Czech Republic (31 October - 7 November 2016)
Our adventure to the Czech Republic began with an
almost 7 hour bus ride from Krakow to Prague. That was pretty much our day - we managed to sort some photos
and read a bit arriving in Prague ~7.20pm. We caught the metro to the station nearest our accommodation (as
the taxi driver was keen to rip off the newcomers) and then walked the 10
minutes or so to check in. Another nice room
which is great however we left it pretty quickly and walked into the Old Town
Square to find some dinner. In the dark our
introduction to the square was still pretty special and it was teeming with
people (which quite surprised us). The city is known as the Golden City,
or City of 1000 spires – we also learnt later that Prague is the fifth most
visited city in Europe so lots of visitors is really quite normal. Doing what you shouldn't (in hindsight we found out) we were
tempted by the street food in the square and paid way too much for it. However it filled a hole and after finding a supermarket we
headed for home.
The next day we decided to do the free walking tour
to discover the city. A beautiful day but still chilly we headed to the meeting
place ready to begin. Our guide was David
(with a very dry sense of humour) and he was really informative. As always you learn so much it's almost impossible to take it
all in - history of buildings, characters, stories (not necessarily real),
wars, the Jewish community and holocaust and much more.
Our first port of call was the Old Town Hall and
Astronomical Clock. The hall was
established in 1338 as the seat of the Old Town administration, the 1410
astronomical clock on the tower performs every hour between 9am and 11pm when
twelve apostles appear. If you look closely it tells a story too with
depictions of vanity, greed, death and lust amongst others things. The gothic tower dating from the 14th century dominates the Old
Town Hall and the square itself and used to be attached to another half of the
building that was destroyed at the end of WWII (part of the very little damage
Prague experienced during the war).
There
are lots of other buildings of note in the Old Town Square including Kinsky
Palace (1755-1765), St Nicholas church (1704-55) and Tyn Church (the Church of
Mother of god before Tyn). Tyn Church is another dominant feature of the
square and has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th
century. All these and even the smaller buildings make this square simply
stunning.
Next was the 1885 Rudolfinum Concert Hall that has
been the home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra since 1946. From here you can see over the Vltava River to the Castle
district and the Cathedral residing over the city.
Not venturing over there this tour though so onwards
into the Jewish district, in particular Josefov - a small corner of the town
that was home to Prague's Jews for some 800 years. The Old New Synagogue is Europe's oldest active synagogue
completed in 1270. It is now part of a
cluster that make up the Jewish Museum which was established in 1906 to
preserve objects from synagogues demolished during the "slum
clearance" at the turn of the 20th century. The more grotesque thing about this is during the Nazi
occupation the Germans took over the museum in order to create a "museum
of an extinct race". The museum is full
of objects they added from destroyed Jewish communities.
Walking through the streets on the tour is something
else.
Almost every street and every corner is a photo
opportunity with amazing architecture, buildings and colours. Our next stop was Powder Tower - a 1475 gate that was originally
1 of 13 that surrounded the old town. It was designed to be more of an entrance that a defensive tower
and now separates the old and new city.
We finished the tour by the late 18th century
Estates Theatre where Mozart launched his opera Don Giovanni. We had decided to do the Castle Tour with David as well so had
about 35 minutes to find something to eat and return to the starting point.
We started the 2nd tour by walking our way towards
the Castle on the other side of Vltava River. On the way over we stopped by a Memorial monument of the Czech
Republic flag in dedication to the second resistance movement to the Nazi
occupation from 1938 to 1945.
A quick tram ride and walk and we found ourselves at
the gate (strahovsky klaster) to the Castle District, or more particularly the
end where Strahov Monastery resides.
The monastery was founded in 1143 and was heavily
damaged in 1258 by fire. It was reconstructed
and has had bits added through the centuries since, the latest addition being
in 1779 when the library or Philosophical Hall was added. Of course there is a monastery brewery with their own special
brews to keep things real.
As we walked through the district towards Prague
Castle we were treated to some amazing views over the city, a church that had
been converted into a hotel (apparently there are a large percentage of
atheists here & now 2 many churches), Loretta Church (1626) and some
amazing and presumably old gas lights (which are still gas lights).
