Ich bin ein Berliner

After a couple of months at home, I had a quick trip to Germany for the Canada Day break. I decided to try Condor, a German leisure airline that’s flown to Calgary from Frankfurt for a number of years, as they have very attractive one way pricing. Unfortunately for them, the business class cabin was only half full and I had a couple of rows to myself at the front of the cabin.

It was a beautiful evening departing over a not-so-dry Calgary area. Nice to see all that green for a change.

I upgraded to a “Prime” seat which is in the front row, with a bit more room, and amongst other things, is offered PJ’s on board. They turned out to be some of the best airline pyjamas in my collection, certainly a keeper.

Also offered to Prime seat occupants is a snack basket and a free Wi-Fi voucher. I used the Wi-Fi but just dumped the whole basket into my backpack at the end of the flight, at the suggestion of the cabin attendant.

They had a champagne on board that I’d never heard of before and was pretty good!

Still really clear and green as we pass over the Battlefords in Saskatchewan.

Then the meal service started. It was just the right amount of food.

As we passed over into north eastern Saskatchewan, a lot of smoke plumes became visible from the ongoing fires below.

The active fire zones were even creating their own pyro-cumulonimbus clouds.

I had a decent amount of sleep after the meal, and got up somewhere over Belgium. It was a beautiful day in this part of Europe, as we passed over Dusseldorf.

Goodbye, blue striped A330-900 (Sea).

After a dreadfully long wait at passport control (40 minutes), my chance for a shower was blown and I had to get moving to the train station. I didn’t take any of the trains at all that I’d booked, as they were all delayed, but I managed to get on a direct train from Frankfurt to Berlin that was “only” 45 minutes late. Well, that turned into 2 hours by the time we arrived. The contents of the Condor snack basket were well enjoyed on this 6 hour journey.

Today, I’m visiting my friend Beau, who moved to Berlin from Calgary in 2021. And surprisingly, for all of the time I spent in CZ until 2023, we never saw each on that side of the pond. Here’s their street.

We waited until it cooled down a bit and then headed out walking. First, over the Bösebrücke, the former Bornholmer Straße border crossing, which was very significant in the fall of the Berlin Wall. On the evening of 9 November 1989, this was the first place where citizens of the German “Democratic” Republic out of a huge crowd were allowed to cross to West Berlin without paperwork.

The Brandenburg Gate was busy on this warm summer evening.

Happy Canada Day!

At one of the food stalls inside the gate, there was an interesting selection of beverages you could get with your sausage.

The Reichstag (seat of German Parliament). As Beau commented, it sure would be broiling under that glass dome on a day like today.

Beau took me over to something I’d never heard of before – the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Very, very interesting.

We passed by a hotel with all sorts of Steiff bears having tea time.

And the now vacant offices of an airline that I’m unlikely to fly any time in the foreseeable future…

We settled in for a meal and a beer after all of our walking. The schnitzel really hit the spot. And so did the beer.

Checkpoint Charlie wasn’t far away so we headed over there as well. See, it really was American. There was McDonald’s right there!!!

And then the U-bahn back towards home for the night.

Gute Nacht, Alexanderplatz!

In the morning we went to the Berlin Wall Memorial, which contains several points of interest: a section of the wall as it was.

Steel poles to mark where the wall used to be.

Photos of all of the people who were killed attempting to cross the border.

There is also an indoor exhibition; at the top level is a terrace with view of the border strip “death zone”, wall and guard towers as it would have looked in 1989. The indoor exhibits told the story of how the wall and border strip were constructed right down a regular residential street, through a cemetery, with some apartment buildings eventually being demolished to make way for border fortifications.

Onwards we go, having to make a change at the very large Alexanderplatz U-bahn station.

Museum Island was our next stop. We visited the Humboldt Forum, a museum in the reconstructed (2020) Berlin Palace, originally with parts dating back to the late 1600s and demolished by the Communist government in 1950.

There were great views from the rooftop terrace, including the Altes Museum.

The Berlin Cathedral.

The extremely Soviet Berlin TV Tower.

The dome of the museum itself up close.

Towards the southwest, a permanently tethered balloon (The World Balloon) brings sightseers 150 metres into the air for a view of the city.

In the courtyard of the palace, there were some terraces for food and drink. It looked like a hot place to be.

We walked a short distance down the Spree canal to a different, shadier terrace.

The beer was much needed. It was only lunchtime and already 36 degrees out.

I had Berlin style meatballs – it reminded me very much of a Czech meatball – Karbanátky.

It was so hot out that cars were catching on fire on one of the bridges!

We took one of the river cruises to see some more sights without having to walk in the blazing sun the whole time.

This is the Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station) where I’d arrived yesterday, and to the left; Cube, an intriguing building. The narrow slit in the center is actually an outdoor terrace!

The House of World Cultures.

We passed under the Moltkebrücke (1891), one of the few bridges in Berlin to survive World War II.

Here we can see people enjoying that hidden terrace on Cube!

Heading back towards the city center, the TV Tower is prominent.

After the river ride, some more walking in the historic center: St. Nicholas’ Church Museum dating to 1230 (partially destroyed in WW2 and reconstructed). We just poked our heads in to have a quick peek.

The Red Town Hall (1869), another building heavily damaged in WW2 and reconstructed – surprisingly in the 1950s by the Communist government, as this was the Soviet sector.

St. Mary’s Church (1200s), also restored in the 1950s.

The Neptune Fountain clearly gets rubbed in certain areas for luck.

A passerby takes the opportunity to get a refreshing splash from the fountain. The temperature was close to 40 now.

After a busy and awesome day with Beau, it’s time for me to say Tschau, Berlin; and hop the S-Bahn on the way to the airport. What a great, short visit.