be. Berlin

I had tried to find out what the marketing tag for Berlin last night and couldn't find it anywhere on the web. But when we went in to Berlin this morning, it is everywhere (as well it should be!) - it is simply: be. Berlin

Doing the bus tour yesterday gave us a better idea of what we wanted to make sure we got to see today. So we spent a little time this morning planning a route. Given that they were scattered all over the city we decided to take the car in, knowing that if we could not find parking that we could bring it back only partway to one of the big rail parking stations. But you would not have believed how little traffic there was! Anywhere!!

First on our list was the Oberbaumbrücke Bridge. We had seen this bridge on the way through yesterday and it looked so amazing! When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, the bridge became part of East Berlin's border with West Berlin and beginning in 1963, the Oberbaumbrücke was used as a pedestrian border crossing for West Berlin residents only - even though it is a two tier rail and pedestrian bridge with a road bridge joining it. Because of its length and the busy road at the end it is almost impossible to get a photo of the full bridge, but this one isn't too bad.

And for a length of 1.3 kms from the bridge, there is part of the former wall still standing. After the fall of the wall in 1989, artists began to paint messages and pictures. Today, it is the longest piece of the wall still standing where it had been situated and more than 118 artists from 21 countries have left their messages on this stretch. The story of the Berlin Wall and the Berliner people's determination not to let it tear them apart is very interesting reading. The link is above! This section of the wall is now known as the East Side Gallery and is a protected monument. There are conservation and rehabilitation works underway to minimise the affects of weather and dirt. Unfortunately, there are some pieces that have been vandalised with meaningless spray can graffiti tags - bloody blighters, lets hope that they never have the need to leave messages as those before them here had to.

From here we set Kate to take up to the ruins of the Franziskaner Klosterkirche. In the twilight of last night when we were trying to find it, we had actually driven straight passed it, but as its not lit, we didn't see it! We are a little disappointed to find it locked up tight. After being struck by bombs in WWII and almost totally destroyed, it was never rebuilt. Now it has become a venue for the arts - we can see various sculptures both inside the former church ruin and in the grounds and there are advertisments for musical concerts on the front of the building remains. It is is a beautiful setting and must have once been a lovely piece of Berlin's architecture.

We are lucky enough to park the car in the street beside the ruins. Surprisingly, we are having absolutely no trouble either moving through the city, or finding (cheap) street parking. You would hardly know that you are in a capital city! But remember what I said yesterday about the lack of a single business area. That is coming though! In the area of Potsdamer Place which was the no-mans land between the east and west, there are multiple projects building a new commercial centre for the reunified Berlin. It will take some time to complete though - maybe another ten years?!

So once we had finished admiring the kloster ruins we were ready for some lunch. There is a shopping complex across the road (an 8 lane major road - Grunerstraße) so we dash across when the lights allow us to find a café. We figure that this will be cheaper than a restaurant. And it is. We sit on the sidewalk in the shade and have our lunch (we forgot to write the name of the cafe!) Michael has Hungarian Goulash with rice and I have chicken and peaches in curry sauce. Not big meals, but very tasty and enough to fill the holes. From here we can see a steeple which is very close to the television tower we went up yesterday (gosh, can't help but compare our small lunch with the magnificent meal yesterday). So lunch down, we go off to take a look.

This is the Marienkirche (St. Mary's Church) and while the exact age is unknown it was first mentioned in German chronicles in 1292 and is presumed to date from earlier in the 13th century. It was originally a Roman Catholic church, but has been a Lutheran (Protestant) church since the Reformation. There are major conservation works underway as we walk through.

So this was an added bonus as it wasn't on our list of to-does for today, but as we are so close, we can't leave without taking a look. It sits in Alexanderplatz along with the very impressive Neptune Fountain that the Italians are all climbing over making it hard to get a photo, and it is bordered by the Rathaus. When we walk in to take a look, we can't help but be reminded of the simple beauty of the Maryborough City Hall and Council Chambers. The Berlin Rathaus is much much more ornate, but in a dignified way that despite its glitz and bling manages to retain an air of glamour not gaudiness. It contains beautiful architectural touches such as highlighted capitals and ribbed vaulting, plus stunning stained glass window panels and cool marble floors.