As we approached Castle Square we passed
Schwarzenberg Palace (1545-67) which is said to be the most impressive
Renaissance style building in Prague. It's complete with graffito’s (a technique of wall decor) and
now serves as an exhibition space for the National Gallery.
We finally reached the Castle and got a glimpse of
courtyard 1 with its large imposing gates and guards, then into courtyard 2
(after a security check). The Castle was
founded in the 9th century and has been an important symbol of the Czech state
for more than a thousand years. It became the seat
of Czech rulers and is still home to the president.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague
Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost
70,000 square metres (~570m long and an average of ~130 metres wide). It's construction began in 870 and thanks to all the different
rulers adding their "mark" the construction officially ended in 1929.
The site is dominated by St Vitus Cathedral which is
the largest and most important church in the country. The church was founded in 1344 and it contains many tombs of
Bohemian Kings and Holy Roman Emperors. It is quite something - as you get closer it looms up in front of you and appears
astonishingly large. On one side the
portal that the kings entered the cathedral for coronation ceremonies is
located - it is nicknamed "golden gate" most likely because of the
golden mosaic of Last Judgment depicted on it.
Next it was on to the oldest surviving church within
the Castle complex - St George's Basilica founded in 920 (standing out due to
its red colour) and then into Golden Lane. Golden Lane is a street within the castle complex that is full
of tiny coloured houses. Its name is
connected with 16th century alchemists who (according to legend) lived there
whist looking for a reaction to produce gold.
On the way back down from our fairy-tale castle we
were once again treated to the most beautiful city views and an absolutely
stunning sunset. On the way home we
got great night views of the Castle and the Old Town Square to top off a great
day - doesn't get much better than this.
Next day, after deciding to extend our stay in
Prague and doing a bit of exercise (and Gary getting some great 'less people' photos), we ventured out again to retrace some of our steps and spend a little
more time in some of the places we visited on our walking tour.
Back through the Powder Tower and this time a good
stop to ogle at the Municipal House. Built in 1905-1912 it was lovingly restored in the 1990s with
every detail being carefully considered it a beautiful building.
A quick stop to buy bus tickets for stage two of our
visit to Czech Republic and our exit strategy and then we had a nice (but cold
and windy) walk along the river back to the Jewish district. With a little more time to ponder we looked again at the Old New
Synagogue and it's "two clock" tower (the lower clock is in Hebrew
and turns counter-clockwise), viewed some more of the amazing buildings in the
surrounding streets, and then headed into the Jewish Museum.
The Old Jewish Cemetery is the largest Jewish
cemetery in Europe and one of the most important Jewish historical monuments in
Prague.
It served its purpose from the first half of the
15th century until 1786 (when it was founded exactly is unknown but the oldest
known grave is 1439 and the most recent 1787).
During its time it continually struggled with lack
of space (the community were not permitted to purchase additional land) so a
new layer of soil was heaped up on the available area. For this reason there are now areas where up to 12 layers exist. It also explains the dense forest of gravestones that we see
today as many commemorate an individual that is buried several layers beneath. The cemetery is now several metres higher than the surrounding
streets and held up with retaining walls. It's a very serene and in an unusual way beautiful way. It is very special that it remains untouched as a memorial to
all those buried there.
We ventured in and out of the remaining synagogues
and the Ceremonial Hall looking at the relics of another time, in particular
the beautifully kept historic Torah (scrolls) dating from 1704, 1801 and
1872. Then onto our final stop for the day - the Pinkas Synagogue.
It is the second oldest in Prague and as with many buildings in the Jewish
district the floor is metres below the street level.
In the late 1950's the inside walls were adorned
with just under 80,000 Jewish names of those that were taken and killed during
the Holocaust. It is a simple
gesture that has such power and emotion attached to it. A reality that we have come face to face with numerous times in
the last few weeks and this is no less moving.
On the first floor of the synagogue is another
exhibition - pictures drawn by children in the concentration camp in
Theresienstadt. Drawing lessons were
held by Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (1898-1944) who encouraged the children to
express themselves in drawing, to grapple with their experiences and capture
memories and dreams. Most of the children
as well as Friedl died in Auschwitz. The witnesses to their lives (their drawings) survived because
they were hidden before Friedl was deported and after liberation, 4,500 of them
were handed over to the Jewish Museum.
Another
day dawns and we’re off exploring again. Seems like we’re repeating
everything we have seen but a walking tour really just shows you the key sites
– you don’t get to explore them or go inside as there is so much to cover in a
short time. So we headed back to the Old Town Square. First up was
the climb up the Old Town Hall tower which was more than worth the
effort. The views of Prague Old Town and New as well as the Castle were
beautiful. This is definitely one of the most beautiful cities we have
visited, if not the most beautiful.
Finding
what seemed like a hidden doorway we then went into Tyn Church whose columns
confirmed its 14th century origins and then onto St Nicholas
(1604-55) Nicholas.
From there we headed over the river, first along Charles Bridge. Prague’s oldest bridge was begun in 1357 (opened in 1402) and later (from 1683 to 1928) was adorned with thirty statues of saints to decorate the bridge. The bridge is protected by three bridge towers that give it a very auspicious and grand feel. There are so many people on the bridge it’s hard to imagine what it looks like empty – however thankfully Gary likes to run early in the morning, when less people are out!
On
the Lesser Quarter (or “little side”) of Prague we visited the Church of our
Lady Victorious. The Church was founded in 1584 and is famous for the
Child Jesus statue called the Infant Jesus of Prague. The statue is a 16th
century depiction of infant Jesus holding a ‘globus cruciger’ (or cross bearing
orb).
We
got views of St Nicholas on this side of the river (there are two St Nic's one
on each side) and then we caught the tram back up to the Castle. The
first stop atop the hill was to venture inside St Vitus Cathedral which turned
out to be great timing as the sun was shining in the windows and casting a
rainbow coloured glow throughout the inside. The Cathedral (1344) is
absolutely enormous and a wonder (as they all are) to how it was built so long
ago. The most frustrating thing about the Cathedral is trying to
photograph it as it is almost impossible to get into one frame!
We
walked back up to Strahov Monastery to visit the library. It played an
important role in Czech history and houses ~200,000 old books mostly from
between the 16th and 18th centuries, 3,000 manuscripts
and 1,500 first prints. The two rooms are beautiful, called the
Theological Hall and Philosophical Hall but unfortunately the doorway was as
close as you could get. We did get to see some of the books up close (behind
the glass of course), including John of Selmberk’s Bible (1440) and an
Astronomical Atlas written in Italy in the mid 1300’s.
From
there it was a leisurely walk back down the hill through the Castle and along
Golden Lane (this time with less people) and the beautiful view overlooking the
city. This time we were a little earlier so got the city with the sun
lighting it up as opposed to the sunset colours of a couple of nights
ago. Either way it is quite gorgeous.
Having
completely walked our legs off we decided to pop into the bar/restaurant across
the road for a drink and ended up having dinner there also. Krcma has a
unique and cosy atmosphere and is a little below ground level and is an
authentic medieval tavern dating back to 1471.
The
next two days were more catch up days than anything as we had almost done
everything we had planned to. Friday evening we ventured out to Prague
Burlesque. It appeared to be highly rated but in reality was a little bit
amateurish and not quite “burlesque”. The best part about the evening was
the venue – the 1929 Royal Theatre which was great, and ‘photo time’ at the end
of the show.
The
next day we did venture out to the last sight we wanted to see, which was
Wenceslas Square. It’s one of the main city squares and the centre of the
business and cultural communities in the ‘new town’ of Prague. The square
is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia – who holds pride
of place at the top of the square atop his horse.
The
evening consisted of a string recital in St Nicholas. The sound was
simply beautiful and in such a gorgeous setting made it all the more
special. They played Bach and Mozart among others and it was the perfect
way to end our visit to Prague.
Travel
day again today but only a short one (3 hour bus ride). The weather had
decided to pack in so most of the trip was very grey and rainy outside,
although inside we had movies and coffee service so no-one was
complaining. We arrived in Cesky Krumlov at 2pm and made our way into the
old town before going indoors to dry out.
Cesky
Krumlov is a small town (pop ~14,000) that is classed as a ‘must see’.
The 17th century town has a river snaking through it and a
Renaissance castle towering over it. Apparently it’s the fairy-tale town
that tourist brochures promote but we had to wait until the following day to
see it as the forecast was more promising. We opted to head out quickly
to check out the town’s square, visit the info centre and mini-market before
spending the afternoon indoors. We went out only once again in the
evening for dinner.
The
next day we got up to snow on the small hills surrounding the town and people
complaining that the snow is early this year. We opted to do the walking
tour and our guide Jan showed us around. We started in the Town Square
where the 16th century Town Hall resides. It is adorned with
the coats of arms of three of the families that reigned here (Rosenbergs,
Eggenbergs, and Schwarzenbergs). The buildings that surround the square
are gorgeous and the square itself, in keeping with the rest of the town, is
very cute.
Cesky
Krumlov translates to crooked meadow as the land was originally a meadow looked
over by the castle and the Vltava River weaves through in the shape of two
joined S figures giving meaning to the ‘crooked’. We walked up to the
first of many viewpoints to get great views of the castle and then on to the 14th
century St Vitus Church which stands high and proud on the town side of the
river – built carefully so not to be higher than the castle of course.
Next
to the church is the oldest music school, founded in 1780 it makes it the
oldest music school in all of Bohemia. If you listen carefully you can
hear the students practising – piano and trumpet among others. We wandered
through the streets, which to be honest you could do all day, before crossing
the river and heading over to the castle side of the town. As we walked
up Latran (street) we passed a 14th century house which is unique
for its architecture – the ground level is Gothic, 2nd level
Renaissance and top level Baroque!
Next
was the State Castle of Cesky Krumlov – building development from the 14th
to 19th centuries is well preserved in the original ground plan
layout, material structure, interior installation and architectural
detail. Unfortunately we didn’t get to go inside (closes in November for
winter), but we did get to walk through the castle complex, through the
courtyards and into the gardens. The Castle is one of the largest in
central Europe (said to be the biggest after Prague Castle) and is a complex of
forty buildings and palaces, situated around five castle courts and a castle
park that spans seven hectares.
The
complex, courtyards, gates and views were sensational and we took our time taking
it all in before heading out the other side and up into the gardens (which we
were lucky were still open due to the season). The autumn colours were
amazing – am sure that it looks beautiful in summer but there is something very
special about autumn colours, and as timing would have it, ice and snow still
sitting atop the hedges and on the grass.
We
headed back through the castle and did a little exploring on this side of the
bridge. Walking around the riverside, past Eggenberg Brewery and through
to their restaurant (1590) where we had a traditional lunch and beer (and got
inside away from the 2 degrees outside temps and into the warm).
After
lunch we did the tour in reverse just taking in the town in a little more depth
with a bit more time to stop and ogle at the historic castle and buildings, the
mill water wheel and the gorgeous sites that surround us. We headed
indoors around 3.30pm and within the hour it was dark. Gary headed out
again to get a couple of night pics, then we ventured out for dinner.
Cesky
Krumlov was a really nice surprise and well worth the visit. A full day
is more than enough to get around and see the sights, feel the atmosphere of
the town and have time to enjoy it, however it would be a very easy place to lose
yourself in for a few days.
What
we will remember about Czech Republic:
Beautiful
buildings
Beautiful
cities
Rivers
First
winter snow in Europe
The
Jewish cemetery
Goulash
Autumn
colours
Big
castles
Germany
– Dresden & Berlin (8-12 November 2016)
Travel day and a couple of buses - the first from
Cesky Krumlov to Prague (3 hours) and the second from Prague (Czech Republic)
to Dresden (Germany) (2 hours). The buses were great
- again movies and free coffee so no complaints. The time went really quickly and we found ourselves in Dresden
in no time. Arriving in the dark
(and 1-2 degrees) we caught the local tram and had a short walk into the
historic centre and to our hotel. It was only a quick visit to the supermarket downstairs and out
for dinner before we called it a night.
Our full day in Dresden was spent exploring. Both
Neumarkt Square and the Church of our Lady were right on our
doorstep so they were the first port of call. The original church built from 1726-1743 was destroyed in the
bombing of Dresden in WWII and its ruins were left as a war memorial for 50
years before the reunification of Germany. The new Lutheran church rebuild (using the original 1720's
plans) commenced in 1994 and was completed in 2005 and used as many of the
original stones as was possible. The centrepiece (the altar) was also
lovingly rebuilt using two thousand pieces of the original. The church is
a round shape which is unusual but lovely and the surrounding square with its
baroque buildings (also reconstructed in 2004) adds to the squares charm.
Next was the Furstenzug or Procession of Princes. It is a large mural (102m long) of a mounted procession of the
rulers of Saxony. It was originally
painted in 1871-76 however to make it weatherproof it was replaced with ~23,000
porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907 - now known as the largest porcelain
artwork in the world.
Next on to Dresden Cathedral (or Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity). Founded in 1739 it
has always been the most important Catholic church in the city. It was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1964 and is
located near the Elbe River and holds pride of place in amongst numerous
historic and amazing structures.
Onto Semperoper (or Opera House) which is home to
the Saxon State Opera and Orchestra. It was originally built in 1841 but after
a fire in 1869 was rebuilt and completed in 1878. It has had a long history of premieres and is a beautiful
building - one can only imagine the acoustics and decorative inside.
Zwinger Palace was next - everything is literally a
stone’s throw from each other making the sites something pretty spectacular. The palace is built in Rococo style and the location was
formerly part of the Dresden fortress and you can still see the preserved outer
wall.
It served as the orangery, exhibition gallery and
festival arena of the Dresden Court. There has been development on this site since the 2th century
but the current Zwinger Palace began in the early 18th century.
The Royal Palace (or Dresden Castle) is one of the
oldest buildings in Dresden (although you could walk right past it without knowing). Construction began
on George's Gate in 1533 with additions through the centuries until completion
in today's form in 1899. It has been the
residence of electors, kings of Saxony and House of Wettin. Today it is a museum complex housing multiple city treasures.
From here we decided to venture across Elbe River to
the 'meadows'. The meadows run
alongside the river and make up part of the Dresden Elbe Valley, which is a
cultural landscape and former World Heritage Site (delisted in 2009 after a
modern bridge was built across the river). The valley extends for some 20kms and following Gary going for a
run we found out is lined with vineyards and castle-like estates.
Last but not least was Bruhl's Terrace (nicknamed
'The Balcony of Europe'). The terrace
stretches out along the Elbe River to the north of Neumarkt Square. It is one of the favourite inner city places for both locals and
tourists for walking, people watching and having coffee (although even though
today is beautiful, it is too cold to sit outside!)
We wandered around the city a bit more venturing
through the old streets and Christmas decorations as well as more modern town
and it's shopping centre (supermarket visit). Dresden's historic town is compact and picturesque and a lovely
place to spend a day or two.
On the move again we headed, this time by train, to
Berlin.
The two hour trip went extremely fast and we were
treated to snow fall outside as we whisked our way through the countryside. Thankfully though when we arrived in Berlin the weather was
better and after a short bus ride and walk we found our way to our hotel,
located in Mitte. With Lesley full of
a cold we decided to spend the afternoon indoors venturing out only for dinner. With three nights here we have plenty of time to explore.
Berlin is famous for a lot of reasons and people,
however also sometimes the wrong reasons in particular Hitler and the Berlin
Wall. Reminders of its past are everywhere however the city isn’t
shackled by this and has it’s modern parts and lots of tourists (even at this
time of the year) who are keen to be absorbed by the city and learn a thing or
two at the same time.
