The wrapup from Prague

Because we decided that the end of the holiday would be spent in Prague it will only be one post from Prague. Spent time at the Castle, walked the streets and discovered restaurants. Took many pictures of interesting buildings and generally loafed around. Read last year's account of a short trip to Prague here.

Eating a pork knuckle, this was left till the last night and was just the experience it was supposed to be - too much meat, too much fat on the outside and a once only time. 

The Castle, (wiki reference here) we skipped this last year and only walked the gardens then. Arriving early, to beat the crowds, we were at the front of the line at the entrance of the Cathedral, thinking we would buy tickets inside, only to learn that one needed a composite ticket to enter all the sites, which had to be obtained from the central ticket office. Nipping in to scan the Cathedral, we then purchased tickets for the sites in the complex.

We discovered the Old Castle, which was built in the 1100s, that also show cases the Crown Jewels, looked around the Golden Lane and the Basilica of St. George. Walking down to the Old Town from the Castle we had to cross the.......

Charles Bridge: (wiki reference here) One can never get enough of this site, in the early morning when there are no crowds or in the heat of the day when the place is packed, worse than a Japanese subway. History abounds! 

The Charles Bridge Palace Hotel: The hotel was magnificent, historical and spacious - just don’t get an outside room, one that faces the street - the drunks revel until 5am, and you will hear every one of them.

Waking up the day we supposed to leave I looked at my phone, at the airport, whilst standing in line because there was a buzz that the plane had been cancelled, and sure enough three emails had come in during the night, telling us of the fact. So after hanging around the airport to find what AC was going to do for us we arrived at the transient hotel at 1100 hrs. Stayed there for 24 hours and all meals supplied. Apparently all out of pocket expenses - which were only the taxi to the hotel from the airport and back again are going to be covered by AC. But as we got up the next day we found that the flight had been delayed four hours. But both flights were compensible so the next couple of trips are going to be discounted.

Not a bad way to finish the trip

The end of Berlin and the start of Prague

Last day in Berlin:
A trip to the Museum Island, two trips on the UBahn and thirty five minute later we arrived at the Freidrichstrasse Haubtbahnhof. A ten minute walk-through an interesting neighbourhood and past the reconstructed buildings of the Museum District. The area had been destroyed in WW2 and it can be seen when you look at the buildings, the upper floors definitely look new.

Expecting a lineup at the Pergamon, after we found the entrance; the Museum is being renovated and is disorganized, so the entry was tucked away, we had to wait. The Museum staggers the visitors so that the Museum doesn't get overloaded (it felt full when we were there). After hitting the cloak room, all bags have to be checked in a locker that has a key-operated door that costs 1 euro. You get the euro back when you open the door to get your bag back. The only slot machine in Town that gives you your money back!

Up the stir into the Museum and you are stunned by the first exhibit - the Ishtar Gate  (wikipedia reference here). This artifact was disassembled, as it was being excavated, into over 500 packing crates and shipped to Berlin. This exhibit is worth the price of admission, just to be able to wonder at it - magnificent! Passing into the next room is also worth the money.
Here is a reconstructed Roman Building - The Market Gate of Miletus, a huge undertaking. Unfortunately it is not until you get the next floor that the remaining marvel is found.
Behind a sealed barrier is The Aleppo Room; seven walls (three are shown in the pic) of an antechamber, that would have led into a receiving room of a wealthy Merchant during the Ottoman period. Having checked out all of the Pergamon, not much to look at after the sights mentioned, we left for the next planned sight - the Berlin Cathedral.

The Berlin Cathedral  is another reconstruction, but done very well and took many years. Completed in 1963 it is now the main Church of Berlin, the Crypt contains the coffins of the Royals and famous people of Germany. Not built in a traditional design there is no Nave but four lines of pews arranged in the four stations of the Compass under the huge and ornate Dome. The Altar lines up North, congregants face North. An interesting and novel design for a Church.

Leaving the Church and getting to the train back we had to use the SBahn - a surface train that also travels underground. Back to the hotel and there is still an afternoon left. Fred napped and Doreen shopped, she had spotted a bargain yesterday and had to go back today when the stores were open. Sunday shopping is non-existent in Berlin (maybe Germany as well). And a return trip to the Restaurant Elefant, where the waiter amazed us all by not only remembering who we were but also what we had ordered. Again all the meals were large and excellent. Back in the room we watched the World Cup and managed to stay awake to watch the winning goal of the Belgium/Japan scored in the last minute of the game.

Travel day:Up early, to make sure we were not rushed because of the commuters. But being surprised by the lack of commuters we arrived at the Hbf with an hour to spare. Which gave us plenty of time to explore the place.
Another impressive feat of architecture and engineering, this place was five storeys of station and a few more on top for offices. On platform 3 the next piece of the puzzle was where to stand so that we lined up with our reserved seats. By luck or design the railcar 225 ended up just where we were standing. Our seats were found, in a crowded car, and our travelling companions, in adjacent seats, were a couple of 'utes' who were travelling to Bratislava to have a biking/camping holiday.

