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
Saturday, May 14, 2011
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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