As per our usual plan we opted to do a walking tour
commencing at 10.30am in the morning. Rugged up as it is 1-2 degrees we
headed to our starting point and met up with a large group of 28 or so all but
a few minutes of the walk will be in old “East Berlin”. Our first stop was Museumsinsel - or Museum Quarter. Berlin’s treasure trove spans 6000 years’
worth of history, art and artefacts. It’s on its own little island in the city surrounded by canals
and is made up almost entirely of historic buildings housing the city's
museums.
We made a note to try and return to at least two of
them - Neues and Pergamon.
Opposite some of the museums is the Berlin Cathedral
(1904) that is 70m shorter than it once was due to bombing in WWII. Around the other side of the Cathedral is Lustgarten (a large
green open space) edged with important buildings, like the Cathedral and the
Altes Museum (1823-30) and the in progress rebuild of what was once the Palace
until it was destroyed during the Communist era.
Interestingly behind the Cathedral a short distance
away is the Fernsehturm (television tower) - not very pretty but very modern
making the difference between the two buildings extreme; however they were built
only 67 years apart.
We passed over one of the many bridges known as
Castle bridge also known as Schinkel's bridge (after the artist that designed
it).
Schinkel is very well known in Berlin with his
buildings or additions to buildings all over the city (including Altes Museum). He was a lover of columns and domes so many are not hard to spot.
From here it was on to the Neue Wache memorial. The
building (Schinkel) was built between 1816-1818 and for 100 years was the Royal
guard station. In 1931 it became a memorial for those who had fallen in
WWI but was damaged by bombs near the end of WWII. After 1960 it was
restored and become a ‘memorial to the victims of fascism and militarism’, and
then in 1969 the remains of an Unknown Soldier and a concentration camp victim
were buried here. In 1993 it became the main memorial
site for the Victims of War and Tyranny. The sculpture that stands in the
centre is “Mother with her Dead Son”.
Next up was the Humboldt University of Berlin which
is made up of university buildings, museum and a library. The Humboldt brothers were famous and their statues have pride
of place out front. The university
building is where in 1933 the book burning occurred (another famous in history
moment) and to remember this there is an empty bookcase memorial placed
underground, it has a reflective glass panel so that we never forget it was
ordinary people - people like us - that contributed to this devastating loss.
From there the 1705 Französischer Dom (French Church) which towers over one side of Gendarmenmarkt
square.
After the German people got wind of the church they
were upset that it was dedicated to the French and demanded one for themselves
- so now there is an almost identical one on the other side of the square. The square itself was a little out of bounds as they are setting
up for a Christmas market - am sure these markets would be amazing in December.
Checkpoint Charlie was next – a name given to the
best known Berlin Wall crossing point (by Western Allies) during the Cold War
(1947-1991). When the Berlin Wall went up in 1961 there were four
checkpoints in Germany, two of them to get from West to East Germany and the
other two from East to West Berlin. There is nothing here now other than
memories but there are plaques on the ground indicating where the wall was.
The actual Berlin Wall - we stopped by a remnant of
the wall by the Topography of Terror Museum. The Wall itself was 156km long and completely cut off (by land)
West Berlin from the surrounding East Germany and East Berlin. It
was built by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to halt the stream of
refugees fleeing their territory (between 1949 and 1961 more than 2.7m people
had fled). It was made up of two walls (front wall 3.6m high and
hinterland wall 4.2m high) and the death strip (the space in between). The death strip incorporated manned watch towers (soldiers with
guns), trick wires, alarms, dogs, spikes and any manner of awful things to
deter people trying to escape to a better life. It separated families, friends and partners and effectively held
captive those in GDR territory. Unfortunately at
least 140 deaths are attributed to the wall, but it is likely that there were
many more - 42 of these were children or teenagers. Freedom began in 1989
with demolition officially beginning in June 1990 and completed in 1992.
On the other side of the wall in the (opposite the
Topography of Terror) is the building where the Ministry of Aviation for the
Nazis was situated (1933-45). The ministry was in charge of development
and production of all aircraft during the existence of the Third Reich.
It handled military aviation matters as its top priority particularly for the
Luftwaffe (aerial warfare division).
