48 hours in Berlin ... well just over

So i arrived in Berlin Tuesday evening slightly later than i had expected. 

Eurostar and then train from Brussels to Koln was on time and i then had to change for a train to Berlin. Looking at the departures board there was no reference to my train (and later trains were being shown) but there was another slightly earlier to Berlin which went fairly shortly. The queue at the information desk was a bit long so i decided that i might as well get on the train that was shown. It ended up being a less direct route and adding a couple of hours to the journey but comfortable with decent wifi. I still dont know whether the other train was running or not.

I had been to Berlin for a couple of days back in 2010 when i took a sabattical from work, but it was on my list of places to go now that i am on a much longer "sabattical". Its an interesting city with obviously a  diverse history much within living memory. I was 21 when the Berlin Wall came down, and remember it well - even the David Hasslehoff performance (which just seemed weird). At the time there was change across much of eastern europe, very similar to the recent "Arab Spring". Perhaps it was my age, the world at the time or how things were reported but everything seemed a lot simpler then - you "knew" who the goodies and baddies were and there was a much less nuanced debate on "regime change".

There were a number of walking tours advertised on Tripadvisor and that looked like a good way to re-engage with the city. Tours like this tend to be more intimate than on/off bus tours and guides often open up with their own specific views/expereinces. What better way to get a local's view on the world in 2022. So i was slightly disappointed at first to find out that Scot, from Glasgow, was going to be our tour guide. Initial disappointment went however as it became clear that he was really a local (had been there for 5 years) and not a back-packer trying to make some money whilst travelling. He provided a good background to the history of the city, concentrating not surprisingly on the period from the WW1 onwards where the city has gone through monarchy, an inflation impacted attempt at democracy, fascism, war, being cut in four and then two and the fall of the wall and unification. As explained, many of the buildings/sites have therefore had many changes in their use over time.

The tour lasted about four hours and primairly covered areas previously within East Berlin, including the Museum Island area, Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Topography of Terror Museum, a small section of the wall and then Checkpoint Charlie. It was not rushed and provided reasonable overview and ideas on some longer visits. Obviously its impossible to see some of these areas without covering challenging issues around war, Nazi ideology and Holocaust and Scot managed to discuss in a well balanced and thought provoking manner. Overall an interesting tour and guide.

After the tour i specifically went back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and Topography of Terror Museum.

Thursday i decided to have a museum day and went back to Museum Island. This is a group of eight sites, all impressive buildings, covering a range of subjects. A single pass gives you access to all of them, although it would be difficult to do all of them justice in a single day. They were an interesting mix,  many of them covering explorations by germans rather than german history including study of ancient Greece and Egypt.  After that a brief river trip to provide a slightly different perspective of the city.

Today is a travel day, direct train from Berlin to Wroclaw where the bridge starts tomorrow.

Photos of Berlin - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos

Podcast of the day : The Rest is History

Currently reading :  David Baldacci - The Escape

Currently watching : Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams