Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Return from Berlin: over too soon
I woke up on my own before the cell phone alarm set for 4 a.m. I got everything together, dropped the key in the mailbox, and made my way to the bus stop. With such an early departure, I thought it could be time to go for a taxi, but when I asked on a board about arranging one for that hour, people advised me to go for public transportation, as I'm generally inclined to do. Looking at the BVG site, the best option was to start with a bus on Torstrasse, with a scheduled departure at 4.46. When I left a little after 4.15, there was a bit of daylight and some people out, and reasonable traffic on that main street. The bus showed up, which I took to the end at Hauptbahnhof; a few minutes later the TXL bus showed up at the same stop (I was worried about finding the stop on some train-to-bus connections), and got me to the airport a little after 5.
I found my way to Terminal D and checked in with no wait for my 6.40 a.m. Brussels Airlines flight from Berlin to Brussels. Security was just opening. The agent went through my shoulder carry-on, which had many wires to decipher. I'd taken things out and moved them to my checked bag to better meet the 6-kilo carry-on limit. I was about the last to board, crossing the tarmac, since I didn't hear a general boarding call before the last call. That flight was listed as a regional jet when I booked it, but they changed it to an A319 with lightly padded seats to improve the pitch. There was no SeatGuru chart of that aircraft to check against the seat they assigned me. I found that it was in the back row, in a windowless window seat, but the plane was sparsely occupied and I moved to an empty row in front of another empty row, so I could recline without guilt. They charged for all drinks including water; unusually for a short flight, they had a flight progress map TV monitor; I rested through the flight, and it arrived a few minutes before the scheduled time of 8.
I've been through Brussels Airport a few times, the last in 2000, and it looks largely rebuilt. I arrived at Schengen Concourse A, and followed signs to Concourse B, through retail areas, and finally a narrow passageway with no wait to passport control for exiting Schengen. Then I joined with originating passengers for the security check including shoe removal.
I went to the United transit desk because I thought the boarding passes that Brussels Air gave me must be incomplete, since they didn't include the group numbers that I know the UA passes to have. The agent there said no, they'd stopped having those because they were harmonizing their process with Continental; I remembered reading that today would be "Customer Service Day One." They would just be boarding by rows. Then when boarding time was close (this was a 3-hour layover) they called my name among people who still needed to go to the transit desk, because I'd missed answering questions about the bag that was connecting.
With that resolved, I got my outside aisle seat in regular Economy on this 767 to Chicago, walking past the First Class pods and some rear-facing Business seats. I courteously waited to see that no one else was taking that storage space, and put my bulky shoulder bag in the overhead bin, giving me better legroom. I took the chicken meal choice and got a decent amount of sleep through the 9-hour flight. The long flight listed an oddly precise arrival time of 1.17, and it arrived a few minutes early. There was a short wait at passport control, a longer one for my bag, and I was waved through customs and dropped my bag off. Then the train from O'Hare International Arrival Terminal 5 to Terminal 1.
Then the line for security; I was worried that the TSA might have a problem with my boarding pass that said O'Hare to International, instead of Chicago to Kansas City, but I got through. I got in the left-hand security line when I saw that the checkpoint had a walk-through metal detector on the left and a body scanner on the right. I was still directed to the body scanner and opted out. There was a short wait for a pat-down officer, who was courteous to the extent possible and let me face my belongings.
That pat-down/groping was still not so pleasant, and I was glad that, in my spree of United buying, I'd bought a day pass for the Red Carpet Club. I got there, in the C concourse, after taking the underpass. It was still over three hours before my next flight, and I was glad to settle in with a drink and take advantage of the included wi-fi. I left at around 4.30 to get a cheeseburger at the Billy Goat concession, and went to my gate at the end of the concourse. There was a note on the screen about looking for volunteers to be bumped. I thought momentarily about asking for it as the beginning of a future trip, as this one started with a bump, but I didn't ask, and boarding began. The two seats next to me were empty after boarding, so presumably they wouldn't have finally bumped me, and someone else took one of the seats to have an empty seat next to him. That flight went well and arrived early.
To conclude about the trip: I'm certainly glad I got to take it, originating from the $600 bump last summer. I'd been interested in a trip to Berlin, possibly at the start or end of a trip to Italy, and I'm glad I spent this longer time there, wishing there were more time. I could have explored more even in my neighborhood, an art gallery district with a lot going on. My previous trips to Germany were rushes through, including a time in the 1970s where everything was too fast, on a pass that wouldn't have covered the East German railways to get to Berlin. Now I have an interest in looking for old guidebooks and other sources to see about the logistics of visiting divided Berlin. In previous trips, it was on my mind that I sometimes dealt with people who were adults during the Nazi era, and it's good to see the forward-looking Germany of today. It was fascinating to see the signs of history, including recent times, and such an active city. This trip was part of a long series of trips alone, and now I'm hoping to take more trips with company.
I found my way to Terminal D and checked in with no wait for my 6.40 a.m. Brussels Airlines flight from Berlin to Brussels. Security was just opening. The agent went through my shoulder carry-on, which had many wires to decipher. I'd taken things out and moved them to my checked bag to better meet the 6-kilo carry-on limit. I was about the last to board, crossing the tarmac, since I didn't hear a general boarding call before the last call. That flight was listed as a regional jet when I booked it, but they changed it to an A319 with lightly padded seats to improve the pitch. There was no SeatGuru chart of that aircraft to check against the seat they assigned me. I found that it was in the back row, in a windowless window seat, but the plane was sparsely occupied and I moved to an empty row in front of another empty row, so I could recline without guilt. They charged for all drinks including water; unusually for a short flight, they had a flight progress map TV monitor; I rested through the flight, and it arrived a few minutes before the scheduled time of 8.
I've been through Brussels Airport a few times, the last in 2000, and it looks largely rebuilt. I arrived at Schengen Concourse A, and followed signs to Concourse B, through retail areas, and finally a narrow passageway with no wait to passport control for exiting Schengen. Then I joined with originating passengers for the security check including shoe removal.
I went to the United transit desk because I thought the boarding passes that Brussels Air gave me must be incomplete, since they didn't include the group numbers that I know the UA passes to have. The agent there said no, they'd stopped having those because they were harmonizing their process with Continental; I remembered reading that today would be "Customer Service Day One." They would just be boarding by rows. Then when boarding time was close (this was a 3-hour layover) they called my name among people who still needed to go to the transit desk, because I'd missed answering questions about the bag that was connecting.
With that resolved, I got my outside aisle seat in regular Economy on this 767 to Chicago, walking past the First Class pods and some rear-facing Business seats. I courteously waited to see that no one else was taking that storage space, and put my bulky shoulder bag in the overhead bin, giving me better legroom. I took the chicken meal choice and got a decent amount of sleep through the 9-hour flight. The long flight listed an oddly precise arrival time of 1.17, and it arrived a few minutes early. There was a short wait at passport control, a longer one for my bag, and I was waved through customs and dropped my bag off. Then the train from O'Hare International Arrival Terminal 5 to Terminal 1.
Then the line for security; I was worried that the TSA might have a problem with my boarding pass that said O'Hare to International, instead of Chicago to Kansas City, but I got through. I got in the left-hand security line when I saw that the checkpoint had a walk-through metal detector on the left and a body scanner on the right. I was still directed to the body scanner and opted out. There was a short wait for a pat-down officer, who was courteous to the extent possible and let me face my belongings.
That pat-down/groping was still not so pleasant, and I was glad that, in my spree of United buying, I'd bought a day pass for the Red Carpet Club. I got there, in the C concourse, after taking the underpass. It was still over three hours before my next flight, and I was glad to settle in with a drink and take advantage of the included wi-fi. I left at around 4.30 to get a cheeseburger at the Billy Goat concession, and went to my gate at the end of the concourse. There was a note on the screen about looking for volunteers to be bumped. I thought momentarily about asking for it as the beginning of a future trip, as this one started with a bump, but I didn't ask, and boarding began. The two seats next to me were empty after boarding, so presumably they wouldn't have finally bumped me, and someone else took one of the seats to have an empty seat next to him. That flight went well and arrived early.
To conclude about the trip: I'm certainly glad I got to take it, originating from the $600 bump last summer. I'd been interested in a trip to Berlin, possibly at the start or end of a trip to Italy, and I'm glad I spent this longer time there, wishing there were more time. I could have explored more even in my neighborhood, an art gallery district with a lot going on. My previous trips to Germany were rushes through, including a time in the 1970s where everything was too fast, on a pass that wouldn't have covered the East German railways to get to Berlin. Now I have an interest in looking for old guidebooks and other sources to see about the logistics of visiting divided Berlin. In previous trips, it was on my mind that I sometimes dealt with people who were adults during the Nazi era, and it's good to see the forward-looking Germany of today. It was fascinating to see the signs of history, including recent times, and such an active city. This trip was part of a long series of trips alone, and now I'm hoping to take more trips with company.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Full last day
It's my last day, which was full, and I'll need to cover it briefly.
I got up at 6.30 a.m. to issue my return boarding pass on the Brussels Airlines site. It issued that and the ongoing United passes, but I think I'll want them reprinted at the airport. I did a dry run to get where I need to catch the bus in the early morning, and had a croissant breakfast in a new place. Then, on the way to the first museum, I printed the boarding passes at a shop with a printer.
Many musueums are open on Monday, and this was the time to see the Neues Museum. I went to Museum Island and the trailer where they issue the timed tickets to this museum. It has antiquities, most notably Egyptian, had heavy war damage, and was fully reopened in fall 2009. There are great works, and the included audioguides also discussed the restoration, where the reconstructed parts are somber and modern, in contrast with the murals of the old parts. The highlight is the room devoted to the bust of Nefertiti, well preserved and which could be viewed without much of a crowd, given the timed admission.
I had a thought of buying a book with pictures of the past, and some other souvenirs, and wound up at the Galeria Kaufhof on Alexanderplatz. It's a department store that's comparable to the grand KaDeWe in the West. Since they have some nice food counters, I stopped at the Asian one and had crispy Thai chicken. I was close enough to my apartment to bring my purchases back, and it was close to 3 p.m. when I bought my transit pass at Hackescher Markt. I took the S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof, viewing the drab East German construction, and connected to a bus to start my walk around Eastern Kreuzberg. I was interested in stories I'd seen about the area during the division; it was a part of West Berlin surrounded on three sides by the wall, and known for its mix of mainly Turkish immigrants, along with punks, goths, and radicals.
I've mostly used the printed Rough Guide, but here I tried a walking tour on the iPod version of the Lonely Planet guide. They botched several street names, but there was a mix of quiet residential areas and bustling commercial streets, with some out-of-the ordinary things to see. It was sprinkling most of the time. I took the U-Bahn two stops to the center of the Turkish area, but it was raining harder and there wasn't much to record. Then two more stops to get to the Jewish Museum.
It had its security check, and they asked me to check my jacket. It was confusing to start the visit, but I found my way around in this new building with a jagged shape to show the course of Jewish history. There were halls of remembrance before going up some stairs to the top to cover 1000 years of Jewish-German history. There was much to learn, and painful topics; it took a lot of time to see.
Making the awkward transition: I took the U-Bahn home and had dinner at Asado, a steakhouse near the apartment. Now I'll wrap it up, since I need to leave early in the morning; I'll have final thoughts with my flight report.
I got up at 6.30 a.m. to issue my return boarding pass on the Brussels Airlines site. It issued that and the ongoing United passes, but I think I'll want them reprinted at the airport. I did a dry run to get where I need to catch the bus in the early morning, and had a croissant breakfast in a new place. Then, on the way to the first museum, I printed the boarding passes at a shop with a printer.
Many musueums are open on Monday, and this was the time to see the Neues Museum. I went to Museum Island and the trailer where they issue the timed tickets to this museum. It has antiquities, most notably Egyptian, had heavy war damage, and was fully reopened in fall 2009. There are great works, and the included audioguides also discussed the restoration, where the reconstructed parts are somber and modern, in contrast with the murals of the old parts. The highlight is the room devoted to the bust of Nefertiti, well preserved and which could be viewed without much of a crowd, given the timed admission.
I had a thought of buying a book with pictures of the past, and some other souvenirs, and wound up at the Galeria Kaufhof on Alexanderplatz. It's a department store that's comparable to the grand KaDeWe in the West. Since they have some nice food counters, I stopped at the Asian one and had crispy Thai chicken. I was close enough to my apartment to bring my purchases back, and it was close to 3 p.m. when I bought my transit pass at Hackescher Markt. I took the S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof, viewing the drab East German construction, and connected to a bus to start my walk around Eastern Kreuzberg. I was interested in stories I'd seen about the area during the division; it was a part of West Berlin surrounded on three sides by the wall, and known for its mix of mainly Turkish immigrants, along with punks, goths, and radicals.
I've mostly used the printed Rough Guide, but here I tried a walking tour on the iPod version of the Lonely Planet guide. They botched several street names, but there was a mix of quiet residential areas and bustling commercial streets, with some out-of-the ordinary things to see. It was sprinkling most of the time. I took the U-Bahn two stops to the center of the Turkish area, but it was raining harder and there wasn't much to record. Then two more stops to get to the Jewish Museum.
It had its security check, and they asked me to check my jacket. It was confusing to start the visit, but I found my way around in this new building with a jagged shape to show the course of Jewish history. There were halls of remembrance before going up some stairs to the top to cover 1000 years of Jewish-German history. There was much to learn, and painful topics; it took a lot of time to see.
Making the awkward transition: I took the U-Bahn home and had dinner at Asado, a steakhouse near the apartment. Now I'll wrap it up, since I need to leave early in the morning; I'll have final thoughts with my flight report.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Sunday in Berlin
First, I bought four transit tickets at the slightly-discounted per-ticket price, with plans to use three today and one for my trip to the airport. With plans to follow a few Sunday traditions, I took the M1 tram to the Prenzlauer Berg area for Sunday brunch, at the guidebook-recommended place Restauration 1900. I sat outside and had two visits to the bountiful brunch buffet: one with carb-loaded eggs and spaetzle, then interesting vegetable dishes and cheesecake.
I walked the neighborhood a little before getting to the recommended Mauerpark, a park where the wall ran through, where there's a full flea market on Sunday. There was plenty of interest in looking around there, including observing the people. I couldn't resist the chance to stop at a crepe stand, and also have a try of the Berliner Weisse beer, which one takes with red or green syrup and drinks with a straw.
When I had my fill there, I went to Museum Island to see the Altes Museum, which is architecturally dramatic as it faces the open space of the Lustgarten, and has Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities.
Then a somber time; the transit ticket I'd taken there was still within its two hours of validity; with the bus detoured past the Brandenburg Gate stop, I went to the Reichstag, then back to the Memorial to Murdered Jews. The guide a few days prior had urged us to go back and look at the free exhibit underneath. This had displays on the history and focused on individual victims' stories. I find it hard to consider Holocaust matters without being very prepared for it in advance, so it was difficult to take time there.
Then I used my third ticket for the 2-stop S-Bahn ride back to my apartment. I'd gotten through security at the Memorial, but I had in mind to divest myself of metal before going to the sight closest to my aparrtment, the New Synagogue, also with full security. This is a museum rather than a functioning synagogue; only the front part was rebuilt from its damage, which was mostly from wartime; the police precinct captain had prevented much damage during Kristallnacht. Rebuilding began in 1988, a year before the fall of the Wall. There was an interesting display on the history of the Jewish community before its persecution. Tomorrow I'm planning to pull a lot of this together by visiting the Jewish Museum.
On Sunday I look for a pasta dinner; with a short walk I found the Ristorante Al Dente, and had the mushroom-and-truffle-sauce Tagliatelle alla Boscaiola. There were sprinkles as I walked home, and I didn't have my usual waterproof jacket. There was a great rainbow as I got home; I went into the apartment to get my camera, went back out, and the rainbow was gone.
I have much in mind for my last day tomorrow.
I walked the neighborhood a little before getting to the recommended Mauerpark, a park where the wall ran through, where there's a full flea market on Sunday. There was plenty of interest in looking around there, including observing the people. I couldn't resist the chance to stop at a crepe stand, and also have a try of the Berliner Weisse beer, which one takes with red or green syrup and drinks with a straw.
When I had my fill there, I went to Museum Island to see the Altes Museum, which is architecturally dramatic as it faces the open space of the Lustgarten, and has Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities.
Then a somber time; the transit ticket I'd taken there was still within its two hours of validity; with the bus detoured past the Brandenburg Gate stop, I went to the Reichstag, then back to the Memorial to Murdered Jews. The guide a few days prior had urged us to go back and look at the free exhibit underneath. This had displays on the history and focused on individual victims' stories. I find it hard to consider Holocaust matters without being very prepared for it in advance, so it was difficult to take time there.
Then I used my third ticket for the 2-stop S-Bahn ride back to my apartment. I'd gotten through security at the Memorial, but I had in mind to divest myself of metal before going to the sight closest to my aparrtment, the New Synagogue, also with full security. This is a museum rather than a functioning synagogue; only the front part was rebuilt from its damage, which was mostly from wartime; the police precinct captain had prevented much damage during Kristallnacht. Rebuilding began in 1988, a year before the fall of the Wall. There was an interesting display on the history of the Jewish community before its persecution. Tomorrow I'm planning to pull a lot of this together by visiting the Jewish Museum.
On Sunday I look for a pasta dinner; with a short walk I found the Ristorante Al Dente, and had the mushroom-and-truffle-sauce Tagliatelle alla Boscaiola. There were sprinkles as I walked home, and I didn't have my usual waterproof jacket. There was a great rainbow as I got home; I went into the apartment to get my camera, went back out, and the rainbow was gone.
I have much in mind for my last day tomorrow.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Saturday: Museums in the area
On Saturday I overslept: odd since I have a cell phone alarm, and I need to look into it for my return date. I had a croissant-coffee breakfast, and went on to Museum Island and the Alte Nationalgalerie. In one of my lost posts, I discussed how, after there were separate cultural institutions on both sides of the divided city, now museums have their scope, with this one having painting and sculpture of the 19th century. This was a good visit, with some Impressionists and people around them, and a cross-section of German art of that period.
At any of the Island Museums, one can get timed tickets for the museums that call for it: so at the end of this visit, I asked for one for the Pergamon Museum. This seller gave me one for the immediate 1.30 time, although I meant to ask for one for 2 p.m. In this time, I still managed to stop at a stand and get Currywurst and a glass of Sekt (sparkling wine) for €5. I still got to the Pergamon a few minutes before 2, and the advice is to go anytime during the half-hour, and not right at the start. I found a sign, which people were blocking, saying where people with tickets were to enter. I got caught up with a tour group, and this was the first time I was seeing crowds in a museum in Berlin.
I must admit that I didn't really know the meaning of the term Pergamon; I've just handled books from the Pergamon Press. So there upon entering was the grand reconstructed temple of Pergamon in present-day Turkey. Then there are more installations, and in one wing the tiles of the Processional Way and Ishtar Gate. There's a Middle Eastern collection upstairs, Then in the other wing, I think the upper level is under restoration, while the main level has a show on Tell Halaf; a museum of materials from this Syrian city was destroyed in World War II; after complications in divided Germany, sculptures have been rebuilt from the rubble.
Afterwards, I explored the empty space where the damaged Royal Palace was replaced with the palace of the East German Republic, which has also been taken down, with plans for a new replica of the Royal Palace delayed by funding.
I crossed to the east quay, on the lower level, to see the DDR Museum, an active multimedia display on life in East Germany. They have replicas of housing and consumer goods, in addition to discussing politics and the fear of the Stasi.
