MUCH ADO ABOUT EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN.: European Vacation-Dec 2007- Berlin, Salzburg

First city-Berlin, Germany!

This past December, I had a chance to vacation in Europe. Such interesting, historic, beautiful cities….adjectives and photos do no justice! I visited Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Spain.

Few observations—
1. Germany is the place to and Munich is the city be!
2. European men are hot! Especially the French…
3. Everyone seems to be fashionably dressed, looks real fake after a while.
4. Eiffel Tower is way too rated, but Paris is beautiful.

Berlin Dec 16-17, 2007
Berlin, capital and biggest city in Germany, was also the capital of the Third Reich and Hitler established his office here.
My first time in Germany, my first city…well, technically, Frankfurt is where I landed at on Dec 15, and took the overnight train to Berlin. I had reserved a hostel via http://www.hostelworld.com/. Directions to and from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station) are explicitly given on their website. I stayed at Citystay Mitte Hostel, close to Hackerscher Markt station. Hostel/room was comfortable, though I wasn’t too happy with the bathrooms and the shower rooms. The hostel had info on tours- walking or biking (not available in winter). I decided to go with a walking tour for 10 euros. I later on find out about FREE walking tours, in few major cities across Europe.
Check it out- http://www.neweuropetours.eu/.

I visited the following.
· Museum Island- The hostel is close to Museuminsel (Museum Island) and Berlin Dome (5 min by foot).The Museuminsel has five museums built between 1824 and 1930. I visited the Egyptian Museum (which proudly houses the Bust of Nefertiti) and the world famous Pergamon Museum, which houses the original-size, reconstructed Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the market gate of Miletus, consisting of parts taken from the original excavation sites (Ref-Wikipedia).

· Berlin Dome

· Bebelplatz- Bebelplatz is where the Nazi 'Book-burning' occured on May 10, 1933. About 20,000 books written by Jewish authors, socialists were burnt down. A glass window on the ground, through which empty white book shelves can be seen, which serves as a Memorial, in the center of Bebelplatz. The world famous National Opera House is also located in Bebelplatz.

Bebel platz-Berlin square was to be a center for the arts and science. It’s often remembered, however, for Nazi book burning. May 10, 1933- the Nazi minister for propaganda and public enlightenment, Joseph Goebbels, organized a nationwide book burning, with more than 20,000 books by Jews, Communists, and Pacifists burned on a pyre in the middle of the Bebelplatz.

· The Berlin Wall- The wall was built on Aug 13, 1961, dividing Soviet occupied East and western allies occupied West Germany. Scaling the wall wasn’t all that difficult, but crossing the ‘death strip’ was. Death Strip is the 100 yard space in between the original 96 mile wall and a parallel wall that was constructed in 1962 to discourage border crossing. The wall was torn down on Nov 9, 1989. The remnants of the wall is located on Bernauer Strasse and Neiderkirchnerstrasse, close to the Reichstag.
FYI-The wall didn’t run ‘through’ Berlin but around it!

Berlin Wall-The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to divide Berlin into East and West. It was 160km long, but now only bits remain. The longest remaining portion is the brightly painted East Side Gallery

· Checkpoint Charlie- Before the Wall fell; this was the only border crossing point across east or west Germany for German (GDR) officials, visitors, foreigners. American and Soviet forces were stationed right across each other at this point. Today, the checkpoint houses a museum, again with great photographs detailing the Wall.

Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west, and — for some East Germans — a gateway to freedom

Hitler’s Bunker- I was very surprised to be here-seemed like I accidentally stumbled upon the ground above the bunker. There are no signs telling you where you are. Apparently, a small patch of grass/call it a garden, is the ground above which Hitler killed himself on April 30th, 1945! This small piece of land is surrounded by a parking lot and number of apartments. Yes, that insignificant! Clearly, Berlin wants to forget the dark past.

Here lies the infamous Funhrerbunker; now a bunch of apartments, above and around the Funhrerbunker.

