Two metro stations.
The first one is Brandenburg Tor, with the old gothic Unter den Linden sign under it. In the cold-war, West-German trains went through parts of East-Germany, and in particular through this station. But they never stopped at any of these so-called “ghost-stations” that were closed and guarded.
The second sign is Alexanderplatz in East-Berlin, an area that today is one of the bussiest districts in Berlin.
One of the places you have to visit is Alexanderplatz. It is the site of so much history, in particular the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 1989, just before the wall came down. Over 1.5 million protesters gathered in what was the biggest protest ever in East Germany, so of course it was somewhere we had to visit.
But we were somewhat startled to find that we had stepped into a very large African market. We (purely by chance) selected Africa week to visit Alex, so the square was fulled with African goods for sale (think Greenmarket square or Long Street in Cape Town), and African bands playing on the stages. It was fun and entertaining, but not quote what we expected in the middle of Germany.
I love this idea – roaming hot-dog sellers. I found this particular “outlet” on Alexanderplatz, or “Alex” as the local’s call it. But they are all over Berlin. And at ER1.70c for a hot-dog they are excellent value, and they taste excellent as well. If you’re ever in Berlin lookout and have a hot-dog. You’ll enjoy it.
While most of the Berlin wall has long-since been removed, there are a few places where sections have been preserved, in particular the East Side Gallery is a 1.3km section of the wall that has been turned into an outdoors art gallery. We only walked a small section of it, but they gallery goes on forever. There are a total of 102 paintings, and these are just the few that we saw. The gallery is something that you must visit in Berlin; the art is though-provoking and interesting.
Gorlitz has such lovely old streets that are wonderful to explore. I spent hours just walking through the old cobbled streets, looking at the old buildings, town squares and beautiful churches.
The old round gunpowder tower “The Fat Tower” on one of the many town squares,
A hidden courtyard containing some lovely restaurants and buildings
Lower Market Square with the Town Hall Tower on the left.
Last night, I had a meeting at the German Club in Cape Town, and I am wondering if they should rename it to the German and Thai club. There is a tuk-tuk parked outside, and the menu is a mixture of traditional German food (mostly pork), and Thai stir-fries. I had a Thai beef & chilli noodle dish, and it was excellent.
I met the chef who is (of course) Thai! Anyway, the food is not too expensive, and is pretty good, so pop around if you have some time. They are in Roodehek Terrace, Gardens (off Hope Street).
I only drink Champagne when I’m happy
or when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it
when I’m alone. When I have company
I consider it obligatory. I triffle with it
when I’m not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it…unless I’m
thirsty. In victory you deserve it & in
defeat you need it! Lilly Bollinger
I spotted this on a wall in one of the bars in the German Club in Cape Town (The old Tafelberg Tavern). The club has just been bought by new owners, and some refurbishment is imminent, so this graffiti will most likely be painted over any day now. The side walls are covered in comments for the various patrons, and this particular poem took my fancy.
The quote is actually from Lilly Bollinger (as in the Bollinger Champagne family), but thanks to Shella for puting it up on the wall.
Here is another section of the wall. Don’t you love the car?
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