I found it raining when that was done. I looked for a place to eat, and got to the Hackescher Markt, where there are several big restaurants coming out of the train station; they had outdoor seating apparently well protected by umbrellas, but I wanted to eat inside and was having trouble finding a place this Saturday night. I got to Weihenstephaner across the street, where they led me to extra spaces in their cellar, and I had a filling Jagerschnitzel meal.
Keeping more or less open plans for Sunday
At any of the Island Museums, one can get timed tickets for the museums that call for it: so at the end of this visit, I asked for one for the Pergamon Museum. This seller gave me one for the immediate 1.30 time, although I meant to ask for one for 2 p.m. In this time, I still managed to stop at a stand and get Currywurst and a glass of Sekt (sparkling wine) for €5. I still got to the Pergamon a few minutes before 2, and the advice is to go anytime during the half-hour, and not right at the start. I found a sign, which people were blocking, saying where people with tickets were to enter. I got caught up with a tour group, and this was the first time I was seeing crowds in a museum in Berlin.
I must admit that I didn't really know the meaning of the term Pergamon; I've just handled books from the Pergamon Press. So there upon entering was the grand reconstructed temple of Pergamon in present-day Turkey. Then there are more installations, and in one wing the tiles of the Processional Way and Ishtar Gate. There's a Middle Eastern collection upstairs, Then in the other wing, I think the upper level is under restoration, while the main level has a show on Tell Halaf; a museum of materials from this Syrian city was destroyed in World War II; after complications in divided Germany, sculptures have been rebuilt from the rubble.
Afterwards, I explored the empty space where the damaged Royal Palace was replaced with the palace of the East German Republic, which has also been taken down, with plans for a new replica of the Royal Palace delayed by funding.
I crossed to the east quay, on the lower level, to see the DDR Museum, an active multimedia display on life in East Germany. They have replicas of housing and consumer goods, in addition to discussing politics and the fear of the Stasi.
I found it raining when that was done. I looked for a place to eat, and got to the Hackescher Markt, where there are several big restaurants coming out of the train station; they had outdoor seating apparently well protected by umbrellas, but I wanted to eat inside and was having trouble finding a place this Saturday night. I got to Weihenstephaner across the street, where they led me to extra spaces in their cellar, and I had a filling Jagerschnitzel meal.
Keeping more or less open plans for Sunday
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wed.-Fri Berlin: Keeping it brief
I see that Blogger had some down time, and my posts from Wednesday, which I thought I published, and Thursday have been lost. I'll take that as a message that my posts have been too long and detailed, and I'll summarize things briefly.
On Wednesday I went to Potsdam: much to see in the rococo palaces of Frederick the Great; in the late afternoon there was a thunderstorm as I got to central Potsdam and ate at a creperie. Back in Berlin, I ate at the Vietnamese restaurant Monsieur Vuong.
On Thursday I bought the €40 Annual Museum Pass, my first use of a credit card in Germany, and it may be my only one; I know not to count on restaurants taking them, and all my meals have been under €20. The museums I saw were the Bode (two blocks from me on Museum Island); in the West the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Gemaeldegalerie, and the Photography (Helmut Newton) Museum. In the last area, down the main Ku'damm shopping street, I finally tried the local Currywurst specialty at a place where people eat at stand-up tables; then once again there was a downpour. Also during the day I saw the Sony Center and Potsdamer Platz, a square formerly divided by the wall, now showing massive commercial building.
Today I had a full breakfast at Keyser Soze, then it was my day to see far-flung museums. With a day pass, I took the S-Bahn to Charlottenburg and changed to a bus to see the Berggruen Collection(across from Charlottenburg Palace, almost all a postwar reconstruction and which I didn't take time to see). The Berggruen is a nice 3-story building devoted to Picasso and His Time, including nice works by Matisse, Braque, and Klee.
Now, with a bus and a couple of U-Bahn lines, to Dahlem, a museum complex on the southern outskirts with impressive ethnological collections from outside of Europe (a European collection is temporarily closed). There was an interesting setup of African collections in dark rooms with lighting on the art. Even though I had a full breakfast, I broke for lunch with gnocchi from their cafeteria. The museum had very few visitors.
Afterwards, I had time, as I wished, to return to Checkpoint Charlie and look at the outdoor display on the history of the Wall and crossing point. I took the U-Bahn the few stops to my area and had a pizza. Tomorrow, getting into the major Island Museums.
On Wednesday I went to Potsdam: much to see in the rococo palaces of Frederick the Great; in the late afternoon there was a thunderstorm as I got to central Potsdam and ate at a creperie. Back in Berlin, I ate at the Vietnamese restaurant Monsieur Vuong.
On Thursday I bought the €40 Annual Museum Pass, my first use of a credit card in Germany, and it may be my only one; I know not to count on restaurants taking them, and all my meals have been under €20. The museums I saw were the Bode (two blocks from me on Museum Island); in the West the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Gemaeldegalerie, and the Photography (Helmut Newton) Museum. In the last area, down the main Ku'damm shopping street, I finally tried the local Currywurst specialty at a place where people eat at stand-up tables; then once again there was a downpour. Also during the day I saw the Sony Center and Potsdamer Platz, a square formerly divided by the wall, now showing massive commercial building.
Today I had a full breakfast at Keyser Soze, then it was my day to see far-flung museums. With a day pass, I took the S-Bahn to Charlottenburg and changed to a bus to see the Berggruen Collection(across from Charlottenburg Palace, almost all a postwar reconstruction and which I didn't take time to see). The Berggruen is a nice 3-story building devoted to Picasso and His Time, including nice works by Matisse, Braque, and Klee.
Now, with a bus and a couple of U-Bahn lines, to Dahlem, a museum complex on the southern outskirts with impressive ethnological collections from outside of Europe (a European collection is temporarily closed). There was an interesting setup of African collections in dark rooms with lighting on the art. Even though I had a full breakfast, I broke for lunch with gnocchi from their cafeteria. The museum had very few visitors.
Afterwards, I had time, as I wished, to return to Checkpoint Charlie and look at the outdoor display on the history of the Wall and crossing point. I took the U-Bahn the few stops to my area and had a pizza. Tomorrow, getting into the major Island Museums.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Thursday: Starting the museums
I walked the two blocks to the Bode Museum at the northern tip of Museum Island. There I made the purchase of the Jahreskarte or annual pass for the state museums, for €40. That was my first use of a credit card in Germany, and may be the only one. My lodging is paid in cash, and I hear not to count on restaurants taking them; all my meals have been under €20. Continuing on that aside, tipping in Europe is often confusing; I read just to round up to the next euro, but some of the bills have said in English "Tip not included." Anyway, it's odd to get an annual pass for this stay, but with most museums costing €8 and some costing €10, it pays for itself pretty quickly. At the museums where I've used it so far, I haven't needed to stop at the ticket booth; I just showed it to the guard, who sometimes scanned the barcode.
