Germany June 2018
- Chris Herbert
- Jun 30, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 1
In the beginning of June I set off on my first European road trip of the year and headed down from South Wales in the early hours to the port of Dover. After a swift sailing across the channel I arrived in Dunkirk. Several hours later I arrived in my destination of Berlin staying in the Generator hostel within the eastern side of the city. The following morning after a quick tram ride to the centre (the station is less then a 5 minute walk from the hostel). I started to do one of my favourite things when visiting a city and set off exploring.
My 1st stop was the Marx and Engels forum where you can scan a 3D barcode to listen the story behind the statues, and the history of the two from the thinking of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who together set the foundations of Marxism.
My next stop was just across the road in the DDR museum. For a small fee you can explore many exhibitions on all aspects of life in the former East Germany. From the school routines such as that all kindergarten children go to the toilet at the same time and no one gets up until the last one is finished. To a Stasi cell and integration room. Before finishing up in a recreated East Berlin flat, listing to a Bruce Springsteen's concert from East Germany July 19, 1988
Upon leaving the museum we headed down to the Brandenburg Gate which is only a short walk away and onto the Soviet war memorial before heading back towards the centre via the impressive Reichstag building with its glass dome and onto Checkpoint Charlie as well as looking at the nearby Berlin Wall exhibition.
After a quick walk back to our hotel to drop off out bags off, it was now time to head to the Concert I was here for a short walk the metro station and hope on the train to the venue. So off we went to the Olympic stadium the home ground for Hertha BSC. This show was the opening night of the 2018 European tour for Guns n Roses. The support act for this show is a band I know well as they are a local band for me called the Manic Street Preachers. Upon arrival and collecting our tickets we entered the imposing stadium that holds nearly 100 years of history. Walking down the long stairway to the covered football pitch and on to the front area (we spoiled ourselves and got golden circle tickets). Only once we got to our spot looking back we got a scale of the stadium itself and how it must of felt for the athletes from all over the world entering the stadium for the first time at the 1936 summer Olympics. The concert itself was fantastic the two support acts of Greta van Fleet and the Manics got the crowd ready for the headliners of Axl Rose, Slash and the rest of the band came on and played 3 hours of back to back hits.
Once the concert was over was time to see if the rumours of German efficiency would be true..... No surprise they were got to the train station and it was there and not too long a wait and we were away back to the centre of Berlin to get the tram back to the hotel after one more picture of the Iconic Berlin TV Tour all lit up.
After a restful nights sleep we had a few hours free before we moved on to the next part of the trip, so we decided to visit the Berlin Zoo which is in the western side of the city. With public transport being so well integrated it is no hassle to get there from anywhere in the city via a quick trip on the metro system. Once we arrived at the Zoo there were several different enclosures to visit if you opt for the extra Aquarium ticket at the entrance you are able to tour the exhibitions held inside as well. For the small extra fee its well worth a visit to both, if you are visiting in the warm summer months its nice to pop into the Aquarium were it is a lot cooler. The Zoo itself does not have a lot of closed off fences using glass in place, making it a lot easier for younger visitors to be able to have a good look at the animals.
Upon leaving the Zoo we went back to the car and drove for a few hours north headed up to the top of Germany for our overnight stop in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. Where we would be getting the ferry over to Sweden the following morning. One of the reasons to wanting to visit the island was the Colossus of Prora being built by the KDF between 1936 and 1939. It is a complex of 8 identical buildings stretching nearly 3 miles today the surviving structure stretches a still impressive 2 miles, of which some of these are under redevelopment into modern apartments, there are good rail and road links to the island and with the location running parallel to a large beach makes it a tempting proposition for people in the cities for a weekend get away. After taking a walk along the beach and dipping my toes in the Baltic we made our way to the overnight stop at a local families house where we stayed overnight in an extension that they had built. They also had a lovely dog that enjoyed being fussed over. After another restful night sleep it was off to the port for the ferry to Sweden and the end of this German adventure.
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