Berlin, Germany

Our next port was Warnemunde, Germany. We have decided to visit Berlin. Since this seaport is three hours from Berlin, Carnival has arranged an excursion using our own private train to take us to Berlin. There are 678 passengers in 12 cars going to Berlin on this private train for some type of excursion in Berlin. What was great is that the train loaded very near where the ship was docked. Very convenient.

Here we are going through the German countryside.

Of course, my granddaughter cannot ride in a car, plane, or train without falling asleep.

We arrive at Berlin’s Central Station, the Hauptbahnhof.

Here is our train as we get off in this modern terminal. We were told that this stations has trains arriving and departing in all directions every 90 seconds.

We then board buses for a tour of Berlin. The excursion is called Berlin’s Top 10 and this tour is designed to show the best attractions Berlin has to offer.

As we head to our first stop, I took some interesting pictures.

Our first stop is at the German parliament building. During the cold war, it was not used for this purpose but has since been re-instated as their parliament after the Berlin wall came down.

The inscription is translated as for the German people.

Some more interesting shots of town.

Our next stop is the Brandenburg Gate. It is very massive.

And of course we couldn't resist having our picture taken in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Next to the Brandenburg gate is a hotel. It is from one of these rooms that Michael Jackson held his new baby out over the balcony and caused such a stir among Mothers and Fathers alike.

As we venture into the former East Berlin side, we see some Russian style buildings that were built during the cold war.

One of the churches with their radio/tv tower in the background.

We next stop near the university. This is one of Germany’s generals from time past.

The university is on one side of the plaza and the opera/theater house is on the other. Currently the opera/theater house is being renovated.

Next, it is time to have a German pub-style lunch. We are taken to a restaurant called Löwenbräu, just like the beer. After asking the question, I found out that Löwenbräu also has a chain of restaurants in which they exclusively sell only their beer.

We had a buffet and a chance to sample many basic German foods. Personally, I thought the apple strudel was fantastic.

Of course, no German meal would be complete without a German beer. Here my grandchildren enjoy their beer with their meal. J To paraphrase an old saying; When in Germany, do as the Germans do.

After lunch we board the buses again and I took this shot of another Russian style building.

This piece of land is the site where Hitler’s bunker was located. Our guide said they tried to destroy the bunker with explosives, but there is still some of it remaining. It is now filled with water and no attempts have been made to open it up as a tourist attraction. 

Around the corner is the Holocaust Memorial. The Jewish community built over 2,000 square blocks for this memorial. We were told that they wanted it in sight of the location where Hitler took his life.

 It is like waves rolling along. Some of the blocks are over six feet tall.

Next, we see the Brandenburg Gate from the other side.

And first glimpse of the Berlin wall is not the actual wall, but a two brick wide row of bricks that go down the middle of the street.

When the wall came down, the German people decided to put this line of bricks every place the wall stood. As we see the line of bricks in other places, we find that the line is not straight but more of a zig-zag.

 

While we didn't stop, the crosses on the fence provide a memorial for all the individuals that died trying to cross the wall during the cold war. 

The city has a number of monuments.

Our next stop was the Charlottenburg Palace from the Prussian era. It was not open to the public, but we were able to go into the palace square. 

We were told that the gold on the fence is actually gold leaf.

This is the old guard house at the gate to the palace.

 Outside the palace was this emergency box.

Another building from the Hitler era.

 Being an old European city, they had some interesting street lamps.

 Many of the Berlin streets are either wide or have a grassy median. Here this middle strip has been turned into parking.

We stopped at Germany’s largest department store, KaDeWe. It was huge, but we were really looking for tourist souvenirs not fine china or bedspreads. I think you get the point.

Across from the department store was one of their subway stations.

As we head to Checkpoint Charlie, my camera dies. No juice, no pictures. Hopefully I’ll get some from my son and add them later.

Checkpoint Charlie is maintained just as it was during the cold war. Now, as a tourist area, Germans wear US military uniforms and want money if you take their picture. They also have for sell pieces of the “original” wall. However, our guide said they have now sold more pieces then there was in the wall originally. She suggested we not waste our money.

There were some sections of the wall here, but next we went to an area by the river that still has a large section of the wall still standing. This wall was actually individual sections that were built elsewhere and then just placed into position. This area is now called the East Side Gallery. Each section of wall has been painted by different people and has remained standing as a reminder of those lost years when the wall divided East Berlin from the rest of the city.

We then go to another train station and board the ride back to our ship. We started at 6:30am and will not return to the ship until after 10pm. It has been a long day.

We all agreed it was not a tour we would call fun but it was very interesting.

The next port is Helsinki, Finland and Rexie and I intend to have fun there.

I must be off!

Copenhagen, Denmark

Our first port is Copenhagen, Denmark. This is the home of Hans Christian Anderson. We have decided to take an excursion that takes us over the bridge to nearby Sweden.

I have caught a cold and it has taken me longer than normal to get this port into the blog. I am feeling somewhat better, but still not well.

As we drive through Copenhagen on our way to the bridge, we realize quickly that bicycles are used extensively. Each road has its own bike lanes. Where the sidewalks are wide enough, they are divided into a bike lane and a pedestrian lane.

Here are a couple of pictures of old town Copenhagen as we drove through on the bus.

 As we near the bridge, it is overcast and we can barely see it in the distance. The Øresund Bridge links Denmark and Sweden together. It is a 12km bridge and tunnel which was completed in 2000. From a distance, it looks pretty impressive.

Actually, it was not nearly as tall as I expected because they route the large ship traffic over the tunnel part.

Our first stop was the city of Malmö, Sweden. It is the third largest city of Sweden with 300,000 inhabitants. We actually stopped in the medieval city centre and was able to stroll through the small squares and cobblestone streets. Here are some pictures from this area.

This is an outdoor restaurant.

Even the manhole covers had the royal seal. It was a little cool, but at least it had stopped raining.

We were told by our guide that each person owns three bikes; one to ride to work, one to ride on the weekends, and one to get stolen.

I guess even this bike would not have much chance of getting stolen.

Going up one of the streets was a metal art work of a small band. I have never seen anything like this before.

We stopped in a small bakery for some snacks before lunch.

To our surprise, we found that they had a little seating area behind the shop. It looked more like a 5 star restaurant with chandeliers, art work n the walls, and nice tables and chairs. What a surprise.

We next went into the square to look around.

We saw a bride and her bridal party. It seems that it is a custom for the women to take the bride to the square for some fun. She had a sign around her neck and was required to read a little poem. They were having a great time. This was their version of the bridal shower while the men had their party out shooting guns.

On our way to our next stop I saw this lighthouse.

Our last stop was the city of Lund, which is the home of a cathedral which used to house the bishop of Scania. It is quite a place inside.

They has several organs, but this little organ was used only for baptism in one of the sections of the cathedral. It only had four stops and no foot pedals.

They had a crypt which was quite impressive.

 The last thing we saw in the church was an advanced astronomic clock on the wall of the church.

On the hour, the wise men, etc. came out and marched in front of the Madonna. Normally bells would sound, but this clock had a three note organ that played.

This clock also kept track of the calendar with the date and month. It was June 23^rd when we visited this cathedral.

Lund is also home to a large university.

This is the central train station and serves as a reminder they definitely use their bikes.

Next port is Warnemunde, Germany.

I must be off!