Wind of Change (Berlin, Germany, part 2)

We breakfasted at home again.  The domestic bliss of an apartment hotel. It's not quite a hotel, nor is it AirBnB, it is somewhere in between. Our studio apartment gets cleaned every third day. On other days there is no need to be concerned by an untimely knock at the door.

The Old Museum from the bus.

After yesterday's rain and the overnight storm, we ventured out into sunshine. Exciting. A short walk to the Hop-on Hop-off bus stop, number 17. It is actually the end of the route but the sales dude said we could get on there. So, we did. And there we sat. We could have walked to stop 1 and commenced with the first bus of the day.

A statue on museum island bridge.

As the first bus departed from stop 1, we left our resting place and drove to the starting position and there we sat for another 15 minutes. Insider knowledge or more astute questioning would have resolved this issue. Regardless, we were seated and comfortable on the top deck of the bus. We could open the windows but the top remained closed for the duration.

Brandenburg Gate like we'll never see it again.

This journey, the Red Route, occupies around 2 and a half hours. There are a couple of 15 minutes respites so if you are quick enough you can get the perfect photo and resume the tour on the same bus. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be snapping photos from onboard, so there are fewer photos than expected. However, it was meant to be a sightseeing expedition so we could determine what to visit (and hop off at) again tomorrow.

The Reichstag.

We passed many major sights including: Alexanderplatz, Berliner Dom, Humboldt University, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Central Station, Schloss Bellevue Palace, the Victory Column, Potsdamer Platz, Berliner Mauer, Checkpoint Charlie, and back to the Rathaus. There were obviously other things in between, shopping centres, churches, you get the drift, my dear reader.

Gendarmenmarkt I think. Be fair, I was on a bus.

Happily, this time the bus continued straight back to stop 1 where we would pick up the Blue Route bus that ventured into what was East Berlin and the sections of the wall we wanted to see. In a stroke of timing genius, our next bus was waiting for us. Ok, maybe they match schedules.

That is a real sized replica Sputnik.

There wasn't a lot to see on the second route, at least not from the bus window. We were taken down the grand boulevarde that was initially built so the GDR could hold the obligatory marching displays. It is now called Karl-Marx-Allee.  After sailing through the area renown for the most exclusive nightclubs in Germany, we alighted at stop 3, the East Side Gallery. After a detour to photograph the "most beautiful bridge in Berlin", we returned to the wall. It is a 1.3 km preserved stretch of the wall that has murals almost the entire length. Some are more estoric than others and it probably warrants some enterprising millenial to create a startup that hires out audio guides explaining each mural.

Can't see the fuss really.

There were, of course, the usual vacuous, look-at-me, selfie takers. Or in one instance, a boyfriend who must have been at photo 6 of his girlfriend behind the gate in the wall. I don't know how high the number of aborted photos went because I walked away, tired of waiting to take a photo of the gate without her self-absorbed personage obscuring the real shot. I hope the sex was worth it. She was hard work.

Only here to match the text above.

We continued down the street side of the wall until the end and then went toward the river to stroll down the inside. The side of the wall that was facing West Berlin is covered in graffiti, as opposed to art. There is a pleasant grassed area, a walkway covered by flowering (at the moment) crab apple trees, bordered by the river. As the sun was shining, the area, originally known as the 'Death Strip', was being enjoyed by locals and tourists.

The beginning.

Back at the commencement of this section of the wall, I checked the Big Bus app to for the whereabouts of our transport back to Alexanderplatz. We watched as the bus left the stop while we were stranded on the opposite side of the road. There was only thing left to do. Beer. We sat in the sun near the stadium that will shortly host the Laver Cup (Europe against the world). Almost like being back home seeing Rod's name up in lights.

The famous mural. Who is tonguing whom?

Tracking a bus via an app in real time means no stressing about when to finish a beer. Nice. Beer enjoyed, ok maybe I had two, we strolled back to the bus stop and returned to Alexanderplatz. The clouds were beginning to look threatening but we were safely home before the obligatory storm arrived.

The French have such a way with words.

Over a glass of wine, we planned the next day's outing. A reasonably early start to get back on the bus and again travel the red route to actually hop off and hop back on after we have had time to explore and take photos.

I like the sentiment of this one.

That bridge again.

The title song, Wind of Change was really a no brainer for this post, although Jayne wanted some song by David Hasselhoff, whoever he is. Back to reality. The Scorpions, a long lived German band had their biggest hit in their twilight. Rather fitting, it was also the twilight of the division in Berlin. Physical at least.

A lovely spring day.

Until next time.