So back out into a warm sunny day - although at 24.5°C, late summer in Berlin is proving cooler than late winter back home. I'm finding it hard to get my head around temperatures in the low 30's in August. What on earth will it be like next summer when we have to come home from the European winter? Yuk!

We walk back through the cool of the park around the kloster to the car to head for something totally different. While its nice to see the historical and cultural side of a city, its great also to get a sense of the today. And on an artificfal 'beach' established by the River Spree, we are lucky to visit the Sandsation - World Solo Championship. Lucky because the displays will only be up for another week! This is the result of a competition for solo sand sculptors. And what they have made out of sand with a little fixer and water is amazing. The theme for 2009 was 'City of the Future' and some of the artist's statements are truly thought provoking when you read their interpretation of the theme and the message they are portraying. There was an Australian entrant for the first time as well. Set against the backdrop of the Hauptbahnhof - the new Berlin central rail station, they looked quite stunning.

We continue to the last of the places that we had planned to go to today and for the first time since arriving here encountered real traffic. And this was on top of road closures for events and road works. Gosh, it was a total shambles. We wanted to go to the Brandenburg Tor (Gate) and then drive Straße des 17. Juní travelling through the Großer Tiergarten towards the Großer Stern (the Great Square) with its imposing Victory Column. And although we finally managed to get up close and personal with them both, it was the hardest thing we did today!

There has been some sort of event at the Brandenburg gate and the roads leading into it are congested as nothing we have seen yet in Berlin while the scaffolding that rings the edge of the Tiergarten and that has closed the Straße des 17. Juní is dismantled. The worker ants (cos that is what they look like!) are scurrying busily, working efficiently and quickly - but there is so much to do. The local drivers are as impatient as some angry hornet - they don't like not being able to travel their normal routes and you can feel the road rage building as we crawl forward inch by small inch. And it is truly a pity as we cannot get a photo of this impressive reminder to the might of Germany as a nation from back. It is hard to demonstrate its size with the ones we can get, but hopefully you will be as impressed as we were.

The Victory Column at this hour of the day casts it shadow and points towards the east as if it is the needle of some huge sundial. Yes, 5:50 pm - right on the mark! Now, THIS is some monument - built in the days when honour and pride in the achievements of a nation were paramount in demonstrating might and power to others, and engendering the soul of a nation. This column commemorates the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was inaugurated in 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria (Austro-Prussian War,1866) and France (Franco-Prussian War, 1870–71), giving the statue a new purpose.
It is magestic sitting in the middle of the round square of the only major intersection in the Großer Tiergarten - meaning that you look down a wide avenue to see it in the centre of this magnificent park. This monument is a masterpiece of design and construction - check out the link if you want the details, but you have to see the mosaics that form the entire wall of the monument inside the collonaded portal - artistically and aesthetically these are just stunning.

What is disgusting is the lack of respect sho to the monument by many many visitors. You see you can climb up 301 steps to the top of the monument for amazing views over the Großer Tiergarten and up the Straße des 17. Juní to the Brandenburg Tor and indeed right across the city skyline. And the inner stairwell from bottom to the very top is covered with graffiti - as though adding your name to an immortal statue brings one a place in history - NOT. Absolutely disgusting (in my humble opinion).

