Our amazing, wonderful trip is all but over

It's true, this is the last day of our trip. This time tomorrow we'll be home. We've spent today doing whatever we can in Singapore, but the oppressive heat and humidity has severely limited what we can do. We've taken a couple of bus trips (they're air conditioned), and we spent an hour or so in the Botanic Gardens, which are absolutely stunning. They are huge in size, and there was no way we could walk them all. It would be great to be here when the climate was a little more agreeable so that you could explore more of what they offer.

Tonight we  enjoyed our last meal at a pretty flash restaurant Elizabeth  shouted us for Mum's and Dad's day, which was a lovely thought. The restaurant was right on the river, so the ambience was very special.

Well, that just about does it. To the cities of Geneva, Basel, Lucerne, Zurich, Lyon, Dijon, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Nuremberg, Dresden, Berlin and Singapore we say thank you very much for giving us so much joy. We've loved every single second and it will be difficult to go home, but all trips must eventually come to an end. It's unlikely we'll return to Europe, but you can never rule things out. 

And finally, a big thanks to Alison for making sure that we always knew where we were going. We never missed a bus or a train to our next destination, even if we arrived an hour and a half early. See you back home, and thanks for following our trip.

Our last night

An unintended post about a very special place

I didn't intend to write another post but Alison discovered, almost by accident, a very sombre place, thirty minutes by train from Berlin's central station at Grunewald. It is known as Gleis 17, which translates to Platform 17. Platform 17 at Grunewald was the main station for the deportation of German Jews, firstly to the ghettos and later to the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Theresienstadt, where most of them were gassed. The memorial consists of a series of metal grates on both platforms, chronologically arranged, detailing the number of Jews sent and their destination. 

Grunewald station. Platform 17 is a few minutes walk from the main station.

One of the grates showing that on September 28th, 1943, 74 Jews were sent from this platform to Auschwitz.

By the end of the war, more than 50,000 had been deported through the station and along the very track I stood on. It has to be remembered, this is just the numbers being sent from Berlin.  Undoubtedly, there were myriad other cities which deported similar numbers. We were the only people at the memorial, and I have no idea how many even know about it, but it is a chilling experience to know you were standing where 50,000 innocent people had been sent to their deaths by a heartless, genocidal regime.

These grates line both sides of the track. 

The very track which sent 50,000 Jews to their death.

Time to start thinking about home

Things have been a little strange today. Four weeks ago when we set foot in Singapore, I thought our 34 days would go on forever. There have been a few times, particularly in the first two weeks, when we felt a little homesick. Nothing major, but I guess your thoughts are somewhat still located in two places; where your home is and where you are at the present moment. However, as you get more and more into your travel, the experience of being on the road takes over and you start to think more of your next destination than back home. But now the reality that our trip is rapidly drawing to a close has well and truly set in. This is our last full day in Berlin before we head off tomorrow evening to Frankfurt en route to Singapore. Fortunately, we still have two nights left there before our final flight back to cold Melbourne. It's probably best if I don't think about it too much.

Yesterday we went to the memorial to European Jews persecuted during the past 100 years. It is quite a new memorial, with over 2711 concrete blocks. Down beneath the memorial is an information centre where you can read and hear about the systematic persecution of Jews by the Nazis. It was very interesting, and you could easily have spent an entire day reading transcripts and listening to audio. It is also a very poignant place and we felt a little ill at ease there. I've always found it hard to understand the excesses of human nature, the pain and suffering we can inflict on others. It was doubly hard experiencing this in the German capital, and I couldn't help wondering if such a thing could ever be repeated. I just don't know.

Some of the 2711 concrete columns which make up the Holocaust Memorial.

Last night we walked along the river near our apartment, but we did have to walk until 10.00 pm for the sun to set. The city looked lovely at night, and we walked past the Reichstag with it's famous glass dome (we tried booking, but nothing was available for two weeks). Today has been a bit of shopping and mainly strolling around. We think we'll go to the tiergarten this afternoon, as it's very pleasant weather. I guess my next post, which will most likely be our last, will be from Singapore in a few days.

The Reichstag under lights.

This little restaurant, not far from our place, has schnitzel night each Sunday.

At only 13.31 Euro each, a real bargain, washed down with 500 ml of pilsner.

What a strange sight. Not really, these bears are literally everywhere in Berlin, in fact, it is the city's emblem. This very colourful Australian bear is right outside our hotel (it's an Australian-owned hotel chain).