The Bode Museum was quiet and interesting, with varied works from antiquity through Baroque. I mentioned how the division of the city affected train lines; also, as the guide the other day said, there were separate cultural institutions in East and West, many works were damaged or taken away, and with the unified city there's been an effort to move collections to where it makes sense to have them thematically.
I made my way to the Friedrichstrasse station, needing to find my way a little farther to the entrance to the underground S-Bahn (it's interesting to consider how they made the walled-off connection between over- and underground lines when the city was divided). On the S- and U-Bahn trains, there are no turnstiles, and ticket machines are on the platforms, an honor system until you run into an inspector. This was a day to get a day ticket for €6.30; I got a €5 note in but the machine kept rejecting (fortunately returning) all my €1 and €2 coins. I finally added another €5 note and it worked; I'm building up a lot of coins. Anyway, I went the two stops to Potsdamer Platz.
Potsdamer Platz was the heart of the city and divided by the wall; now there's a great expanse of modern commercial buildings, highlighted by the Sony Center, a big gathering place with a conical roof. Following the guidebook, I went to the modern shopping Arkade down the street, and stopped at Salomon Bagels. I had a lox bagel sandwich with (unexpected) horseradish.
Back to the main street and the Kulturforum, a complex of cultural places for the West. I went to the striking Neue Nationalgalerie designed by Mies van der Rohe. Going downstairs from the empty (except for an installation) entrance level, there was a nice collection of works mostly from the first half of the 20th century. There were real-sized black-and-white reproductions of works that they thought rightfully belonged there, which mostly went into the Nazis' exhibitions of "degenerate art," and the labels note whether the whereabouts are known or not.
Then I went next door to the Gemaeldegalerie, a large museum in a building built in 1998, covering European art from the 13th to the early 19th centuries. There was much to take in there with not many people.
When I got out, it was getting close to 5, and I saw that there had been rain. I found the 200 bus stop, having seen before getting to the complex where it turned off the main street. I took it to the end, interested in seeing the photography museum. It has the works of Helmut Newton and his wife, who took the name Alice Springs; well, OK.
Although this was the day that many museums are open late, I had my fill for the day. At first I found this post lost, but I'll publish it now.
The Bode Museum was quiet and interesting, with varied works from antiquity through Baroque. I mentioned how the division of the city affected train lines; also, as the guide the other day said, there were separate cultural institutions in East and West, many works were damaged or taken away, and with the unified city there's been an effort to move collections to where it makes sense to have them thematically.
I made my way to the Friedrichstrasse station, needing to find my way a little farther to the entrance to the underground S-Bahn (it's interesting to consider how they made the walled-off connection between over- and underground lines when the city was divided). On the S- and U-Bahn trains, there are no turnstiles, and ticket machines are on the platforms, an honor system until you run into an inspector. This was a day to get a day ticket for €6.30; I got a €5 note in but the machine kept rejecting (fortunately returning) all my €1 and €2 coins. I finally added another €5 note and it worked; I'm building up a lot of coins. Anyway, I went the two stops to Potsdamer Platz.
Potsdamer Platz was the heart of the city and divided by the wall; now there's a great expanse of modern commercial buildings, highlighted by the Sony Center, a big gathering place with a conical roof. Following the guidebook, I went to the modern shopping Arkade down the street, and stopped at Salomon Bagels. I had a lox bagel sandwich with (unexpected) horseradish.
Back to the main street and the Kulturforum, a complex of cultural places for the West. I went to the striking Neue Nationalgalerie designed by Mies van der Rohe. Going downstairs from the empty (except for an installation) entrance level, there was a nice collection of works mostly from the first half of the 20th century. There were real-sized black-and-white reproductions of works that they thought rightfully belonged there, which mostly went into the Nazis' exhibitions of "degenerate art," and the labels note whether the whereabouts are known or not.
Then I went next door to the Gemaeldegalerie, a large museum in a building built in 1998, covering European art from the 13th to the early 19th centuries. There was much to take in there with not many people.
When I got out, it was getting close to 5, and I saw that there had been rain. I found the 200 bus stop, having seen before getting to the complex where it turned off the main street. I took it to the end, interested in seeing the photography museum. It has the works of Helmut Newton and his wife, who took the name Alice Springs; well, OK.
Although this was the day that many museums are open late, I had my fill for the day. At first I found this post lost, but I'll publish it now.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wednesday: Potsdam and rain
I charted my main day trip to Potsdam to be early in my stay, so that it could be rescheduled in case of rain. I had the 2011 Rough Guide book saying the Sanssouci sites opened at 9 and it was good to get the timed tickets close to opening time. But then I'd seen a 10 a.m. opening time online. I was more or less planning to aim to get there at 9. I planned to take the regular regional train from Friedrichstrasse, which is faster than the S-Bahn from the same station. The RE train leaves at 6 and 36 past the hour, and I had written down that it left from track 6. I waited there as a succession of S-Bahn trains went by, then I saw the 8.06 RE train coming to track 3. I made some effort to get there but there was no way of getting there on time; I bought a Dunkin' Donut and coffee, and went on to get the next S7 S-Bahn train. The train at 8.13 had some long waits, and I may have arrived earlier if I'd waited for the 8.36 Regional.
Then there was a choice of buses to get to Schloss Sanssouci; I took the 606. All fares were covered by the ABC zone transit pass I'd bought for €6.80 from the machine at the Berlin Fr. platform. I got off the bus and found that indeed the ticket office opened at 10 (or a few minutes before). I got the Premium day cart to visit all the palaces in the park for €19 (this particular one, including Schloss Sanssouci, is only available at that palace). There was timed admission as people went through and listed to audioguides. A big theme was the rococo style, with many shell motifs. When I went to the picture gallery, I learned the procedure with the pass: go to the ticket office to get it stamped for that location with a receipt showing zero price. The picture gallery had an overwhelming display with paintings above one other, including many Rubens and a Caravaggio. There was a theme that many works had wound up in Russia, but some had come back or been replace.
Other places in the large park were the Neue Kammern and the Orangerie, which called for a guided tour in German where I could follow along on a sheet and the guide gave brief explanations. That included a room with reproductions of most of Raphael's works, not great reproductions but supposedly with the advantage that they were all in one room.
I got to the big Neues Palais; there, as in the Orangerie, visitors were required to put slippers on over their shoes while waling on the wood and marble floor. I tried to keep my distance from a high school group so I could hear the audioguide, and had my fill of learning about Friedrich the Great and his grand tastes.