London has Harrods. Berlin has Ka De We (Kaufhaus des Westens). But here the comparison ends. While Harrods relies on its name and its 'connections', it is old and dated with threadbare fittings and a desperate need for a makeover. Ka De We on the other hand is total chic.
There are two restaurants here and as the one on the lower floor is closed for the day, we head for the 7th floor and the Wintergarten International Buffet. You can choose from an incredible array of foods all cooked to order (except the roasts) - from fish and shellfish to steaks, from salads to asian, from pizza to crépes to cakes and coffee. We are hungry and so decide to have dinner - well, it is just before 7pm!
Mains:
Lamb shaslick auf Rosmarin Kartoffeln backen und Gemüse überbacken (Lamb shaslick on rosemary potato bake and vegetables au gratin) Michael
Gegrilltes Rumpsteak mit Whisky-Pfeffersauce, Pommes backen und Gemüse überbacken (Grilled rump steak with whisky pepper sauce, potato bake and vegetables au gratin) Maria
Frische Brötchen mit Butter, Knoblauch und Zitronen-Butter (Fresh breadrolls with garlic butter and lemon butter - savoury not sweet and oh-so-yummy!)
Dessert:
Erdbeer-Gelee Scheibe mit Kiwis (Strawberry jelly slice with kiwifruit) Michael
Fresh Krepp gefaltet mit Kirschen (Fresh crepe folded with cherries) Maria

And as we are leaving we get a little treat for later - fresh marshmallows, nougat and licorice! The lady in the confectionary sales area tells Michael that I am 'just like a little girl' as I giggle and grin with our selection. Yep, thats me!!

And just when we thought the day was as full as, we are caught in the middle of a VIP (very important politician) motorcade. We are not sure that the German Chancellor is in one of the cars, but it is a pretty safe bet as there are police and military police cars and motorcyles surrounding two cfars travelling at speed, ignoring traffic rules and almost bludgeoning other traffic into pulling aside to let them continue unimpeded (albeit with a polite bitte over their loudspeaker as they rush past). Wen the motorcade pulls into the grounds of the German Federal government building - we just put two and two together.

Once back at the hotel (via the motorway this time which took us through places we had not yet seen), we spend the rest of the night booking accommodation through to the end of the month, making plans to visit Felicitas (our last exchange student) and her family, and planning for the Western Front tour!

Berlin - a City of contrasts

Our first impression of Berlin is that it is a city still struggling with its parts. There are lots of new construction projects juxtaposed with classic and beautiful architecture and with the horrid reminders of a population controlled - those ugly ugly apartment blocks. And there does not appear to be a city centre as we would all think of it.

We have finally come to accept that European living is ever so different from our Aussie way of life. If you want to live in a city, any city, then you are going to be living in an apartment. And it does not seem to be a recent phenomenom - there are many examples of beautiful old blocks of apartments that date back to the 1920s and before. You have to actually be out in rural areas before you see any number of detached houses. Even in the outer suburbs (like where we are staying in Köpernick) there are still predominantly apartments - sure, they are a bit better spaced, but still apartments nonetheless.

Roadworks are disrupting more of Berlin than perhaps in any other city we have visited with the exception of Edinburgh. Except here in Berlin they are not tackling one piece of the problem at a time, they are taking on all the city's road woes - and there are plenty!

And the woes do not end with their roads, there are pink and blue pipes criss crossing the city over our heads. The only other place we have seen this serpentine monster was in Slovakia. But these are doubly ugly as they are painted in the bright pink or blue that seems to scream 'Just look at me, I will not be hidden!'

And then there is the cancer that is eating away at some of the city's lovely architecture. It takes two forms - peeling concrete render that falls from the sides of buildings exposing their ugly brick construction like someone's underwear inadvertantly showing. And the other is the prevelance of ugly graffiti - I am not referring to the stylised artistic displays that you see sometimes, but rather to the brazen tags left by minds with too little to occupy them and no sense of value of others' property. And then there is the reminder of the ugliest time in Berlin's history - the occupation by the soviets and the wall that split a people asunder, but more on this a little later.

But there are some examples of true efforts to brighten the city's buildings - some new, others that date back before most of us will admit we can remember. There are massive redevelopment projects within the area once called no-man's land. It is these projects that has made it necessary to transport water in those painted tubes aboveground. With so much work taking place over such a large area, the water table needed to be externally balanced - hence those ugly pipes! Funny thing is that I found a site on the web dated 2006 where the writer claimed that the work would be finished and the pipes removed in time for the 2006 World Cup. Wonder what happened!!

