The Jewish Museum and Checkpoint Charlie (20 September 2024)

 

Our local residential street - typical of the area

It was a relaxed start to the day.  A coffee at our new favourite café and then we caught to the tram to Alexanderplatz to have a look around this massive open area that serves as a gathering area, market area and tram stop.  It was rather colourful and busy.

Bev's favourite café

 

Our destination for the day was the Jewish Museum.  I had heard an interview with a New Zealander who had had part in setting out the exhibition space.  We both thought it would be interesting to see given the impact that the Nazi regime had had on the Jewish community throughout Europe.  The museum consisted of two buildings, one older and another contemporary design.  We spent more time than expected in the museum.  One of the facts that I found interesting is how much the Jewish community had deliberately integrated into German society over the previous centuries.  They saw themselves as Germans first and Jewish second. 

The Jewish Museum


Garden outside the Jewish Museum

 

Checkpoint Charlie was just down the road.  I had thought it was near a bridge over the Spree but it wasn’t.  We were fascinated with a betting game being played where they hide a marble under one of three “cups” and then move them around very quickly.  Bev was approached to join in but was not going to succumb despite entreaties to do so.  We then tried work to out who the stooges were.  We thought one woman was and there was a minder as well. 


Checkpoint Charlie


 

We stopped by the river near the Rathaus for a drink in the sun.  It was very nice looking out over the river basking in the warm air.  It was a nice way to end our stay in Berlin.

Happiness is drinking a Spritz in the sun beside the Spree

Another view of the Rathaus

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Choosing where to go next (28 October 2024)

Image
  Canal St-Martin There is so much to see in Paris, which makes for an almost overwhelming number of places to choose from.   Graham had what he called “crikey” moments where something would just take his breath away.   The Pont du Gard was one of those moments but he had many more so the challenge was to find at least one on our last full day in Paris.     We were keen to go to Belleville which is the highest point in Paris and Graham had picked up a book in the apartment with graphic photos of its former self before and after it had been redeveloped in the 1970s and later.   The view from there on a good day is excellent as you can see the city laid out with its various landmarks.   It   was quite misty when we left but we still decided to go. Parc de Belleville   We entered through the Parc de Bellville and climbed to the lookout point.   The Eiffel Tower was not visible due to the mist but as it was coffee t...
Read more

Frankfurt am Main

Image
Looking toward the CBD We woke early and found that our apartment had a wide and expansive balcony that gave us a view from the west to the east.   It was a nice outlook.     Apartments' courtyard View from the balconey of apartment It was over twelve hours since we had last eaten and Bev wanted breakfast so we went looking for a place in the local area settling on a bakery/café.   The food was carb heavy but it did the trick.   (Comment from Bev: Yum! – there will be a few of these added comments throughout as she edits my blog)   Our tram stop - cycle lane on my right Just before we left New Zealand I had a message from Deutsche Bahn to tell me that the train we were going on from Prague had been cancelled and we had to find another way of travelling.   The website was optimised for German speakers of course so I think the translated version was not as clear.   I thought the easiest way to deal with it was to go to Fra...
Read more

The Causeway Coastal Route (2 November 2024)

Image
Carrickfergus Castle It was very damp when we departed for Derry/Londonderry, taking the Coastal route there.   Normally this would be done when going to the Giant’s Causeway but we had not managed to do so.     The first stop was Carrickfergus Castle about 20 minutes out of Belfast.   It is a Norman castle that was built in 1147 on a rock that has fresh water available.   Over succeeding centuries it was much modified to become the fortress that it is today.   It was a central player in the wars of control of Ulster.   Initially it was the main centre of Ulster but eventually in the 1700 and 1800s the centre moved to Belfast.   Halloween display in the Keep   We paid the small fee to have a look around.   It was interesting to go into a very different kind of castle to those we had visited in France.   The idea was the same but execution was different.     In the main Keep which is the large...
Read more