we felt a little differently towards Berlin.
We found, in a small park, what the locals refer to as Dicker Hermann (fat hermann.) Its a water tower that Hitler's SA turned into a prison for local Jews. Its now an apartment block.
Before we leave Berlin we thought we'd share our humble home with you.
Will we come back to Berlin? Probably ...... not!
Three hours driving to a stopover in Hannover tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from Annie & Jim's I-pad
Location:Hermannstraße,Berlin,Germany
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