Also in the Museum grounds remnants of remaining
Nazi accommodations can be found including Gestapo headquarters and the SS
central command.
Next up was Platz des Volksaufstandes 1953 (Square
of the Uprising of 1953) - this is the site of the Memorial to the 17 June 1953 uprising. There are two
pieces of art – “Aufbau der Republik” (build-up of the Republic) which is a
wall mural showing the life that DRG wanted people to belief they had with
optimism and smiles and then there is the memorial - the intended uprising went horribly wrong (Russian tanks rolled in)
and many people were killed here resulting in the second piece of art - a photo
of strikers marching to the building known at the time as the House of
Ministries. It is purposely the same size as the wall mural and in
total contrast to it. A more sombre reality of what was real and what happened here.
Stopping next in what seemed like an empty parking
lot we discovered we were standing on the site of Hitler’s' bunker - also the
place he committed suicide on hearing the Allies were on their way. The site now has a small notification board on it but other than
that nothing - Hitler is not something Germany or the German people what to
memorialise. It sits alongside
what was the aspirational area to live and the very "flash" communist
style apartments that were built for those important or high ranking enough and
also accommodated sports stars of the era.
The next site is one of the most important in the
city and is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (inaugurated in 2005). It is a large site – the size of a football field with coffin
like concrete columns rising in silence from the undulating ground. It
has no meaning – specifically so that people can walk through the site and come
to their own conclusions.
Two more impressive sites, not far on were the 1894
Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. The Reichstag has had a turbulent past being burned,
bombed, buttressed by The Wall and eventually turned into Germany’s parliament.
The Brandenburg Gate sits at the entrance to Paris
Square which is an extremely popular place for protests of any kind, big or
small.
It's also the place where the biggest party in
Berlin was ever held - when the wall came down in 1989. The gate itself was completed in 1791 as the
royal city gate and during the Cold War became a symbol of division – now
however epitomising Germany’s reunification (a much nicer memory).
This is where the walking tour ended, almost five
hours after we had started. We decided to head
back to the Jewish Memorial to visit the associated museum only to find out it
is closed for renovations so option two then become the Topography of Terror. This museum is something else. If you think you've seen details about WWII and the part the SS
played in it you have seen nothing until you've been here. More detail on more brutality in more countries that you could
ever wish to imagine. Culprits named and
shamed in a bid to ensure that this never happens again. Have to say that we are extremely impressed with Germany in this
regard - have always wondered what they thought and what they teach and it is
becoming more and more apparent that they teach more than anywhere else the
atrocities that came at the hands of Hitler and the Nazi party. Our visit
was extremely informative and overwhelming to the point that we didn't get
around it all. There is only so
much of this information one can take, but we are grateful that it is being
taught so neutrally.
On the way home we passed by the modern memorial of
Georg Elser. George tried to assassinate Hitler in November 1939, and unfortunately
didn't succeed (in fact it was one of 43 attempted assassinations that all
failed).
When he was asked why he did it - he said "I am
trying to stop the war". All before anyone
else knew what was coming – he was captured, held prisoner for five years and
eventually executed at Dachau concentration camp.
Past the Brandenburg Gate at night which, along with
the rest of the city, is very pretty all lit up and then it was a quick pit
stop at the hotel before shooting out for “The One” Show. Not a bad day with almost 8 hours walking around Berlin.
The Palast theatre where "The One" show
takes place was close to our hotel the show is similar to Cirque du Soleil (but
not as good). It was however worth
the visit and all the costumes are designed by Jean Paul Gautier so it was a
feast for the eyes if nothing else!
The next day (this time it's minus 2 degrees) Gary
went for a run and got some beautiful photos of modern Berlin, the rivers and
autumn colours along with 'people less' views of the Brandenburg Gate,
Reichstadt and a bit further out of town - the Soviet War Memorial (established
in 1949) and 1873 Berlin Victory Column.
