Berlin is turning on its best blue skies for us. The Brandenburg Tor was magnificent, with the blue sky framing the city.
Most of Berlin seems to hide behind a bit of scaffolding and bollards. The Brandenburg Gate was no different. We stroll back down the boulevard, flanked by Consulates, five star hotels and a Starbucks.
The views above were not the views that President Reagan saw when he gave his inspired speech to “Tear down this wall, Mr Gorbachev”. He was looking from the Western side and saw the rear of the chariot. A potent message, for the past 30 years, that walls aren’t the answer.
Several people asked if we stayed in East Berlin or West Berlin and it is hard to answer. We stayed in Mitte, Mitte meaning central or middle, was definitely split in the middle. But you can’t see the lines of East and West in this area today. It is so fresh and rebuilt so beautifully it is hard to pinpoint. Now there are quite a few embassies near the Brandenburg Tor and we went for coffee at Einsteins, we found out it was formerly the preferred coffee house for Russian spies and their friends.
We walked to Museum Island, looking up at Humboldt’s statue then passing through a Pinch gut of a lane near the German Historical museum or Zeughaus. Stencilled onto the footpath, BEWARE PICKPOCKETS, three more steps and we are descended on by a swarm of people with clipboards, wanting to interview us. “Sign our petition”.
We said No and continued walking, but they corned a Chinese man going the other way who screamed “No, No, No” in English and they swarmed him. Feral. Quite frightening.
I hope he had his hand on his wallet and phone. You can’t intervene because part of the scam is that a “tourist” might come your aid and then as soon as you relax, he is off with your wallet.
We spent several hours on Museum Island, a blog post in itself, but as the jetlag pressed in, we decided to go on a river trip on the River Spree. We needed the sunshine and views, after our thirty two hour flight and Berlin offered it in Spades.
