Trip to Germany: 4 Day Visit to Berlin

After our overnight stop in Villingen Schwenningen, we make it to Frankfurt to unload some family members and get them checked in at the Hilton at the Airport.   I get the van turned in, say our goodbyes, and walk downstairs to the Airport Train Station.  We buy our train tickets and jump on the Train to Berlin.  The Hilton Hotel at the Frankfurt Flughafen doubles as the train station for the Airport.  It is an architectural marvel and a destination in its own right.

At the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, we get on our ICE InterCity Express train.   We do not spend the extra 18 euros to get assigned seats and end up standing for the first 4  stops before seats open.  It is a quick trip.  We arrive at the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which is 3 story marvel with trains coming and going in every direction.   We had pent-up energy and walked the mile from the train station to the hotel.  Walking along the River Spree, we passed the German Bundestag, the German Capital building, and the famous Brandenburg Gate.  A good start to our four-day adventure.

Covered in sweat from the walk, we check into our hotel, the ARCOTEL John F Berlin, named after John F. Kennedy.   Whom Berliners are still fond of because he supported Berlin during the cold war.  It was a nice hotel amid the workings of the German Government.  It was very central to all of the sites in central Berlin.   During check-in, we discovered a concert in Gendarmenmarkt Platz, a short 3-block walk from the hotel.

Already late in the evening, we walked over for a late dinner and to listen to the opera by candlelight.  It was quite a surreal experience.   Berlin is a diverse international city that is open late in the evening.  Most restaurants stay open until 11 pm or midnight.  Quite unusual from the rest of Germany.  The food was great, along with dessert, and after a long day of travel, it was good to sit and enjoy the music and the food.   It was the first still moment of the day and one I will remember for the rest of my life.

The next day we get up and walk to Alexanderplatz.   The first thing you realize is that Berlin is a city under construction.  There are construction cranes, and buildings boarded up everywhere.  During the divided years of the cold war, the Russians controlled most of the old inner city.   A lot of the rebuilding replaces the stark construction of the communist era.    Alexanderplatz is a good example of this type of utilitarian construction.   I sat in a Beer garden and had a glass of soda while watching the people walk by as Terri shopped at one of the department stores on the Platz.   It was a great day to be in Berlin.                        

From Alexanderplatz, we walk down to the DDR museum, which depicts life under Communist East Germany from 1945 to 1989.   From what I can tell, it was no picnic, a mild version of North Korea.   After the DDR museum, we spent the rest of the morning at the German Historical Museum.  A short walk past the Berlin Cathedral, one of the only buildings in central Berlin that weren't completely destroyed by bombing during World War 2.   The German Historical Museum was awesome.  It illustrated Germany throughout the ages pulling no punches regarding their actions against the Jews in World War 2 with a complete accounting of their attempt to exterminate the Jews.   There was also a special exhibit on World War I, Wield Krieg, which was outstanding.


Finishing the day, we walked past and toured the Neue Wacke, or the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny.  This was one of my favorite sites in Berlin because we walked up to it by chance and did not realize it existed.  It was a very somber experience.  In the evening, we walked back to the Brandenburg gate and into Tiergarten, a large park in western Berlin.   We stopped at the Soviet War Memorial in the garden, another unexpected place.  After another late dinner, it was time to return to the hotel and rest for our final full day in Berlin.


We get up early, then head to the nearest train station.  We buy a day pass for the city transportation system, the U-Bahn.  Our destination is Schloss Charlottenburg, one of the only remaining Palaces from the German Monarchy that ended in 1918 at the end of World War I.   After a city train change, we took the tour of the Schloss.  It was a great tour, with the Schloss being a summer palace at the time, outside Berlin.
Although Schloss Charlottenburg was not as impressive as the Palace of Versailles, it was historically significant in its own right.  The gardens were also splendid; I only wish I had more time to explore them.

 Our last day and time to ride the U-Bahn to see Checkpoint Charlie, a unique place in recent Modern History that goes back to when the city was divided after World War II between West and East Berlin.   It is the entry and exit point between the Communist and Non-Communist parts of the city.   Berliners have a great appreciation for America's role in the reunification of Berlin and Germany.   Checkpoint Charlie signifies the casting off of that communist yoke.  It was very emotional for a cold war soldier like myself.   We spend the rest of the evening riding the U-Bahn around the city, observing Berliners conducting their everyday lives.   We reflect on this trip through Germany and discuss our readiness to return home.  After 3 weeks in Germany, we are ready to get home.

In the morning we will take the Taxi to the Train Station.   After missing our Train, we are rerouted through Leipzig, where we change trains and catch our Train to Frankfurt Airport.  We get off the Train, walk upstairs to the Hilton Hotel, and are there for the evening.  Terri is on a different flight than me; once here, she is reunited with her hiking partner from the beginning of the trip.  They check in on Air Canada, and I go back to the Hotel to Check out and catch my United Flight back to Nashville.   Terri's flight is delayed in Montreal, and she gets home about 6 hours after me.  It was another successful adventure, a little long but great nonetheless.