We decided that Sunday being what it is, with free inner city parking and train and tram and bus timetables far less frequent that we would drive in. We get in without a hitch - there is hardly any traffic on the roads. On looking at where the places we wanted to visit were, we had earlier decided to get one of the hop-on hop-off buses as this would be the easiest way to get around. Frances the parking angel is working her magic again today and I get a spot (after twice around the block) only 4 spots (car spots that is) from the bus stop! And those two loops of the block - well, that was to try to work out how to get to that parking area! All one ways and diversions.

Onto the bus and with all of these trips we have done, we do a loop of the route first to orientate ourselves. We see all the landmarks that Berlin is famous for and some more:
- around Museums Island with its classical architecture and past the beautiful Berliner Dom (Protestant cathedal), St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale (St Hedwig's Catholic Cathedral) and the Rathaus
- past the Brandenburger Tor and the holocaust memorial
- out past Schloss Charlottenburg - the Charlottenburg Palace that dates back to the 17th century and is a reminder of a time when grandeur indicated your wealth and status
- the Kurfürstendamn with its amazing shopping centres,
- the world famous KaDeWe department store that has traded since 1905 and symbolised a new Berlin when it was repaired after nearly beurning to the ground in WII.
- Potsdamer Platz with its cultural area and remains of the Berlin Wall
- past the Jewish Museum with its three seperate areas
- the Gendarmenmarkt and its huge flea market that extended the length of about 4 city blocks

We nearly completed the loop! We are two stops from where we joined the bus when we realise that we have reached the Checkpoint Charlie Musuem after having just passed one of the few remaining pieces of the Wall near the Brandenburg Gate. So we dive off to take a look.

As much as anything, the Mauermuseum-Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie is a tribute to the work of one man - Rainer Hildebrandt. Just steps from the famous crossing point between the two Berlins, the Wall Museum—House at Checkpoint Charlie tells the story of the Wall and, even more riveting, the stories of those who escaped through, under, and over it. The homespun museum reviews the events leading up to the Wall's construction and, with original tools and devices, plus recordings and photographs, shows how East Germans escaped to the West. And how West Germans refused to let the wall dous their hope for a unity city.

"Checkpoint Charlie" was the last bastion between freedom in the west and the soviets controlling the east and trying to influence the west. The real checkpoint was demolished following the fall of the wall in 1989, but a copy (complete with pretend military personnel who want €1 for a photo) was rebuilt as a reminder of this terrible time. And you have to hand it to the marketing gurus in the Czech Republic, who in the street outside this copy have established their own Czech Point - their tourism office!

By the time we finish in the museum (about 2.5 hours) we realise that if we want to make the most of our ticket then we need to get the next bus back to our starting point as it is one of the last ones of the day that will do the complete route. Back on we jump when the next bus pulls in about ten minutes later. But hang on - we have already covered some of this territory - ah, there is an announcement that due to roadworks they have to divert from the normal route. Back to Alexanderplatz and the car finally and we decide to lose the backpack.

Wallets and camera only now as we walk towards the Fernsehturm TV Tower. This is the tallest structure in Berlin and is visible from most parts of the City, so we have no trouble in finding it a few blocks away - you just keep walking in the direction that allows it to get bigger and bigger the closer you go! It is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers - which includes a few Australian towers. (Click on the link if you want to know which ones!)

This is a must see for me as I love to see the city (any city) from above. It takes on surreal properties - a magical air away from the grit and grime of everyday life. Michael queues to buy tickets and I resign myself to a wait as tickets are numbered and they only allow a certain number of people to go up at a time and at the moment - according to the board that is 40 - 50 minutes away. But he rushes back, "Quick, we have to go NOW" "How?" I asked as we climb a couple of flights of stairs to the lift waiting area. "They just had two tickets cancelled as I got to the window, so we got lucky!" was the reply. Yep, lucky alright.

