The Reign of the Klutz: Trip Eastern Europe

Trip Eastern Europe -- 20 May 2005 ~ 3 June 2005
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Day 1: 20 May 2005 (Singapore -> Frankfurt, Germany)

And so the long awaited day arrives!..After whizzing through a crazy 6 hours at work, I finally left my office at 3pm to rush home to pack (YIKES!!!).. Flight SQ26 left Singapore at 11:50pm and it was a direct 13-hour flight to Frankfurt. Thankfully, I was tired enough, and managed to catch some sleep in between the sounds of Stefanie Sun drifting through my ears, and picking my way through the rubbery cheese omelette on my tray (that vaguely resembles something that Robin Williams created in "Flubber").
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Day 2: 21 May 2005 (Frankfurt -> Berlin)

After the neck and back breaking 13 hour flight, we finally touched down in Germany at an unearthly time of 6:30 am! Surprisingly, it wasn't too cold (not like what we expected at all, since it was still Spring), and the weather was just right..nice and cool the skin! We zipped by the outskirts of Frankfurt, and headed straight for Berlin, 8 hours drive away. We travelled along the famous Autobahn (freeway/highway) that linked that various German cities, and made our first lunch stop at this Marche-like style restaurant along the highway. The slightly expensive- Euro 7.90/S$ 16 per plate- pork schnitzel really wasn't that fantastic... but I guess that's the German standard of living..

Me and my sister at our first lunch stop in Germany..

Along the highway, we spotted many "wind turbines", which are commonly built and used in Germany to generate power.. pretty energy efficient I must say..

Wind turbines in the background of pretty mustard fields..

The mustard fields that dotted the landscape surrounding the roads were very pretty indeed.. the yellows mixing with the greens..

After a long 8 hour drive, we finally arrived in Berlin! After checking into our hotel on Alexanderplatz, we set out on an evening walk (which would prove to be mighty long!), and first stop was the Berliner Dom.

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) is a magnificent church considered to be the Protestant version of St. Peter's Basillica in the Vatican City. The first church was originally built as the court chapel in 1465 for the Hohenzollern royal family. This was replaced by a Baroque cathedral, which was completed in 1747. This cathedral was later remodeled in the classicist style in 1822. This building was subsequently demolished in 1894 by German Emperor Wilhelm II and replaced by the current cathedral. Designed by Julius Raschdorff and completed in 1905, the Dom was built in baroque style Italian Renaissance influences. During World War II, the building was bombed by the Allies and severely damaged. A temporary roof was installed to protect what remained of the interior and in 1975 reconstruction started. The restoration of the interior was begun in 1984 and in 1993 the church reopened.

Berliner Dom - Front View

Berliner Dom - Side View

We continued the walk (or perhaps I should say the "Long March") along the Unter den Linden to the iconic Brandenburg Gates on the "17th June Street" (Straße des 17. Juni --in German). The walk was mighty long (2.5km++)..but it sure was worth it...we passed many nice cafes and shops along the way, and finally, when we reached the end of the long Unter den Linden** street, we were greetd by the sight of the magnificent Brandenburg Gate..!

Brandenburg Gate

**Unter den Linden is one of Berlin's splendid boulevards, and translated to English, it means "Under the Limes" – named for its linden trees which line the grassed pedestrian mall between the two carriageways.

A boulevard of linden trees was planted from 1647 extending from the electoral palace to the gates of the city by Friedrich Wilhelm I, "The Great Elector", who wanted to ride from his castle to his hunting park the Tiergarten with more appropriately Baroque splendor This stretch became the best known and grandest street in Berlin. The section west of the Brandenburg Gate, going through the Tiergarten Park, is called now Straße des 17. Juni. (extracted from Wikipedia.com)

Our last stop (whew!) for the evening was the newly restored German House of Parliament (The Bundestag, formerly known as the Reichstag). The exterior seems very old, but according to my fellow tour-mates (my family by then was too worn out by the flight and long walk to take on the mammoth challenge of climbing up to the upper level of the Parliament), the interior is sleekly modern and beautiful.

Reichstag (the German Pariliament House)

This building was constructed as the place where the parliament of the German Empire would convene. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933. It again became the seat of the German parliament in 1999 after a reconstruction led by master architect Sir Norman Foster. Today's parliament of Germany is called the Bundestag. The Reichstag as a parliament leads back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to exist in the years of Nazi Germany (1933-1945). In today's usage, the German term Reichstag thus refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution. (extracted from Wikipedia.com)

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Day 3: 22 May 2005 (Berlin, Germany)

It was a city tour for us on our 2nd day in Berlin. First stop was a visit to this remaining strip of the Berlin Wall, which was broken down in 1989 with the fall of communism, and the subsequent opening of the border between West and East (of which Berlin was a part) Germany. It is the longest strip of Berlin Wall that's left in the city, and murals have been painted on the wall by artists from all over the world, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall..

