Up The Farway Tree

Berlin

Well, we got back from Berlin last night and had a great time. Apart from the weather - it rained, it snowed, hailed, sleet, wind ....and then some more rain. At some points I have never felt so cold - and I was wearing a waterproof ski jacket, gloves, hat and 2 pairs of socks haha! Not that we let the weather stop us and we had a fully packed 3 1/2 days of being out all day seeing the sights and sheltering in various coffee houses :-)

We started off with the main attractions - below is picture of Brandenburg Gate (previously the gate to the city). Just around the corner is the Reichstag building, which is the German parliament. It was damaged during the war but has since been reconstructed - they added a glass dome at the top, which you can go up to and walk up the spiralling ramp which gives views across Berlin. We tried to visit three times in total - the first twice, despite it being early and pouring with rain, the expected wait was at least 1 1/2 hours to get in and we weren't daft enough to stand outside for that long! Eventually we turned up at 8.30am on the last day and walked straight in - hardcore tourists that we are ;-)

Inside glass dome of Reighstag (it is open at the top, which is why I still have hat on!)

The first afternoon we did the tour bus so that we at least got to see the main sights of Berlin from the dry and warmth of a bus. It was a hop on hop off but we just sat for the whole tour. Afterwards we visited the holocaust memorial (see pic below). It is a construction of concrete blocks which represent the lives lost. Once you walk in between the blocks they get taller and taller until you feel like you are in a maze. It had a very eerie atmosphere. There is a small museum underneath the site, which was interesting and horrifying at the same time. I am embarrassed to admit that I don't remember covering the Holocaust at school and much of what I read was an eye opener to say the least.



The next day we visited the DDR museum, which depicted life for Germans living under the DDR. Again very informative and one of those museums where you get to pick things up, open things and generally play. I think that part is for children but I am still a child at heart so I am allowed. We did of course visit the shops but didn't buy much -largely due to the exchange rate on the euro. I found the whole trip very expensive with entry to museums and my need for frequent coffee breaks ;-) The main shopping streets were home to lots of designer shops, which are not my scene. I like a bargain and there were none to be seen. We did stop for a coffee in KaDeWe, which is the Berlin equivalent of Harrods.


Berliner Dom is the Cathedral and was very impressive. You can climb the stairs to the top (all 298 of them!) and the view is impressive. It was a bit windy though...

No trip is complete without a visit to the Zoo and Berlin has a very large, and very old zoo. It is home to the famous Knut the polar bear, who was in the news over the controversy of hand rearing him after his mother rejected him.

Knut

Andrew and the penguins

On the last morning we had time to visit Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between East and West Berlin during the war. Finally the sun came out...

Inside Checkpoint Charlie museum - a tiny car used to smuggle people across the border!

So all in all we had a lovely time - but to be honest I would never recommend going in March! We saw everything we wanted to see but we were rather cold and wet for a large proportion of the time - especially since Berlin is so massive that even using the brilliant public transport system, we still did a lot of walking! At least it is good training for me. It was just nice to get away for a few days and not think about work, the booklet, Team Jac or anything else for that matter. Sometimes you just need a change of scene and although we didn't relax in the physical sense, we were able to relax mentally which is more what I needed just now.

Now I am home it is back to reality. I was welcomed home to some dinner last night though, as mum and dad had brought Seb back and made us something to eat for arriving home. Seb was rather over excited by our return and surprisingly there was no cold shoulder treatment. He was more interested in the fluffy bunny toy I brought him back though :-)

I have a meeting about psychiatry training today, I am faciliating tomorrow at the university, I have finalised the booklet pdf and it is being sent to the printer asap and the CF Trust will be uploading the booklet immininently. It's all go, go, go....but I am ready to get back into the race.