This had taken me past 3 p.m. with no lunch and a minimal breakfast, and there were some rain sprinkles. I didn't have an umbrella, as I try to have when there's any hint of rain chances, but I was o.k. through the sprinkles as I found my way to a bus stop to go into town. My destination was the Creperie La Madeleine, which I saw listed in the guide. I found my way there in the picturesque town center, and ordered the Crepe Auvergnate, filled with roquefort and topped with a salad. I sat outside at a table with an umbrella, then a downpour with thunder came down and I moved to a better-protected outside table. I was glad to sit there until the rain let up.
There could still be plenty to see in Potsdam, but I was ready to call it a day. I got the tram to the station, and this time I made sure to take the Regional train, leaving at 21 and 51 past the hour. It was a nice double-decker, and I noticed that it had a destination beyond Berlin. That's something of a remnant of the divided city: even though there's a new Hauptbahnhof (main station), these trains go on a line through several stations (convenient to people who want to go to different areas) and go beyond Berlin. You wouldn't see this in London, Paris, or Rome, which have end-of-line stations (and in some of these cases, several, for different directions).
Anyway, I got off at Alexanderplatz. Even if I had lunch at 4 p.m., I thought I'd try to have an early dinner at Monsieur Vuong, a Vietnamese place that comes highly recommended. Getting there before 7, I got a spot on the bench of the communal tables outside. I got great spring rolls, and the waitress explained in English the day's specials; I got a full wok-like bowl of chicken with peanut curry. So, a full day, and I haven't started with the Berlin state museums yet. At first I found this post lost, but I'll publish it.
Then there was a choice of buses to get to Schloss Sanssouci; I took the 606. All fares were covered by the ABC zone transit pass I'd bought for €6.80 from the machine at the Berlin Fr. platform. I got off the bus and found that indeed the ticket office opened at 10 (or a few minutes before). I got the Premium day cart to visit all the palaces in the park for €19 (this particular one, including Schloss Sanssouci, is only available at that palace). There was timed admission as people went through and listed to audioguides. A big theme was the rococo style, with many shell motifs. When I went to the picture gallery, I learned the procedure with the pass: go to the ticket office to get it stamped for that location with a receipt showing zero price. The picture gallery had an overwhelming display with paintings above one other, including many Rubens and a Caravaggio. There was a theme that many works had wound up in Russia, but some had come back or been replace.
Other places in the large park were the Neue Kammern and the Orangerie, which called for a guided tour in German where I could follow along on a sheet and the guide gave brief explanations. That included a room with reproductions of most of Raphael's works, not great reproductions but supposedly with the advantage that they were all in one room.
I got to the big Neues Palais; there, as in the Orangerie, visitors were required to put slippers on over their shoes while waling on the wood and marble floor. I tried to keep my distance from a high school group so I could hear the audioguide, and had my fill of learning about Friedrich the Great and his grand tastes.
This had taken me past 3 p.m. with no lunch and a minimal breakfast, and there were some rain sprinkles. I didn't have an umbrella, as I try to have when there's any hint of rain chances, but I was o.k. through the sprinkles as I found my way to a bus stop to go into town. My destination was the Creperie La Madeleine, which I saw listed in the guide. I found my way there in the picturesque town center, and ordered the Crepe Auvergnate, filled with roquefort and topped with a salad. I sat outside at a table with an umbrella, then a downpour with thunder came down and I moved to a better-protected outside table. I was glad to sit there until the rain let up.
There could still be plenty to see in Potsdam, but I was ready to call it a day. I got the tram to the station, and this time I made sure to take the Regional train, leaving at 21 and 51 past the hour. It was a nice double-decker, and I noticed that it had a destination beyond Berlin. That's something of a remnant of the divided city: even though there's a new Hauptbahnhof (main station), these trains go on a line through several stations (convenient to people who want to go to different areas) and go beyond Berlin. You wouldn't see this in London, Paris, or Rome, which have end-of-line stations (and in some of these cases, several, for different directions).
Anyway, I got off at Alexanderplatz. Even if I had lunch at 4 p.m., I thought I'd try to have an early dinner at Monsieur Vuong, a Vietnamese place that comes highly recommended. Getting there before 7, I got a spot on the bench of the communal tables outside. I got great spring rolls, and the waitress explained in English the day's specials; I got a full wok-like bowl of chicken with peanut curry. So, a full day, and I haven't started with the Berlin state museums yet. At first I found this post lost, but I'll publish it.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 10: More history
I slept well but not too late, as I feared I might. I start this Tuesday morning with a little more on yessterday. I don't want to read too much into areas being formerly East or West, but I noted things. Where I'm staying is in the East, and a nice-looking quiet area. Nearby, there are drab modern buildings, with shopping that I know is post-unification. At the western end of the 100 bus line, by the Zoo train station, one sees the huge consumer culture, the busy shopping streets, culminating in the KaDeWe department store. No shortage of banks with ATMs there; it was odd that I took so long to find one in a major world capital.
So on Tuesday morning, I thought I could make it a plan to have a full breakfast and skip lunch; in countries where large breakfasts are served, that is often my plan of action when traveling alone. I got to a place nearby with a Superfruhstuck, and they didn't start serving until 9; this is a place where people are up late and don't start so early in the morning. I got that breakfast of cold cuts with a roll and a hard-boiled egg in the shell.
I took the short walk to the German Historical Museum or DHM. It isn't a state museum covered by the pass. Just buying a regular ticket with a few people ahead of me in line took a long time as it seemed that they mostly were group leaders. I also got the audioguide to have a better understanding in English of the displays, but most displays were lableled in English. I thought I'd mostly be interested in the 20th century, but there were involving things in the start upstairs, including the Holy Roman Empire with no capital and a traveling emperor. The visit returned downstairs after World War I, so I'd been through a lot when it was time to take in hyper-inflation, the Depression, Nazism, World War II and the Holocaust, divided Germany, and Unification. I can get through museums on the fast side, but this took around 3.5 hours.
I got to Hackescher Markt and didn't skip lunch; I wanted to sit down between standing times and ate at Rocco, sitting outside and having a croque-monsieur (the serving was actually two). I went there because, right by there, I had made plans to join the Insider Tour, which comes highly recommended although I don't usually join tours. The guide, a woman named Pen from Australia, started with the main historical buildings on the eastern side, where it could be noted that the original elements of buildings had bullet holes that had been filled in, central Berlin having been so heavily damaged. We learned to recognize the modern buildings built in the death strip area near the wall on the eastern side, saw the Checkpoint Charlie replica and part of the wall that still stands, then got to an apartment building (East side) parking lot, where Hitler's bunker was. We saw the new Monument to Murdered Jews, and ended at Brandenburg Gate. There was a break at a coffee bar in the middle, but it took over three hours.