One of the murals painted on the wall..

Standing along the Berlin Wall.

Next stop was the Memorial that was built for the Jews who were murdered during WWII. This memorial is located near the Brandenburg Gate, and building was completed in 2005, in time for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII (May 1945). The "grid"pattern-made up of 2,711 concrete slabs-is radically different from the traditional memorial. There are "aisles" between each concrete slab, allowing us to find our way through from all sides of the memorial. It was a very peaceful place indeed, and walking through the aisles, I found myself reflecting on the sufferings of the Jews who were victimised during the war..

Jewish War Memorial, completed in 2005

Third stop on the city tour was Checkpoint Charlie. During the Cold War, Checkpoint Charlie was one of the gates of the Berlin Wall located in the city centre of Berlin, and it was here that people left East Germany and entered West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was a synonym for the separation of the city, and for the East Germans, it represented freedom. West Berlin was ruled by the United States and its allies (the British and the French), and East Berlin was ruled by the Soviet forces.

One of the most remembered and tragic story was that of Peter Fechter, who was shot by East German guards in August 1962, whilst trying to escape. His body lay in the barbed wire fence, slowly bleeding to death. However, American soldiers could not rescue him because he was a few yards inside the Russian sector. Only an hour later was his body removed by the East German guards.

Checkpoint Charlie was dissolved in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Learning about the history and conflict that existed in this city, it really amazes me that all of this happened not so long ago only…

Checkpoint Charlie

Signboard signalling that one was leaving the sector run by the Americans.

It was off to Charlottenburg Castle (Schloß Charlottenburg) for the final stop before lunch...The Charlottenburg Castle is unarguably the largest and most famous Prussian Baroque/R oococo style castle in Berlin that was constructed over a period of about 100 years. It was first built by King Friedrich Wilhelm III, who ordered to build the first part of the castle in the years 1695-1699 for his wife Sophie Charlotte, it was Queen Charlotte that the castle was named after...

The castle now houses a musuem as well, and we saw many paintings of King Friedrich, his wife Queen Charlotte and even Napoleon (who resided in the palace during the time when he invaded Germany) that were on exhibit in the musuem. There was even an interesting exhibit of "snuff boxes" that were once owned by King Friedrich, who was an avid collector of these boses. The interior of the palace was mainly designed in the "Rococo" style, which we can easily identify through the "shell-like" ornaments that decorate the corners of ceilings or the edges of fireplaces..

In front of the Charlottenburg Castle

After lunch, we headed down to Potsdam - home to the former summer residence of the Prussian kings and with a past covering more than 1000 years. Potsdam is a small town that holds the beautiful Sans Souci Gardens, and of course the famous and much visited Sans Souci Palace. Sans Souci is associated with Rococo architecture and landscaping and also with the person and life of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, the "philosopher" of Sans Souci. Built as a summer residence for King Friedrich, the king was so pleased with the result that he deserted his Berlin palace (Schloss Charlottenburg) in favour of this smaller, more cosy residence which he christened 'Sanssouci' - after the French phrase for 'without cares'.

The main palace opens up to a huge garden with the Great Fountain in the middle of it, and the palace grounds was a sprawling area indeed. There was a lot of space for nature, allowing us to stroll along the pathways that were lined with shrubs/ flowers. Unfortunately, we only had about 1.5 hours to walk around the area, and were not able to see the other highlights such as the Chinese Tea House, Roman Bath, Orangerie and New Palace.

Sanssouci (without a worry) Palace

Gardens (with the Great Fountain) in front of the Sans Souci palace

Next, we went to visit the Cecilienhof Castle (Schloss Cecilienhof) that is situated in the Neuer Garten in Potsdam. Schloss Cecilienhof was built in 1913-17 as a residence for Crown Princess Cecilie. Although the Prussian royal family was deposed in 1918, Cecilienhof remained in the family's hands until the outbreak of the Second World War.

Schloss Cecilienhof - a very pleasant and peaceful place ..

Also at the Schloss Cecilienhof.. next to a statue that looks like that of Narcissus

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church - with part of its steeple destroyed during WWII. Next to the original Neo Gothic style church is the newly built church.

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Day 4: 23 May 2005 (Berlin, Germany -> Dresden, Germany -> Prague, Czech Republic)