Walls, prisons, and a checkpoint named Charlie

It's been quite a while since the last post, I admit, but things here have been very busy. Despite what you might think, the public transport in Berlin is not very good. You can often wait up to thirty minutes for tram, and they don't actually travel that quickly. We've been known to take almost one hour to get to our place, which is actually very much in the centre of the city (or mitte, as the Germans call it). The other thing slowing us down a bit is the weather. It has been 33 or 34 degrees here but very high humidity; I would liken it to Darwin. The locals say this is highly unusual weather, particularly the humidity.

It looks like Bourke Street at 5.00 pm, but it's really just the river with countless tourists boats going up and down. 

We've been here three days now, so are starting to get a real feel for the place. It is a very large city, just a bit smaller than Melbourne, with a surprisingly strong Middle Eastern population. While it doesn't have the historic buildings of a Dresden or even Heidelberg (although it does have some spectacular old structures), it's real historical attraction is from the 1930s. Of course, I'm referring to the history of national socialism under Hitler, and the later division of the city into East and West during the Cold War. To be honest, I love the place. It is one of the most vibrant, diverse and exciting cities I've ever been to. It is quite raw, but that is part of its appeal. For her part, I know Alison is not as convinced as I am; its rawness is just a little too raw for her sensitivities. 

Yesterday we went to a magnificent static information centre, called the Topography of Terror, which has been built on the former site of the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo. The site also featured a couple of hundred metres of the best preserved section of the Berlin Wall we have seen. There are, of course, other sections dotted around the city (after all, it was over 150 km in length), but most of these are covered with graffiti or artwork. There was an awful lot to read, but all of it was interesting. One thing you cannot escape about the Germans is how they've almost gone out of their way to acknowledge and repudiate the sins of their Nazi past.

The Wall. Hundreds of people died trying to get from East to West, fired on by East German border guards.

The brickwork in the foreground are the foundations of the former Gestapo headquarters, uncovered during the cleanup after the building was demolished.

We also visited the site of the original Checkpoint Charlie, not the original building because that was removed years ago and is now in a museum. No, the site we visited is a cheap imitation intended for dumb tourists, many of them American, who take photos of a fake American GI (for a fee). Checkpoint Charlie was the main  crossover point for American and British officials wanting to travel between east and west. The Soviets at one stage attempted to close it off, which led to that very famous photo of American and Soviet tanks facing each other no more than fifty metres apart. Of course, nothing happen because neither side wanted a war to break out. Rather, this period of history became known for it's gesturing rather than any real exchange of firepower, a cold war, if you like.

The checkpoint during the standoff of 1961; neither side blinked.

The beautiful tiergarten, which covers a huge area in the city.

Berliners loves its green spaces

The Victory Column. Commemorates the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War.

Today, we made our way to the suburb of Hohenschoenhausen, which is the home of the former Soviet then East German prison. It was a Soviet prison until 1953, Joseph Stalin's death, and then it became the East Berlin's number one prison for political prisoners of the East German state. The prison, it was more of a torture and interrogation centre than a prison, was under the control of the DGR's secret police, the feared Stasi. At one stage, the Stasi had 90,000 East Germans working for them, and probably another 100,000 not on the payroll but spying on their fellow citizens. It's believed that around one in ten people were being surveiled and had a file kept on them. The prison operated until 1989, when the Wall came down, and the prison is now a memorial to the hundreds of people who died within its walls, and tours conducted, often by former inmates. 

Hohenschoenhausen Prison

The cells inside the Soviet prison

The cells inside the East German prison. The stout looking German woman in the foreground is actually a wax dummy, supposedly adding some realism to the place.

The interrogation corridor; there were several of them with identical interrogation rooms on both sides. 

For those wanting to learn a bit more about this prison, I can recommend the excellent book Stasiland by Australian writer Anna Funder. If you'd like a read, let me know and you can borrow my copy.

Ich bin ein Berliner

We're not exactly JFK, but we are at least in Berlin, having arrived mid-afternoon. After a home cooked meal (I made a goulash of sorts), we went for a bit of an outing to look at one of Berlin's most famous landmarks, the Brandenburg Gates, which are located in Pariserplatz. After Germany was divided up into four zones at the end of the war (well, two really), the Brandenburg Gates found themselves in the Soviet sector. When the wall went up in 1961, it passed right by the arches, basically becoming part of the barrier which kept East and West Berliners apart until 1989. 

The Brandenburg Gate

Pariserplatz with the tower at Alexanderplatz in the background.

