Day 2
We had a rather leisurely start to the day and munched our way through another enormous breakfast and made our way down to the S-bahn and the plan was straight into the centre and check out Check Point Charley museum and see what the queue was like for the Reichstag. I love it when a plan comes together and once again the city had decide it was time to disrupt all the main S-bahn lines. We quickly realised that the s-bahn was now only running as far as Ostkreuz where we would have to pick up the Ring line to get anywhere at all.
This done we made our way into the centre and there were massive hordes of tourists all over the museum and taking the opportunity of paying €1 each to have their photos taken with two blokes mimicking Mr. Morris and myself, dressed in full American and Soviet uniform. Have to say it was not a bad way to make a living and as Berlin was going this trip not a very expensive fee.
We got inside the museum entrance, it has now been extended to cover the next building to, the extension largely given over to extensive sales of souvenirs and found the entrance fee was now a staggering €17.40 each or roughly £16. Now I have been through more than once and it is an interesting museum but, I could not work up enough enthusiasm to fork out that price for a return visit. I suggested Annette went through and I’d meet her outside in about an hour. A reasonable enough compromise you would think but, sadly Annette too had baulked at the cost and not having much interest in history declined on the grounds she had heard all about it from Andrew, Oliver and myself on many an occasion. Perhaps she was right but, we knew all about the Valley of the Kings before we went but, the experience of seeing for yourself far surpasses any verbal description.
So we went back over towards the Reichstag and as we passed the Brandenburg Gate they were touting for a bus tour of the city which seemed to hold more interest for Annette than much else as it included a trip down the river. Negotiated the deal and off we went, not a bad tour and as they gave you headsets with commentary in several different languages, including English, it was possible to pick up the odd bit of information I had missed on previous visits and for Annette to find out all she wanted to know.
It was one of those tours where you could jump on and off all day on the same ticket but, we just got off near Museum Island where we were vaguely waved off towards the boat over the bridge. Well that was a great idea except there were at least a dozen boats all moored up near bridges and it took us nearly 25 minutes to find the right one as there was no sign indicating it was part of the city tour. Anyway we settled down in the afternoon sunshine and I got the impression Annette was ready for more food and drink although I was quite happy. It was only when we got off that (typical woman) she announced she would have liked a drink or an ice-cream, which as they were serving both onboard would not have been a problem.
It was a good tour although the narrative was purely in German and delivered at a pace I found it hard to keep up with we did see far more of the city than I did last time on the river with Andrew and Owen. Just another indication of the hidden gems still to be unearthed by us British visitors, I spotted a superb statue of what looked like St. George slaying the dragon at the end of a quiet residential area backing onto the river. Get there one day I’ve no doubt.
Back on dry land we went in search of the bus and wandered over to where we had been dropped off and waited. I asked Annette if she had seen anything so far that caught her imagination and she was quite keen on visiting the Hackescher Markt shopping area so we had someplace that might yet impress her. Just by where we waited, opposite Museum Island, I noticed a large area boarded off and pegged out for what I thought was to be a new shopping area, but on reading the captions it said to the effect that; there had been a 17th century palace on this site that had been damaged during the war and demolished by the Communist government as it did not fir in with the socialist ideals.
The present government had poled the people (there’s a novelty – UK parliament take note) and they decided they would like to have it rebuilt as there were no palaces left in the old East sector of Berlin. Not a bad idea I suppose, it will sit well in about 15 years time, with Zum Nussbaum the Oldest Newest pub in Berlin. Personally I think it is like rebuilding Stonehenge but, viewing the stones as ‘scaffold’.
Eventually the bus turned up and we finished the tour. The queue to the Reichstag was somewhat smaller now but, Annette was definitely in need of more food. I had intended calling in on the Freidrich Strasse S-Bahnof for a decent Chinese but, of course, that was one of the stations closed down for reasons as yet unknown. So we hopped on a tram and set off to see where it would lead us. We ended up passing a shopping area near Wedding and jumped off to see what we could find to eat. It strikes me that once away from the centre, unless you know where to look the food is hard to locate.
Anyway, Annette perked up a bit at the thought of some shopping and we found a shop doing T shirts for a Euro and got some more crisps, coke and chocolate, survival rations. The rest of the shops proved to be a disappointment and continued the overpriced trend that was becoming very apparent. So we jumped on the tram for a few more stops and picked up the U-Ring heading back toward the hotel. Here we got lucky as Annette found an Imbis that did ‘Mini curry and coffee’ for €1.50 even though she had now decided she was not hungry yet it was pretty cheap for a coffee alone. Turned out to be a mini currywurst and tasted delightful. I believe the coffee was up to scratch too.
By now it was around 1700 hours and the station was crammed, no doubt because the s-bahn was screwed. Somehow we managed to get onboard and I punched our day tickets to validate them even though there was little change of a secret ticket inspector squeezing their way onboard. One good thing about being forced off the main routes is you get the chance to see some parts of the city you normally never venture near and travel along lines you would never think of. For example, making our way down to Gleis 17 we passed a halt called ‘Onkel Toms Kabin’. From what I gather it is a tribute to the book and I think worth a look one day.
Be that as it may, we managed to make the journey back to the hotel in one piece and by now Annette was more or less convinced there was little need to buy a ticket despite my protests that we would be challenged to produced a valid ticket before the week was over. Anyway, shopping dumped and spruced up again we went back out up past the Chinese and kebab imbis towards a supermarket we had spotted on our circular route back.
Not badly priced as local shops go and we were soon loaded up with cheap beer and wine to keep Annette refreshed between meals. Also gave me something to quench my thirst of course. This was more of a built up area and for regular Germans than the tourist regions, but even so it was quite easy to find several bars, Indian restaurant and internet café within easy reach of the tram stop back to the station (5 minutes from hotel).
Café was old school bar with massive portions of Currywurst and chips for €2.50 and cheap tasty beers. As Annette wanted to let the kids know we were back safely she booked half hour on the machine for a mere 50 cents, less than 40p (8 shillings in real money), how come they cannot manage that in UK when everything else is now comparatively cheaper?
Meal was good and filling and so was beer. Might not have had all the bright lights of Savignyplatz but, Annette was not up for further travel after our little stroll round the ‘mitte’. All in all it was on my places to go back to.
That more or less rounded up our second day in Berlin and the weather was all set to get even warmer. News was full of the scandal of S7 and S75 lines. We were in the middle of an election and most of the politicians were calling the closure a disgrace, but the newsmen with all the neutrality of a Swiss banker showed footage of the engines being overhauled. Looked very much like Hornby trains stripped down for a drop of oil. Quite why they did not use engines from other lines I do not know, perhaps the line was undergoing maintenance as well, my German was not up to the finer details and frankly I was in Berlin and that was all that mattered.