We get herded into the lift with about 12 other people and head for the skies at a rate of 6 m/second. Not enough to bring your stomach contents up, but easily enough for your ears to pop. We alight at the Observation Deck and fight with the hundreds of other people up here to get a space by the windows so we can take some photos. Everything radiates out from here and we can see the wide avenues that curve out from the centre and the green spaces that dot the city. There is the large green park of Große Tiergarten that reminds us of Central Park in New York - a massed planting of trees in the near centre of a concrete jungle! This is the oldest and largest green space in the city and well used by its residents.

We had earlier decided that we would have lunch/dinner at the Telecafe Restaurant here and had the most amazing meal while we were perched up here with the birds. The menu is very extensive and surprisingly more affordably priced than we had anticipated. After drooling over the contents for ages, while I sipped a Prosecco and Michael, a tonic, we settled on:
Entrees:
Tatar von Kalbsfleisch und Limone im Salatnest mit jungen Kapern und Balsamico-Essig (Tartare of veal and lime served with fresh lettuce, young capers and balsamic vinegar) Michael
Auswahl von Hausmacherwurst mit Krustenbrot und Gewürzgurke (A selection of home made style sausages with crusty bread and gherkins) Maria (omg can you see how big this is! Thankfully Michael helps me finish it including the tongue-wurst and another that is very offally)
Mains:
Krone vom Beelitzer Kaninchen auf Kohlrabigemüse und gefüllten Rosmarinkartoffel (Crown of Beelitz rabbit on a bed of kohlrabi and stuffed rosemary potatoes) Michael
Pochiertes Jungbullenfilet auf Selleriecreme mit Perlzwiebeln und Balsamicojus (Poached filet of a young bull served with celery cream, pearl onions and Balsamico jus) Maria
Desserts: (yep,we went the full hog)
Pfirsich Melba, mal ganz anders (Peach Melba, made with a very special creamy ice-cream made from white peach and served with hot raspberries) Michael
Eisbecher „Nussgigant“ (Giant walnut and vanilla ice-cream sundae, with a nut mix, whipped cream and chocolate sauce) Maria
Herr Klöos was our waiter (didn't want to give Michael his christian name!) and was there when we needed him, and not otherwise. We felt no pressure to rush our meal which allowed us to fully appreciate the very artful way that ingredients had been combined. A fantastic meal! And we are not even going to have the conversation about whose meal was best ...

We spent a good couple of hours eating and gazing out at the diochotemy that is still Berlin. Trouble was that part way through our visit the battery one the camera gave out (well, we had taken 500+ photos!). And where was the second battery? Why, in the backpack, in the car! Oh well, just have to eke out the photos till we get back there. I just loved sitting high over the city and watching the evening's darking shadows chase the last of the golden light over the rooftops far below. Every once in a while, the sun obstinately clung to a high mast or tower or golden edge as though daring the night to close in. All too soon it was time to return to the ground level.

And as day finally turned from twilight to dark, we were lucky enough to be near the Rathaus to watch as she changed her colours for the night. We drove around for a little while trying unsuccessfully to find the Kloster ruins that we could see so clearly from above. Couldn't find them in the dying light though - will find them on Earth Google and then plot it on our map for tomorrow. So, back to the hotel, with the roadworks once again providing obstacles for Kate and I. Thankfully I have a pretty good sense of direction and so just keep driving until I think we will be passed the godawful mess! I win.

Hey Hey Hay

Or - Timber and steam all the way to Germany. We are sure that Poland provides most of the world's hay. There is so much of the country around here being harvested at the moment - and the yield they are getting is amazing, so we see thousands and thousands of large rolled bales - some still drying throughout the fields and some stacked. Every couple of days when we speak with Gen, she begins with hey hey hey, so I couldn't resist the title today!!

The Poznań Tourist Bureau puts out a series of information guides that are based around trails or routes of the best things to do in the area. We followed one the other day when we went to Biskupin and today as we head away from Poznań for the last time we are going to follow another - 'The route of wooden churches and buildings' before we make one last stop in Poland at a town called Wolsztyn and then turn west to Germany and 'Western Europe' once again.