· Pariser Platz and The Brandenburger Tor- Pariser Platz is located just along the Branderburger Tor. Berlin is synonymous with the ‘Brandernburg Gate’ which was the entrance into Berlin in the Nazi era. The gate houses (on top) a statue of goddess of peace riding a 4 horsed chariot in victory. The ‘peace’ part of the statue changed when in 1814, the olive wreath around her hair was exchanged for the Iron Cross to become the goddess of victory!

· The Reichstag- The German Parliament….very crowded if you want to go to the top. I would rather spend my time elsewhere than wait in line.

The Berliner Dom or Berlin Cathedral is a Lutheran cathedral

· Holocaust Memorial – This was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. This memorial is just rows and rows of concrete block, seems like. There are no names, no details. There is an exhibition in the basement though, which gives more credence to the cold, grey cement blocks.

· Former Red Light District, now a major shopping district (Friedrichstraße)- This street was the most happening in the ‘20s, lined with bars, night clubs and brothels. Come the Nazis, all bars and brothels were closed down. Its fun to walk down this street, with beautiful Christmas decorations.

Former Red Light district, now jumping with clubs and bars

· Former SS HQ- Most of the buildings that the SS used as HQ was destroyed during bombings by the Allied forces early 1945. But the underground cellars where political prisoners were tortured have been excavated. These cellars are now a memorial and a museum (called Topography of Terror) with great photographic exhibits describing the lives under Nazi rule.
Berlin is so historic…Id like to visit again and spend more time exploring.

Salzburg, Austria Dec 18 2007

One word-BEAUTIFUL

Salzburg is so unbelievably breathtaking. It had snowed in and was terribly cold (and I have lived in Wisconsin!). Salzburg is surrounded by the Kapuziner Mountain, Monk Mountain and Gais Mountain. Walk along the river Salzach is spectacular, taking in the snowed in mountains, the cathedrals, fortress and the cafes dotting the small streets.I took the train from Berlin to Salzburg (change in Munich). Very small city, can be covered by foot in a day or so. I decided to go on a bus toursince it was below freezing.

I visited the Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace) with a pretty Mirabell Garden. Today, the palace is the office of the mayor and town council.

The towering Hohensalzburg Fortress is one of the well preserved and largest castles in central Europe. This fortress was constructed in 1077! Archbishops used it as a temporary residence as well as to hold prisoners!Access to the fortress is via a funicular rail ride up.

Hohensalzburg Fortress-Hohensalzburg Fortress sits on Mönchsberg Mountain. This fortress not only dominates the River Salzach, but the whole city. Commencing work on the building in 1077, it wasn't finished until 1681.

The funicular ride leading up to the fortress.

View of theAltstadt (old city) and the Salzach River valley is spectacular from the top.

The musical 'Sound of Music' was filmed here as well (most of it). I did see the residence of Captain Georg von Trapp and the huge lake behind thehouse! The lake is man-made, one of the fancies of one of the Archbishops.

And Salzburg happens to be the birthplace of the famous composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I was dying to see Mozart's home, the street. Here it was,a third floor apartment in a bright yellow ochre building on Getreidegasse.I noticed most residential buildings in the old town are really old, fromthe 17/18th century. The facade tells you when it was built and when it wasrenovated.Mozart's home is now a museum (costs about 6 euros). Inside, there areplenty of photographs depicting Mozart's life, childhood. Furniture form the 17th century, Mozart's piano, clavicord, costumes, letters Mozart wrote from Vienna (he left Salzburg for Vienna in his adulthood) feature in the house.

Next stop was Scholl Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace). Built by Archbishop Markus Sittikus in the 1600s, it served as his summer home. One of his fancies was wetting his guests with water with 'trick' fountains planted inthe palace grounds.. He himself did not like to get wet. The grounds also feature a zoo.

Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace)-Dating back to the 17th Century, this palace was built as a home for Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus. Some of the palace's biggest attractions are the trick fountains in the gardens and the city zoo.