I didn't buy a transit pass today, and I made my way on foot back towards my apartment. When I got close, I was intrigued by the installation of an upside-down car on the steps of a building, I went in and visited the C/O Center. I took pause at thte €10 admission, but it's a photography center and included photographs of Berlin in ruins after 1945, an interesting conclusion to the history-centered day. The building is the former headquarters of the Imperial Post Office.
I wanted to eat without too much worrying about where to go, and went to an Indian place in this city of much international cuisine. The weather's been nice, maybe too hot--I hear it's more like July weather here. Tomorrow I'm planning my day trip to Potsdam.
So on Tuesday morning, I thought I could make it a plan to have a full breakfast and skip lunch; in countries where large breakfasts are served, that is often my plan of action when traveling alone. I got to a place nearby with a Superfruhstuck, and they didn't start serving until 9; this is a place where people are up late and don't start so early in the morning. I got that breakfast of cold cuts with a roll and a hard-boiled egg in the shell.
I took the short walk to the German Historical Museum or DHM. It isn't a state museum covered by the pass. Just buying a regular ticket with a few people ahead of me in line took a long time as it seemed that they mostly were group leaders. I also got the audioguide to have a better understanding in English of the displays, but most displays were lableled in English. I thought I'd mostly be interested in the 20th century, but there were involving things in the start upstairs, including the Holy Roman Empire with no capital and a traveling emperor. The visit returned downstairs after World War I, so I'd been through a lot when it was time to take in hyper-inflation, the Depression, Nazism, World War II and the Holocaust, divided Germany, and Unification. I can get through museums on the fast side, but this took around 3.5 hours.
I got to Hackescher Markt and didn't skip lunch; I wanted to sit down between standing times and ate at Rocco, sitting outside and having a croque-monsieur (the serving was actually two). I went there because, right by there, I had made plans to join the Insider Tour, which comes highly recommended although I don't usually join tours. The guide, a woman named Pen from Australia, started with the main historical buildings on the eastern side, where it could be noted that the original elements of buildings had bullet holes that had been filled in, central Berlin having been so heavily damaged. We learned to recognize the modern buildings built in the death strip area near the wall on the eastern side, saw the Checkpoint Charlie replica and part of the wall that still stands, then got to an apartment building (East side) parking lot, where Hitler's bunker was. We saw the new Monument to Murdered Jews, and ended at Brandenburg Gate. There was a break at a coffee bar in the middle, but it took over three hours.
I didn't buy a transit pass today, and I made my way on foot back towards my apartment. When I got close, I was intrigued by the installation of an upside-down car on the steps of a building, I went in and visited the C/O Center. I took pause at thte €10 admission, but it's a photography center and included photographs of Berlin in ruins after 1945, an interesting conclusion to the history-centered day. The building is the former headquarters of the Imperial Post Office.
I wanted to eat without too much worrying about where to go, and went to an Indian place in this city of much international cuisine. The weather's been nice, maybe too hot--I hear it's more like July weather here. Tomorrow I'm planning my day trip to Potsdam.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Arrival in Berlin
OK, to report on the flights: I had Economy Plus on the United flight from Chicago to Frankfurt. This gave extra legroom, just the way Economy should be. On the inside aisle, I still needed to get up for people in the middle seats. I ordered wine for both pre-dinner and dinner, making one credit card payment. Dinner: choice of chicken or pasta, I took the cannelloni. Maybe from too much wine, I didn't get much sleep. There was a bumpy landing. At the gate, after going through the jetway we needed to climb stairs, and there was a board listing just a few connecting flights, probably those that passengers on this flight had. We seemed to be mingling (that is, in the same area rather than segregated) with departing passengers for non-Schengen flights. The basic advice in Frankfurt is to know the gate numbers and follow the signs. With both my arriving and connecting flights in the A gates of Terminal 1, it meant going to one end of the concourse, clearing passport control, and going downstairs to the Schengen gates. I seemed to enter security in the same area as originating passengers. In my sleepless state, I didn't follow my routine of locking my wallet in my carry-on, I sounded the alarm, and got a pretty intense frisking; I'm supposed to be comforted that these agents are more professional than the TSA. I got to my gate for Berlin, and it went pretty efficiently on that flight, scheduled for 65 minutes, but 45 minutes in the air.
Arrival at Berlin Tegel: their design is something like Kansas City, but it works better, with baggage claim right at the gate. I had my plan to catch the city bus; looking at the map at the terminal, it looked like the bus stop wss just outside the hexagon of the terminal. I went there, and cars exited down a ramp with a narrow sidewalk; my instinct said not to try that. I went into the terminal and down a hall with another exit, where the bus stop was. For this day, I was going to get a day pass. I started to do it at a machine; the price of the pass was €6.30. I was starting to put in a €20 note, as I understood was possible, when a worker of the bus line pointed out that that machine took a masimum of €10. I had two crumpled €5 notes, which the man helped me get to work. There was also a staffed office where I could have done it.
I searched the itinerary in advance at www.bvg.de and, although there were other options, I kept to the one of taking the TXL bus to Brandenburger Tor, then the S-Bahn two stops to Oranienburger Tor. The TXL is named with the airport code but operates as a regular city bus, the airport being entirely within the city. The next stop is posted on a board, so I was helped there, but I would have recognized when the bus turned onto Unter den Linden; then I walked back to the S-Bahn, which still shows on some online maps as named Unter den Linden but is now named Brandenburger Tor; I could only see the gate in the distance. Two stops on that train, and I got to the apartment at 2 p.m., the earliest I said I would. The owner's wife checked me in; it is basically a cheap room with bath; it doesn't have a kitchen. It's a good deal in a nice area. The total cost was low enough that I could pay the cash balance with money left over from my last trip to Italy and some euros my mother gave me; I didn't need to stop at an ATM or get euros in advance at a bad rate.
I stopped at a sandwich shop nearby to get a small sandwich; then I figured I shoudl stop at an ATM. I walked a long time on major streets without finding one; I finally wound up at the main train station, the new Hauptbanhof; I only noticed the ATM in a side hallway when it reflected in the glass of the shop across.
Now it's getting too late in a long day to go into detail about the rest of the day: took bus 100 for a round trip of its length, going by major sites and ending in the central areas of the East and West parts of the city. I went up the TV tower and finally had a full dinner, a pork schnitzel, at Sophieneck. My apartment is in the former East, in a picturesque quiet area. Both parts of the city show a lot of postwar building, and one can contrast the development; I may go into this more later.