Last full day in Berlin we want to visit a couple of
other sites we had earmarked to see that we haven't as yet. The first of those was Gedenkstatte Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall
Memorial). A site that is a
memorial to the wall and its victims and still has both inner and outer parts
of the wall visible. It was one of the
widest pieces of the death strip. There are photos of the walls victims and information about the
church and cemetery that became unwilling participants simply by the nature of
their location, both being destroyed at different times. There is also a visitor centre to learn more about how all this
came about, as well as the eventual falling of it.
Last Berlin Wall stop was the East Side Gallery. The longest piece of the wall still intact at 1.3km long it has been
adorned by more than 100 paintings from artists all over the world – becoming
the world’s largest open air mural collection.
Last but definitely not least we headed back to
Museum Quarter to visit the two on our list. Pergamon museum is home to one of the four Gates of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate dates from 6th century BC and it was
reconstructed in the museum using the original bricks. Its blue tile
sized pieces were shipped in hundreds of crates and painstakingly put back
together like a giant precious jigsaw puzzle (the first crates in 1903 and over
500 crates followed in 1927). Only the front part
of the gate is here as the building would need to be twice the size it is to
get the entire structure in. It's adorned with
Aurochs and Lions symbolising the goddess Ishtar and is one of the many
treasures in this museum.
The gate was part of the Walls of Babylon and had a
Processional Way leading into the gate. It was also made of blue tiles
and lined with lions, bulls, dragons and flowers also symbolising the goddess
Ishtar. The gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses.
Then there was the marble Market Gate (100AD) from
the ancient city of Miletus, the Orpheus Mosaic (a mosaic floor from 200AD),
and multiple pieces of history (scriptures, statues, paintings and ornaments)
dating back to 1000-1500BC mostly from the ancient city of Ashur. There
are two large human headed winged lion statues with horned crowns (the crowns
are a symbol of divinity) along with many other pieces that make up what an
Assyrian Palace Chamber may have looked like. It is quite a step back in history and
incredibly interesting.
Neues Museum is home to two main attractions - the
Bust of Queen Nefertiti (1340 BC) and The Golden Hat (1000 BC). The Bust of Queen Nefertiti is said to be the most accurate and
'perfect' replication of her and standing in front of it it's not surprising
why.
How on earth something this old can remain this
perfect is astonishing. It is one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt and
has resulted in Nefertiti becoming one of the most famous women of the ancient
world, and an icon of feminine beauty (Nefertiti means “the beautiful one has
cometh forth”). She was the wife of Egyptian Pharaoh
Akhenaten of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt – his Bust however was not so lucky. It is still housed in the museum but not anywhere near the
perfection of hers.
The Golden Hat is the best preserved specimen among
the four known conical Golden hats that exist from the Bronze Age Europe. It is
assumed that the hats served as the insignia of deities or priests in the
context of a sun cult that appears to have been widespread in Central Europe at
that time. The hats are also suggested to have served
astronomical/calendrical functions.
By the time we came out of the museum it was pitch
black (around 5.30pm) and we headed home. Time to catch our breath and then out again for dinner before
calling it a night, and readying ourselves for departure tomorrow and a big
travel day.
What we will remember about East Germany
Re built cities
The rivers
The Wall
Nazi Buildings
Great Museums
The Holocaust Memorial
Belgium - Brussels (13-14 November 2016)
We left the hotel just before 10am to start our
travel day. It was long but
pretty easy with a train from Berlin to Koln (4 hours), another from Koln to
Brussels (2 hours) and a quick metro ride one stop so that we could walk to our
hotel.
We are only revisiting Brussels as our flight to
Norway departs from here (we booked ages ago and after changing the timing were
stuck with the departure point). We are quite happy though as we get two nights here, and one
full day just to chill out without worrying about taking multiple photos,
visiting multiple sites or taking notes. Just time to wander about - nice.
We
spent our day doing a couple of things that we didn’t get a chance to do whilst
we were here last. They mostly included very Belgian things – like
waffles, frittes (hot chips), beer and Belgian chocolate. Am sure our
short visit has resulted in 1-2 kgs in weight gain but we already knew you
don’t come here when you’re on a diet! A great wrap up to Eastern/Western
Europe as we say goodbye for now and head north.
