Berlin - part 2

I think day 1 got a bit full so I have moved this (not completele sure of order now!!)

We then went through an area of 3 waterways - we left the canal and went back onto the Spree. We sailed on past the Schloss Palace - well it was somewhere in the distance - no visible signs from the waterway! The boat then stopped and I checked with my German friends that we were going back to the starting point! He said we had another hour to go so I settled back for the rest of the trip (it actually turned out to be quite a bit longer as the trip in total took almost 4 hours). Some English people joined the boat so from this point there was some English commentary so it was easier to keep up but it was still good to have my guide book. I decided to order some food and the waitress recommended the "Berliner Currywurst mit brod":

My lunch!

Menzelschule - grammar school (Dutch renaissance style)

 We passed a  Lutheran church - St Saviour's. It had been almost rebuilt after the war but was a much less ornate and simple build as they did not have the money to rebuild it as before. Berlin has been the capital of Germany since 1871 and has a long history. It was part of the Hanseatic league - hence the Dutch style building above, for 90 years in the later middle ages. The bridge below is named after Martin Luther and is in a former Huguenot area.

Martin Luther Bridge

"Civil Servant's Snake"

The picture on the right depicts a building that was built in an S-shape (the photo does not show this at all!). It was built as residences only for parliamentary and government employees so the name was not only referring to its shape! Now anyone can live there. We went passed the Congress Hall which is known as the "Pregnant Oyster" due to its unusual design. The roof was quite precarious and collapsed in 1980 killing a journalist. Unfortunately I had to change the batteries on my camera so I did not really get a good shot!

The oyster is the small circular part middle of picture!and next to it the Chancellor Bridge, currently Angela Merkel

The Moltke Bridge

The river has many, many birdges and they are all named. The  bridge above was named after a Prussian General who was one of Bismarck's commanders. The railway station (below centre) was completed in 2006. It has 5 levels and runs 16 metres deep going under the river. It is used by about 300,000 people a day.

The bridges joining the parliament buildings

Part of the parliament - Bundestag

Berlin Hauptbahnhof

The German parliament buildings are on the left and right banks and are joined by the bridges (top left) - the lower one for the public and the upper one for the staff. We then moved into an area that was formerly East Berlin. The wall ran along the side of the Reichstag.

The Reichstag

Friedrichstrasse Station

The station (above) only had trains leaving from the direction to the West due to the Iron Curtain. Next to it is a small building that was known as the "Palace of Tears" as it symbolised so much heartache.

We sailed past the media areas including Reuters and then the theatre quarter including the area where Bertolt Brecht became famous.

Weidendammer Bridge (Prussian Eagle in centre!)

(This is taking quite a while to write up, plus I have had a busy time here in Berlin - it is now Tuesday morning, the first full day of the conference).

The bridge is where Friedrichstrasse crosses the river. It is 3.5 km in length.

Then we moved onto Museum Island where we passed Emperor Frederick's palace.

The past the old national gallery which is modelled on the Pantheon temple in Athens

With the Berlin Dom on left

The Berlin Cathedral / Dom was only bujilt in 1905 but is styled much earlier to look like St Peter's in Rome. It was rebuilt in 1975 due to bomb damage. Then we passed the area where the Berlin city castle had stood. It was badly bombed and was finally torn down in 1970 by the East Germans. Now there is some ruined buildings but the area is being redeveloped - the Humboldt Box.

The box is a modern museum.

Cathedral (with crane on left!)

The Maerkische museum

The mayor of Berlin's residence - this has been used since the reunification of East and West Germany

There was an opportunity to take a better picture of the Cathedral: but the photo jumped above. Then we were at another lock and I had a brief chat with my new German friends. It turned out he had been a refugee during the war (I didn't find out why - they didn't say so I didn't like to ask). He lived in Scotland for about 9 years and served in the Black Watch. His wife had joined him and lived there too.

Some old river boats

The boat then went back to the starting point. There were a lot of people waiting as it was not nearly 2pm and a very sunny and pleasant afternoon. I had been given some suggestions of what to do in a short time in Berlin so I decided to give it a go. I will start another blog as this one is now sending pictures all over the place so a fresh start is needed!