After visiting this famous landmark, we decided to stroll along the Unter den Linden which took us all the way to Alexanderplatz, another really famous Berlin landmark, notable for its huge transmission tower which can be seen from almost anywhere in Berlin. This famous boulevard has so many lovely buildings on both sides, but it is a real shame that so many of this buildings are covered in scaffolding, clearly undergoing repairs or restoration. While we have no doubt this is important work, it's a real pity so many landmark buildings are covered up at the same time. We had the same problem with the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain in Rome, etc. (I know, now we're just showing off).

The Unter den Linden Boulevard

The Berlin Cathedral undergoing some work on its facade

The Alte Museum

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Jewish Museum and perhaps Hohenschonhausen prison, which was the main prison used by the East German Stasi during the GDR. It was here thousands of East German citizens, many guilty of no crimes other than to be less than enthusiastic about life behind the iron curtain, were tortured and imprisoned. Tours are still run by people who were former inmates of the prison. Pretty sobering stuff.

Alison looking just a little impatient with me

The back of the Cathedral from the river

Neptunbrunnen, one of Berlin's most famous attractions.

That bloody tower, it's everywhere you look.

Another city bites the dust

We've just returned from our last evening stroll through the streets of Dresden's old town and we're already feeling sad knowing we'll most likely never walk them again, such is our affection for this place. To be honest, everywhere we've left we've felt saddened to leave. I guess that means we've had a great time in each of our stops. It's off to Berlin tomorrow, which means a little over a week to go before we touch down in Melbourne. Still, there's much to see and do.

Today we took the bus and tram to the very extremes of the city, into the countryside. Our objective was to visit a place called Pilnitz Palace and gardens, built with a baroque and chinoiserie influence. It was outside the 5 km radius from the old town where the allied bombs fell, so much of it remains as it was from the 17th century. The Palace was suitably grand, and the gardens extensive although not as well kept as some we've seen (the grass grows so quickly here I guess mowing is a constant chore). The Palace is also a museum, and it was fascinating to see the way life was for both the German aristocracy and their servants, over the past few centuries. 

Pilnitz Palace

Another wing of the Palace

The Palace has lovely gardens with a beautiful fountain

We were both particularly interested by the extensive kitchens in the Palace, which had to prepared meals for around seventy people each day, using an array of wood burning ovens which could boil, roast, and grill the various meats delivered from the surrounding farms. They also prepared desserts, soups, breads and pastries. What an enterprise. The main dining room was so large we actually mistook it for a ballroom at first.

One of many kitchens in the Palace

The dining room

Yours truly downing half a litre of German beer at midday. Well, it's hard work doing nothing.

It's off to church today

We decided this morning we would visit the Frauenkirche Church at midday to hear the daily organ recital, as well as a short prayer service, which unfortunately was in German, but I think we still managed to get the gist. The pipe organ is truly magnificent but, of course, Alison was still able to find fault in how it was being played. We heard three pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, quite fitting since Bach himself played in the original church in 1736. In case you're interested, Richard Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer, also conducted and premiered his Biblical scene, the Feast of the Pentecost, here in 1843.

This image depicts the church after the firebombings and today, fully restored

Like most other buildings in Dresden (around 98 percent), the Frauenkirche was completely destroyed in 1945 by allied firebombing. The few buildings left partially standing were levelled and the rebuilding of the city commenced after the war in Europe concluded. Nobody really knows how many people died in the firestorm, but estimates as high as 60,000 wouldn't be too far off the mark. Dresden was considered at the time one of the most beautiful cities in the whole of Europe, and why it was chosen as the target for firebombing is a bit of a mystery. There is a theory that it may well have been in retribution for Hitler's failed firebombing of London and Coventry years earlier. Who can ever get inside the minds of generals and politicians.

The thing we find the most fascinating about the Frauenkirche Church is that it literally laid in ruins until 1993, when the rubble was removed for the reconstruction to commence. The church was finally finished in October 2005. We just can't get our heads around this church literally rising from the ashes. Dresden is a remarkable place, a real tribute to post-war construction. 

Inside the church - it does look very 'new'.

The church's impressive dome

Part of the original stone wall. Most of the buildings were constructed using the original stone, supplemented only when needed by new material.

In fact, everything about Dresden, particularly the old town, is fascinating. It is almost impossible to believe that what you see in front of you is scarcely more than 30 years old. As Dresden lies in the former GDR, not much reconstruction work really began until after the wall came down; I guess the East Germans had other priorities. 

Some of the buildings completely destroyed and rebuilt in the last 30 or so years. Could you pick the restoration work?

Everywhere you look, the reconstruction goes on, 74 years after those fateful few days.