hop On Hop Off Bus (HOHO)

So yesterday we got to the first stop of the HOHO bus early and got the front seats on the top deck.  We rode the bus around its route for the 2.5 hour ride and it was an amazing mix of old and new, East and West.   A new Germany and remnants of the old, iconic sites which conjure up images of oppression and division.

(In the afternoon we visited the Reichstag Building - (more on that in another post)  and then Norbert went for a run and I went to sleep!

Connection here at our hotel is spotty so I will just post the pictures and try to describe as much as I can without grouping them as I might with better connectivity.

 One of the 2 buildings of the Berlin Philharmonic of special interest to people of Boston as the new and already much loved conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andres Nelsons, is a finalist to be the new conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic which is considered by most to be the #1 conducting position.

 A remnant of the Wall.  There are parts of it left throughout the city.  The top was rounded so no one could get a grasp on it and even grappling hooks .  The fence in front is to prevent "wall peckers"  from chipping pieces to sell.   Like pieces of the "true cross"  there are said to be enough pieces of the Wall to build three of them.

 This is  Check Point Charlie. the best known of entrances to Berlin from the West which most Westerners passed through. 

                                                         Left as a remnant of the past.

 When the Wall fell in 1989 (built in 1961) most of the buildings in the East we "Soviet Style" meaning plain rectangles of cement and cinderblock unpainted.   A massive redevelopment began in the East and now that it is near the standard of the West , building in what was the Western sector is happening on a large scale.  Also when the Capitol was moved from Bonn to Berlin, there was a huge influx of government employees requiring massive building of apartments and infrastructure.

 Most of Berlins magnificent buildings were destroyed during WWII.   A few remain.

 Public transportation is modern and efficient and bibycles are a very common means of transportation with safe separate bike lanes on all the major streets.

 The Brandenburg Gate - once an entry between East and West.  Norbert brought his dad with him when he ran the Berlin Marathon in 1998 .   An emotional journey and he got to show Norbert where they had lived which unfortunately Norbert can't find now.

 The Reichstag Building (current government) which we visited in the afternoon.  You will see pictures of the inside of the Dome in my next post.

 We plan to take one of these boat rides on the Spree River that runs through Berlin.

                 This restaurant is called Berlin - Moscow.  Wonder wht they serve?

 One of the many beautiful treed streets.  One third of Berlin is parks and water.  Solar and other conservation and environmental issues are clearly important.

 Victory tower in celebration of Prussian victories in late 1800's.   You can climb to the top but reviews say the stairs are narrow and crowded.  We opted for the Dome of the Reichstag Building for our view from the top.

 It was decided not to rebuild this church as a memorial to the destruction of Berlin during WWII.  The new one is being erected next to it.

One entrance to the Tiergarten which is considered the lungs of Berlin is 2 sq miles of treed walking and recreation. (Central Park in NYC is 1.3 square miles for comparison).  The Berlin Zoo is next to it boasting the largest collection of species in the world.  I found it disturbing that they also say that the space for the animals is deliberately small so that visitors are more likely to see them.  I have to say that after visiting Tanzania and seeing animals in the wild,  zoos in general are hard for me to see but this attitude is particularly troubling to me.