Monday, May 19, 2014 - Hamburg/Berlin (Mark)

We had time to spare at the Hauptbanhof before our train to Berlin would arrive, so we found a nice spot overlooking the train platforms and ate our breakfast. Claire was delighted with a pigeon that decided to share the spot with us. She slept for most of the train ride to Berlin, which was a mere 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Pigeon!

Hamburg HBF - Note all the RitterSport ads

Berlin's new Hauptbanhof is sleek and impressive, though the elevators are not very friendly to people with luggage. I started spouting off Berlin facts as soon as we boarded the S-Bahn. Our hotel is a little lacking (old sheets, burnt out lights, no soap, etc.) but it is in a good location and, importantly, it has a fridge.

I took Liz and Claire to Kurfurstendamm, aka the Ku'damm, the busiest boulevard (and most popular shopping district) in West Berlin. Of course, I wanted to see it the way I first did: emerging from U-Bhf Wittenbergplatz station. Everything is still like I remember it. Our first stop was at the department store Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe. It's still fun (Liz liked it the best) and it still has a good toy department and some parts of the food department made our mouths water, especially the chocolatier. We next went to the Europa Center, a small mall further down the road. The water clock is still there, and we enjoyed watching the hour change. The other fountain inside the mall that I liked was dumbed down, unfortunately. No more metal plants that have water pouring over them. We noticed that there was a Hertha BSC store in the Europa Center, which we browsed, but didn't end up buying anything (I wanted a jersey and they were on sale, but we couldn't end up justifying the cost). Next to the Europa Center is the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche. This memorial church was mostly destroyed in World War 2, and was left in its ruined state as a reminder of the war. It is still as ruined as ever, though the lower half is encased in a shell and undergoing restorative work. It was supposed to be done last summer - guess it's being done by the same folks building the new airport. We briefly stepped into the more modern church next door, built to house the congregation of the original church. It hasn't changed much: I still enjoy the Christus statue and blue tiling on the inside.

Looking down the Ku'Damm after exiting Wittenbergplatz. The same way I did 25 years ago.

The most action-packed part of the water clock is when it changes from 12:59 to 1:00, as seen here.

Liz reclines on a crocodile in front of the water dumpling.

The damaged ceiling mosaic in the memorial church.

Inside the replacement church next door.

We returned to the hotel and spied Dad in the corner grocery store. I said "guten tag" and he responded in kind before he realized who I was. We took the trains to an Italian restaurant called Ali Baba which was enjoyed by all - Mom and Dad even want to go back.