We have left Fancy House in Poznań and already miss it. A home away from home, which, when you are travelling for a long time is not always easy to find. Thanks to Gosia and Kris for such a wonderful time. You have some new long-term friends who will wait for you to visit Australia some time.

We are following the one tour of the 'Wooden Churches and Buildings' route that does not take us too far from the route that we must follow to get to Berlin from Poznań. Except that we are following it in reverse of the suggested direction. We start with the Church of St Martin in Granowo, arriving just after 10 am when the morning sky is still a rich deep blue. The timbered church stands out starkly, but in such wonderfully sharp relief against this background. And there is a rather fancy bell tower adjacent to it. At first we don't think that the church is opened - but we eventually find a door that will open. Inside, the body of the church is grated, but we can see in to a rather plain church, with some baroque fittings but not with walls painted like the one we saw recently.

And so on we push. Now, the towns on this route are typically 15 - 20 kms apart, so we are able to get to see a few in the few hours we have. Next in line was Grodzisk Wielkopolski. At first we can't find it and instead have a look at their old market square with the town hall at its centre and a much later baroque church with some wierd dude atop its rotund tower. Then, as we are about to leave town we realise that the car is facing into the street with the timber church. But even the gate into the yeard is heavily padlocked. A pity really - the Holy Spirit Church is very plain and angular outside, but is the oldest on our trip today - dating back to 1633! A timber chuch that is still standing after almost 400 years.

Ruchocice is our next stop. Just off the 'main' street, St Ursula's Church is very nicely kept and in a beautiful garden of trimmed fir trees - the healthiest I have ever seen. It is obvious that this church, built in 1730, is still in regular use, but again we find the doors firmly closed. Hmm, maybe the locals don't like to share! There is not anything else to see here apart from some old barn buildings. The settlement is quite small.

In Rakoneiwice it is not a church we have come to see. Well, it is not a church any more! Instead, it issues deliverence from a different sort of hell. Once an Evangelic Protestant church (boy, they weren't taking any chances!) built in 1763, this building is very different to the others we have seen this morning. It is of post and beam construction and inside boasted two storied balconies. But we will never know whether it was as plain as we find the interior or whether it had been richly decorated. For today, the building houses the Museum of Fire-fighting in Rakoniewice!

You know, sometimes the quirky and different hide lots of little gems. And this one is no different. We enter, unable to find anyone and just start to walk around. The architecture of this once church is quite stark. But now, it gleams with polished brass of a very different nature! In this building there are fire engines that date back to 1786 when terrified horses were used to get water to the seat of a fire. Can't help but imagine that there were not too many fires that they would have reached in time!! Banners from the brigades of past hang from the two balconies - never to flutter in the breeze again.

This unique museum is this quiet little Polish back town has also got equipment from states and cities far away including Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia. Wow - what a collection so far from anywhere. By now, I am back in the car (sorry, there is only so much fire fighting stuff a girl can take - I think its another of those bloke things) when finally a young man working for the museum comes in. I don't think that they get too many visitors, so he is keen to show Michael personally around their collection. Thank you Hubert Koler - your generosity was really appreciated.

The other thing that Rakoniewice has are four colonnaded houses that look into a large market square. In the late 1700s the market square was surrounded by wooden arcaded houses that were characterized by two-tier peaks with beam ceilings. The majority of them burned down is the 'dangerous fire' of 1927 and today only four remain. Guess they are safe now that the Museum of Fire Fighting is within spitting distance of all four!

At this point we had planned to turn west towards Berlin, but there is a hamlet called Śmigiel that we can detour through that will only cost us an extra 15 - 20 minutes. So, why go here? Well, the church here is a composite design - part timber and part post and beam. BUT, somewhere around here are timber windmills supposedly so characteristic of this landscape. Despite our best efforts though, we don't see any. In the 18th century there were 3,500 of these windmills, but today there are only a few hundred - and darn we can't even find one! There are supposedly two, but - where? The poet Boleslaw Leśmain described them perfectly enough for us to see them in our imagination:
Rising above a fallow plain
A windmill, opened to all the world around
Creaks its wooden hoopskirt in a dance,
And throws a devil-like horned shadow on the grass...

