Just after we took our pictures Boris came along with today's tour group and we told them how lucky they were to have him as their tour guide. Next we went to see the Topography of Terror exhibition which documented the rise and fall and crimes of the Nazi party. It is a very well done exhibit with photographs and documents and we got free headsets which provided an English commentary.
We then went to see the Story of Berlin, a multimedia museum exhibit documenting the history of Berlin. It was good, but probably too detailed for me, and I was tired and my legs hurt from our walking over the last two days. Part of the Story of Berlin was a tour of an underground bunker designed to house about 3,000 people in the event of a nuclear war. We spent almost 3 hours at the Story of Berlin exhibit and then we left to go use the internet and then went back to the hostel.
It's 9PM and I'm sitting outside drinking beer and writing notes. It's about 75 degrees right now but it feels cool after the heat of the day. It has easily been in the mid 90s during the day here, and it really bothers me if I have to stand in the sun for too long a time. Usually if we are walking, I can find shade and it's not so bad, especially if there is a little breeze.
I can't believe our time in Berlin is almost over. Tomorrow we leave for Leipzig. I didn't expect to like Berlin as much as I have like it, and I am so happy we came here.
8/08: We got the 10:15AM train to Leipzig and arrived at noon. We walked to the information center and then to our hostel (about a 15 minute walk), but when we got there they had no reservation. We were at the wrong hostel, and the right one was much closer to the train station. We could have stayed at the first hostel but they didn't have a kitchen and the other one did, so we we walked back to the other one - the Central Globetrotters.
It's a nice place. Big rooms with 8 bunks. Lots of floor space for our packs, and 3 big windows. It is a particularly hot day, almost 100 degrees, so the breeze through the windows is a welcome relief.
We walked up to the city center to find the laundromat, did laundry and walked around the center of town. Leipzig is known for music (Bach and Mendelssohn), but nothing much is going on right now concerning music. I don't really want to go to any of the music museums, so we decided to do a walk tomorrow, go to the zoo and go to the Stasi (Secret Police) Museum.
After we finished laundry we just went back to the hostel and then to the train station for groceries. Leipzig has the longest rail terminal in Europe (23 platforms plus 4 outside platforms). More than 800 trains move through the terminal daily, carrying an estimated 75,000 passengers. It's like being in a shopping mall back home. Lots of nice stores and food places. Then we went back to the hostel and I had some wine, cooked some pasta and read my book. It's amazing how fast the time goes. It was 10PM before I ate dinner.
8/09: It was hot in the room last night but I did get a much needed occaisional breeze. It was also very noisy outside between the party goers out on the street, the tram, and the trains from the station. People in Europe love to party until 3 or 4AM and it doesn't seem to matter where they are. I usually wake up a lot during the night, but I can fall back to sleep pretty easily.
We slept late (about 8:30), cooked breakfast and headed out about 10AM. We did a couple of errands and then went to the Stasi Museum for about an hour.The Stasi (Secret Police) had a network of surveillance (for which they recruited many civilians including school-age children), and their primary job was to gather intellegence on all the citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was so horrifying to realize how much of the fundamental rights of the average citizen were violated, to see the surveillance equipment they used to gather information, and to read about their methods of trapping people into working for them. Quite a museum!
Next it was off to the zoo. It was founded in 1878 and is in the process of being remodeled. The entire zoo remodeling project will not be finished until 2010, but it contains the world's largest primate area, which opened in 2001. We had an enjoyable walk around the zoo for about 4.5 hours, even though it was in the high 90s today. After the zoo we walked back to the hostel and rested a bit.
About 6:30PM we went out for a lovely 2-hour walk up through the town center and out to a park. We walked along the river for a while and then back to the center. They play music from 2PM until midnight (sometimes live perfoiramnces, sometime taped music) in the town square and there was a video and taped music playing tonight - sort of a classical music MTV show. We watched and listened for about a half hour, and then went to get pizza at the train station for dinner. I've decided I don't really like the hostel, the place is kind of dirty, and the kitchen is a mess.
It was so hot in the room that I didn't think I could fall asleep, but at first it was quieter on the street than last night. Of course the quiet only lasted until 11:30 when the party started. Boy, it was loud - music and trams. I've never heard trams so loud, but maybe I've never had a room just so close to the tracks before.
8/10: I did fall alseep on and off and the heat finally broke about 4AM. It's still quite hot today but somewhat cooler than yesterday. We got the 9:30 train to Frankfurt and arrived there at 12:40PM. We went to the tourist office to get information on our boat trip down the Rhine tomorrow and our bus trip to Rotheburg on Tuesday. Then we got the 1:40 train to Koblanz and arrinved there about 3:15.
We asked at the information center about buses to the Youth Hostel and the woman told us we would have to take a bus and then a chair lift. The hostel is located in the old Ehrenbreitstein fortress up on a hill overlooking the Rhine. It is a great place with fantastic views. It was certainly different - riding up in a chair lift with my big pack beside me. It's also a bargain; for 21 euros, we get the room, breakfast and dinner, and bed linens. We are in a 9-bed dorm room (very big, very quiet and very clean) and so far Shari and I are the only people in the room.
We had dinner (goulash, noodles, green beens) an dessert - very good - at 6PM and then walked down the hill to check where we would get the ferry across the river in the morning. Then we walked back up and walked around the fortress a bit, and then went to bed early. There ended up being only one other person in our room and it was cool and comfortable sleeping there.
HOME PAGE
HOME PAGE