Arrival at Berlin Tegel: their design is something like Kansas City, but it works better, with baggage claim right at the gate. I had my plan to catch the city bus; looking at the map at the terminal, it looked like the bus stop wss just outside the hexagon of the terminal. I went there, and cars exited down a ramp with a narrow sidewalk; my instinct said not to try that. I went into the terminal and down a hall with another exit, where the bus stop was. For this day, I was going to get a day pass. I started to do it at a machine; the price of the pass was €6.30. I was starting to put in a €20 note, as I understood was possible, when a worker of the bus line pointed out that that machine took a masimum of €10. I had two crumpled €5 notes, which the man helped me get to work. There was also a staffed office where I could have done it.
I searched the itinerary in advance at www.bvg.de and, although there were other options, I kept to the one of taking the TXL bus to Brandenburger Tor, then the S-Bahn two stops to Oranienburger Tor. The TXL is named with the airport code but operates as a regular city bus, the airport being entirely within the city. The next stop is posted on a board, so I was helped there, but I would have recognized when the bus turned onto Unter den Linden; then I walked back to the S-Bahn, which still shows on some online maps as named Unter den Linden but is now named Brandenburger Tor; I could only see the gate in the distance. Two stops on that train, and I got to the apartment at 2 p.m., the earliest I said I would. The owner's wife checked me in; it is basically a cheap room with bath; it doesn't have a kitchen. It's a good deal in a nice area. The total cost was low enough that I could pay the cash balance with money left over from my last trip to Italy and some euros my mother gave me; I didn't need to stop at an ATM or get euros in advance at a bad rate.
I stopped at a sandwich shop nearby to get a small sandwich; then I figured I shoudl stop at an ATM. I walked a long time on major streets without finding one; I finally wound up at the main train station, the new Hauptbanhof; I only noticed the ATM in a side hallway when it reflected in the glass of the shop across.
Now it's getting too late in a long day to go into detail about the rest of the day: took bus 100 for a round trip of its length, going by major sites and ending in the central areas of the East and West parts of the city. I went up the TV tower and finally had a full dinner, a pork schnitzel, at Sophieneck. My apartment is in the former East, in a picturesque quiet area. Both parts of the city show a lot of postwar building, and one can contrast the development; I may go into this more later.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Taking off for Berlin
It's been a while since I've posted. I'll mention in passing that I made a visit to Margaret in Sacramento and it was all great. The main thing with practical travel was that my Southwest return flight announced a 2-hour delay just as the plane was supposed to show up in Sacramento. Many people with connections got rebooked through Phoenix, but I stayed on my flight, which was a through flight stopping in Las Vegas. There were comped drinks, I got the exit row, and the flight arrived around 1 a.m.
Now I'm starting this post as I wait to board the first flight for my trip to Berlin. This is one more trip that I'm taking on my own, but I'm looking forward to Margaret being part of future trips.
The main thing in planning: I can decide day to day whether to get a transit pass for the day, since there are many sights close to where I'm staying. There are many museums: I was looking at the 3-day pass for €19, but trying to see even all of Michelin's 3-star museums in three days isn't really doable. I got advice that I might as well buy the annual pass for €40.
Things that I'll mention that I know from my planning: when I thought of a Berlin trip, I thought it could be interesting to arrive on one of the last days of Tegel Airport's operation, and leave on one of the first days of the new Berlin-Brandeburg airport, which is being built incorporating Schoenefeld airport. That was projected to happen in October 2011, but that was later changed to June 2012, so I decided not to wait. So I'll still see Tegel as its end is in sight. Tempelhof Airport, important in the Nazi era and the Berlin airlift, closed down a few years ago.
It will be interesting to take note of how things are now and how the city was once divided. In reading about visits when the city was divided, one thing to note is how some of my getting around will be on the S-Bahn, the urban rail system that also goes out of town. For most of the time of divided Berlin, it was operated by the East German railways, and many West Berliners boycotted it. It was possible to take trips between West Berlin places with a connection at Friedrichstrasse in East Berlin, not having to clear border controls but with a tax-free stop at that station. On the U-Bahn (Underground) lines, there were ghost stations where the West Berlin lines went through Eastern territory.
For my flights, having gotten a United credit card after booking this trip, I made a purchase to get some of the extra miles for using the card on United, of Premier Travel Plus, giving me the extra legroom of Economy Plus on the transatlantic flight and access to the airline lounge at Chicago O'Hare airport. I expected to get the boarding pass for my Frankfurt-Berlin flight on Lufthansa when I did online check-in, but I was not able to get it online or at Kansas City airport.
Resuming this once I've arrived in Chicago (decent flight, full, a little early in arrival), I got to the Red Carpet Club and asked the agent there about the Lufthansa BP. He said it was a roll of the dice to get it, but it printed. So I'll pst this now, and plan to post regularly during my trip.
Now I'm starting this post as I wait to board the first flight for my trip to Berlin. This is one more trip that I'm taking on my own, but I'm looking forward to Margaret being part of future trips.
The main thing in planning: I can decide day to day whether to get a transit pass for the day, since there are many sights close to where I'm staying. There are many museums: I was looking at the 3-day pass for €19, but trying to see even all of Michelin's 3-star museums in three days isn't really doable. I got advice that I might as well buy the annual pass for €40.
Things that I'll mention that I know from my planning: when I thought of a Berlin trip, I thought it could be interesting to arrive on one of the last days of Tegel Airport's operation, and leave on one of the first days of the new Berlin-Brandeburg airport, which is being built incorporating Schoenefeld airport. That was projected to happen in October 2011, but that was later changed to June 2012, so I decided not to wait. So I'll still see Tegel as its end is in sight. Tempelhof Airport, important in the Nazi era and the Berlin airlift, closed down a few years ago.
It will be interesting to take note of how things are now and how the city was once divided. In reading about visits when the city was divided, one thing to note is how some of my getting around will be on the S-Bahn, the urban rail system that also goes out of town. For most of the time of divided Berlin, it was operated by the East German railways, and many West Berliners boycotted it. It was possible to take trips between West Berlin places with a connection at Friedrichstrasse in East Berlin, not having to clear border controls but with a tax-free stop at that station. On the U-Bahn (Underground) lines, there were ghost stations where the West Berlin lines went through Eastern territory.
For my flights, having gotten a United credit card after booking this trip, I made a purchase to get some of the extra miles for using the card on United, of Premier Travel Plus, giving me the extra legroom of Economy Plus on the transatlantic flight and access to the airline lounge at Chicago O'Hare airport. I expected to get the boarding pass for my Frankfurt-Berlin flight on Lufthansa when I did online check-in, but I was not able to get it online or at Kansas City airport.
Resuming this once I've arrived in Chicago (decent flight, full, a little early in arrival), I got to the Red Carpet Club and asked the agent there about the Lufthansa BP. He said it was a roll of the dice to get it, but it printed. So I'll pst this now, and plan to post regularly during my trip.
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