And so we turn for the west. Each small town we pass through is built around the market square - not a bad thing at all - as this is where the local population would congregate, trade and exchange their news. Some are lovely and shady while others have become more functional place - areas of hot tarmac that provide handy parking! There is one town we go through where the speed limit is 20 kph - we soon learn why though - they have not tarred over the cobblestones like most others have done and to drive over them faster would certainly mean the death of at the least, your car's suspension! And then we come around a corner and see the most amazing sight. Now, to put this in context, we are out in rural rural Poland - well off the beaten track. And right here in front of us is the remnants of a palatial mansion and all the surrounding glory of what must have once been a very impressive estate. This was all once a private estate of the Kurnatowscy family and is only 100 years old. Very definitely it has seen much better days. The local young woman walking with her children could not have been more pleasant as she offers first Michael and then me a warm Cześć (hello in Polish).

Wolsztyn is famous because this is the last town with scheduled rail services that are operated under steam locomotion. As we drive around looking for the station or the Round House (not a turntable as Michael corrects me), we see lots of other interesting things, but not what we seek. So we decide to go back into the one way cobblestoned and chicaned town centre to the Visitor Information Centre for - well, information. And as I turn the corner to head back that way, there they are (Michael almost wets himself). 12 steam locos all in a line - shunted end-to-end, from tender box to nose. AND there are more in the Round House. The smell of the piles of coal in huge boxed pits in the yard takes us back years and if we listen really hard, we can hear the echo of a steam whistle, once blowed.

And the information? Turns out that those scheduled services are only on weekends and special days. And it turns out that our visiting their town is not a special enough occasion!
Before we leave, we have ice creams that we are dubbing the Salisbury Spires - with 14 tight swirls high above the cone (and more to the base of the cone), there is none of this loose Mr Whippy stuff. And it lasts long enough for you to eat it, not slop up quickly melting drips!

Westward we go, travelling where we can on the back roads. We are so over the motorways with big sound barriers erected on both sides. We continue to travel through small towns, observing a slice of the history of this region, and of the lives of the people today. And it is not all easy. You don't want to be a roadworker anywhere here - you risk your life every day with the only protection being the bright orange clothing you wear. And there are a couple more of those working ladies who face even greater risks I fear!

As we near the border with Germany, we have to re-join the highway. This would be a remainder from the days of border controls through non-EU countries. So it is raining lightly. One car dashes out from a service station on the other side of the road, cutting it fine between trucks hurtling past him and into our lane. Almost loses it - heading into a tailspin. Everything seems to go into slow motion, giving him time to recover control over his vehicle before once again we all rush. Boy, it was close - very close. But that was not the last example of the aggressive driving of the Polish. We are on a two laned busy road. But there are very wide verges. We soon learn that if an impatient fellow wants to overtake you, you head into the verge lane, pulling as far to the right as possible. And if you think this photos is bad, there was a worse example when we have one car overtaking us, and in the other direction a car is passing a truck that is overtaking a car - and all racing towards us! Egad!!!

Before we know it we are over the border and back into Germany. All of a sudden, the architecture has changed. More substantial buildings, smaller farming plots. We are headed for a suburb of outer Berlin on the eastern side called Köpernick where we managed to get accommodation. The roads are an absolute mess and the traffic horrific as we get near about 6 pm. The hotel has changed (ungraded???) our booking without consultation or advice - not sure whether we are happy or not, the room sure doesn't present as an upgraded one! But we have to remember that this is a part of the former East Berlin, and so is likely to be of a lower standard. Dinner is OK, a Schnitzel Buffet - try to imagine that. A variety of schnitzels, pork breaded schnitzel and chicken schnitzel in a mushroom cream sauce served with späetzle noodles and mashed potato with a salad bar that had shredded cabbage salad, shredded carrot salad, sliced tomato and potato salad that the Germans do so well. Who cares - we are just glad we have arrived!