Alighting from the railcar we headed to the rendezvous spot for the hotel pickup - "stand outside Burger King" we did and still managed to miss each other. Hailing a taxi got us to to the Hotel and we nipped out for lunch!
After that we fought the crowds and took in a quick spot of sightseeing,

We didn't walk today - rode the UBahn

Only two places to visit today and the best way to get there was by the UBahn. Both trips took about thirty five mins and entailed  switches at the massive concourse of Alexanderplatz. Naturally the the train we alit from was at one end of the station and the next one was at the other - lots of steps just riding the trains.

The first place was the Flea-Market at MauerPark.
This sprawling setup is a mixture of a Craft Fair and genuine junk sale. Sited on a piece of the Wall (in the death strip), the Wall can be seen sitting on top of an embankment on the East side of the Park (look carefully in the pic and the Wall can be seen above the steps of the "amphitheater". At the market a large number of stalls were devoted to organics, thus preserving the cultural link to the 'free-spirits' that abound in Berlin. At the end of a long walk around the stalls it was decided a beer break was in order and we came across a wrinkle - there was a 2euro deposit on the glasses, but the beer was cheap and good! Jumping on a street car, as we left the Park, we rode to the next stop for the UBahn to Bernauertrasse the site of the next visit - the Stasi Museum.

Situated in, what appears to be a stereotypical DDR neighbourhood this Museum was the home of the Stasi. The Stasi was the State Police organisation that monitored the activities of the East German population. When the DDR fell in 1990 the site was occupied by protesters and the scope of the monitoring was revealed. This complex at that time covered 54 acres and employed 7,000 people. Impressions of this Museum - tough to get to and to find the entrance, not much content but impressive because of the historical context. It is interesting to see the interior still as it was in its lifetime - 60s Swedish interior wood panelling throughout.

Back on the UBahn and back to the hotel for a rest. Doreen and I ventured out later, on a fool's mission as all the stores were closed because it was a Sunday, we wandered around the Shoneburg area. Scoping out the place for a restaurant for later. Found one and when we returned it was closed, so back to the drawing board. However the "Restaurant Elefant" was open and it was delightful. Serving German food, in a cosmopolitan neighbourhood, opposite an Indian restaurant and next door to two Italian ones, this place hit the spot. Even Fred was impressed!

That's all folks:

For those wondering how to get to the full travelog click here

A little more walking than originally planned

The plan was a simple one - take the UBahn to Fred's old neighbourhood to see where he lived thirty years ago and then visit the Charlottenburg Castle. This was supposed to be a casual day.

But the weather threw a wrinkle at us - it was a chilly morning and Fred wanted to buy a sweatshirt. Entering the huge department store; KaDeWe, we started to look. Not knowing anything other than the fact that this store was the largest in Europe we entered, but were not prepared for the contents. It was a collection of all of the 'high-end' fashions in the world, not a cheap sweater in sight.

Hightailing it out of there we then had another lesson in life when we were confronted with the automatic ticket machines for the Subway. Intelligence prevailed, after an employee pointed out that there were other machines in another location, our machine was out of order! Tickets in hand we proceeded to the platform where we had to stamp our all-day ticket to show the inspectors - if they asked - that they were valid. One ticket for any form of transport for one day costs 7Euro ($10 cdn) not a bad deal.

Fred's old neighbourhood was about a Km away from the Castle and as we approached it  a coffee break ws in order, Sitting outside and watching it was noticed that there was a bus stop at that point and it would take us right back to where wanted to go. Now that we knew how to get back we forged on to the Castle and its sights.

Schloss Charlottenburg wiki reference here is full of good 'stuff' and the style and opulence is about  the same as we have seen before in many other Stately homes and Castles. With one exception - The Porcelain Cabinet. This room holds thousands of porcelain objects, mainly vases and plates. Truly an impressive room. The visit was cut short as the really impressive rooms - the upper floor was being renovated and inaccessible.

Busing it back we got  far as the Kurfurstendamm Strasse, it was time for another window shopping trip. This street is a mile long and a shopper's delight. Time for lunch; a Turkish Donar place was found. The portions being so big we decided to share one - basically a footlong wrap. Back to the hotel and the 'fitbit' showed over 10,000 steps. So much for  a casual day, but it was till early so that left time for recovery before Dinner.

The Wittenburg District of Schoneberg is a delightfully calm neighbourhood but not too busy with cafes and stores. Finding an Italian restaurant we encountered the owner - a busy, harried and slightly eccentric person. The World Cup was on the outside TVs, no choice - sit down and order a pasta and pizza. The evening was topped off with a cake and coffee from another establishment nearer to the hotel, as we called it a day.