June 1

Today was overcast, windy and the high was about 58 degrees.  We took the hop on hop off bus (hoho) from near our hotel for a city tour.  We first rode the full 2 1/2 hour route and then got off at our starting point  Germany do.  So much was destroyed by allied bombing in WWII that Berliners decided to make everything modern.  (If you want to see old, go to a museum.)  There is road and building construction everywhere.  Soviet inspired architecture in former East Berlin is being torn down and replaced with modern style.  There are still some buildings dating from the late 1800s, but not many.

Vladimir Putin was in the city to meet with Angela Merkel and, at one point on out tour near the Reichstag, traffic was halted while Putin's motorcade passed on the other side of the boulevard.  We were amazed at the number of police vehicles, from motorcycles to squad cars to armored vans that were part of the motorcade.  Many more police were at intersections and snipers were on the roof of the building next to the Reichstag. 

We got back on the hoho and hopped off at various locations where we wanted to spend more time.  The Brandenburg Gate was being cordoned off for a bike race the next day with more than 50,000 bicycles expected from all over Europe.  Vendor stalls were being set up for the event.  We got off at Checkpoint Charlie which is now a stage set type of small hut with sandbags, imitation allied soldiers and no barriers.  There's a McDonald's just inside the old East border.  It's nothing like the original; it's just a tourist setup which encourages visitors to buy low quality and overpriced souvenirs at the nearby shops.  My first visit to Berlin was in 1960 when I took the subway into East Berlin and walked back out with no ID checks.  My next visit in 1964 I drove from Nuremburg through East Germany to West Berlin and then drove through Checkpoint Charlie to visit East Berlin.  Now, there are remnants of the wall and a memorial with photos and text cataloging the rise of the Nazis, the atrocities they performed and the final surrender, covering the period 1932 to 1945.  There is also a museum devoted to the Trabant, the East German manufactured automobile.  If an East German wanted a car, they registered for it and waited 11 to 14 years to get it.

When we got back to our starting point we went to our hotel to rest up before dinner.  At dinnertime we walked around some streets we hadn't previously seen and went through a Polish fest with numerous stalls selling food, beer, crafts and, of course, vodka.  There was a band playing and it looked like fun was going to happen.  We then went to a restaurant we had scoped out the previous day and got the last seat available, a high top table at the end of the bar.  It was a great location to watch people and the goings on.  Pat had 1/2 duck and I had traditional kassler and both were among the best meals we've had in a long time.