Berlin Day 4

Our last day in Berlin :(. I’ve really enjoyed this beautiful city though we have only scratched the surface. This morning we called the hop on hop off bus to Checkpoint Charlie.  

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

Next stop was the Anne Frank Zentrum which provides an outline of her  life. The aim of the centre is to promote the memory of Anne Feank and her diary.  The building was a bit hard to find but the exhibition was good!

Anne Frank Centrum

Next stop was the Nicolai Church, a twin spired church near the centre of the city. The church was largely destroyed during WW2 and is now a museum...

Nikolai Church

Isn't the ceiling spectacular?

   

Taken from the organ level

 

We were going to visit the Reichstag but couldn't book online and the line to get tickets was 90 minutes long with little chance of seeing it today so fave it a miss.  Here are a couple of photos of the River Speer which is close to the main train station and our hotel. Tomorrow is Nuremberg :)

River Speer

River Speer

 

Berlin Day 3

Another busy day in Berlin. This morning we did a hop on hop off bus tour that concentrated on the Berlin War and East Germany era. We stopped at the Berlin War Memorial which has the remains of a stretch of the wall.

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall  

Berlin Wall marker

Then off to the Pergamon Museum, well worth visiting. The collection focuses on Middle East and Islamic material.

Temple of Ishtar

Temple of Ishtar

Next stop the Berlin Dom ( Cathedral), well worth seeing.  

Berlin Dom  

Berlin Dom

Great view from the dome which is reached via 267 steps

View from Dom

View from Dom

View from Don

 

 Then off to the memorial for Europe's missing Jewish

Jewish memorial

Jewish memorial

Then final stop Reichstag before walking back to the hotel...

Reichstag

 

Berlin Part 2

Some more images from today!

Church

Golden Hat - Neus Museum

Foyer of Neus Museum

Egyptian gallery - Neus Museum

Neus Museum

Egyptian cat - Neus Museum

 

Berlin

  Arrived in Berlin mid afternoon yesterday  and it was so easy to get from the airport to our hotel which is near the main train station. Today was our first day of exploring the city and we started off on the hop on hop off bus :). Some images taken before I dropped my camera and it stopped working :(

Near Potsdamer Platz

     

Siegessaule Victory column  

River Spree

Berlin Wall remnant  

Berlin TV tower  

Unter Den Linden  

Brandenburg Gate

Unter Den Linden

We spent the afternoon on Museum Island and visited the Altes and Neus museums, piccies when I get hold of Peter's camera.

Paris

Our last day of the tour and on the way to Paris we stopped at Compiegne where the armistice was signed.

Armistice signed on train

Armistice memorial

  We has a dinner cruise on the Seine as our farewell and as usual Paris was brilliant by night

Seine

Paris

Paris

And of course....

Doppelbandy

Just kidding, I mean the Eiffel Tower!

Eiffel Tower

Next stop Berlin!

Belgian battlefields around Ypres

Today we went out onto the Ypres salient and saw a number of battlefields and cemeteries around Passchendaele. Our first stop was to look at one of the craters near Hill 60.  

Bomb crater near Hill 60

    Then off to Tyne Cot cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries on the Western Front....

Tyne Cot Cemetery    

 

Buttes Cemetery NZ memorial to the Missing in the background

   This afternoon we stopped at Langemark German Cemetery. Architecture is very different, grim and dark. The Belgians were very specific on the layout etc. the graves stones are laid flat to reinforce the fact that the Germans lost the war.  

Langemark German Cemetery - statues

German graves - usually 4 per grave

 

German headstones and crosses

 

Villers Bretonneux

Today was our last full day on the WW1 battlefields and we visited 1918 sites. Our first stop was at the Adelaide cemetery where the unknown soldier was exhumed.

Adelaide Cemetery                  

Unknown soldier

   Then we stopped at the Villers Bretonneux school to see the small museum.  

VB school

   

VB school

Our next stop was the Villers Bretonneux Memorial where my great grandfather's name is on the wall.

8th Battalion - Emmett

     

VB from top of tower              

This afternoon we went to see the Canal du Nord which was part of the Hindenburg Line.

Canal du Nord tunnel

Canal du Nord

Tomorrow we are off to Paris and then Tuesady, Berlin :)