Admiring the Christmas decorations in the shopping centre, which was closed except for a book store and a stall selling glühwein (mulled wine)
Our gorgeous room that turned out to be an entire apartment
The guest house owners, who could speak only minimal English but were very friendly – Ben got a big hug from the lady!
Wandering the Christmas-lit city centre in the freezing cold at night
Eating Chinese for tea at a restaurant where we were the only customers, we ordered in German, and there were piano renditions of American country songs playing softly
Going to the Wilhelmshaven Naval Museum the next morning (Thursday), which did not have many signs in English but was very interesting anyway! We saw a torpedo, mines, shells, machine guns, code machines, navy uniforms, a hippopotamus skull, model ships, battle paintings, letters... And outside the museum, we got to go inside a U-Boat (submarine), minesweeper (ship) and missile frigate (bigger ship). It was fascinating to wander around inside them; the submarine especially had a mind boggling amount of controls, dials and switches the entire length of it!
Staying the next two nights in Mölln (Moelln)...
Strolling through the town's gorgeous paved streets and exploring the nice shops
Eating tea at the Moellner Grill, which was cheap, cheerful and yummy!
Relaxing in our nice hotel room across from a big lake (with the tank speed limit sign out the front)
The next day (Friday), taking it easy most of the day
That night, wandering the town looking for somewhere to have tea, and finding a gorgeous little café, beside the town's museum, in a really old building with crooked beams and various dining rooms (we had the non smoking room to ourselves most of the time). Due to the likelihood of a café having smaller meals, and the prices being very cheap, we decided to just order the two most expensive things on the blackboard menu because we could not understand anything on it, except that our meals included pork. Well, Ben ended up getting a fry pan containing a big mound of green stuff, on top of which was a large sausage, some bacon, and a slab of pork, plus a separate bowl of roast potatoes. He thoroughly enjoyed it and managed to eat it all! I got a wooden cutting board on which sat a crackle-covered mound of pork about half the size of my head, plus a separate bowl of salad containing lettuce, tomato, corn, shallots, radish, various seeds, mayo etc! I didn't even get halfway through the meat, although I did eat all the crackle and part of my gum is still sore from it now, 4 days later! But that was very fun indeed!!
The next morning, having a bit more of a wander around the town before leaving for Berlin. We bought a German-English dictionary and a light-looking novel called “Jack and Jenny” in German, so that if I get motivated enough, I can read it using the dictionary in order to improve my German. Apparently that's one of the best ways to do so!
The drive to Berlin was my first time driving on this trip (although we swapped over before getting to the city), and my first time ever driving on the right-hand side – a bit scary! Plus there are often open speed limits on German highways, and if there is a limit it's usually 130km/hr, so during this right-side drive in a right-side driver's seat car, I had to do 130-140km/hr! But we survived. :)
The next two nights in Berlin...
Our hotel was in East Berlin and we had a huge room that even had WiFi once we got it all sorted out with the Bulgarian owner – quite a saga, but at least he now knows his WiFi password should another guest ever ask for it!!
Driving past the graffiti-covered Berlin wall
Exploring the impressive, modern city centre at night, and checking out the sales at an enormous, posh shopping centre near the Alexanderplatz
Eating a delicious meal at a large Italian restaurant
Going to the meeting on Sunday morning, which turned out to be quite small and in three languages – German, English and Spanish! Not much translation this time, but we got a few bits and pieces and it was a very special morning.
After a bit of lazing about back at our hotel, we set off to explore the city centre in daylight, where we saw...
Lots of amazing, huge, grand buildings with columns, statues, and various other ornate bits
- Berlin's tall, skinny Television Tower with it's restaurant-containing bulge very high up
- The square across from the City Hall, with its big Christmas tree and huge statue of Neptune
An enormous old cathedral beside a river, and a guy nearby fooling the crowd (and making an income) with an old trick involving three little boxes, a marble, and the hand moving faster than the eye
A huge art museum with a flautist busking out the front, and free entry into one circular gallery that was lined with statues of Greek gods (see current header panorama at top of page)
Lots of scaffolding, barricades etc, due to restorations being underway on lots of old buildings
A packed ice skating rink called “Berlin on Ice”
A beautiful street called Unter den Linden (Under the Lindens – a type of tree), which had a wide pedestrian avenue down the centre of the two directions of traffic. The walkway was lined with four rows of trees, currently leafless, with their branches spectacularly outlined in golden lights as far ahead as could be seen. The lights weren't wrapped around the branches like you mostly see, but were carefully running along the top and bottom of the branches so it looked like a sketch of each tree glowing against the darkness – absolutely gorgeous!! My camera has made the lights look quite silver, but in real life they were bright gold...
- Four or so young-ish lads putting on an excellent street show near the Brandenburg Gate – skateboard stunts, bike gymnastics, and break dancing. Very very awesome!!!
The famous Brandenburg Gate, with its huge columns, and the statue of horses and Victory-bearing-chariot on top
- A big stage and sound and lighting gear being set up in front of the Gate for the following night's massive New Year's Eve concert
Beyond the Gate, a wide road lined with market stalls stretching out into the distance, selling all sorts of edible, drinkable, and wearable things. A large Ferris Wheel called the Moulin Rouge towered over the festivities partway along the road. Our unique first anniversary dinner turned out to be a large waffle with stewed cherries, a stick of chocolate-coated strawberries, and some glühwein!!! :D
When we left Berlin on the 31st for Prague, where I'm writing this, we drove via Dresden and had a bit of a look around the city centre. Dresden was almost completely destroyed by massive fires during World War II bombing raids, and there were reminders of this in the soot-blackened old buildings and occasional areas that don't seem to have been touched since then. In the centre of town, we came across a fabulous park square lined by amazing old buildings and statues – not sure what it was because there were no signs in English, but it was certainly very old and impressive! We had a delicious lunch in a café inside what used to be a old guard house, and then continued on to Prague. Prague has been fantastic, but I'll save that for the next entry! Happy New Year!
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