Barb and Baden’s Excellent German Adventure – Part 3

Well our time in Berlin came to a close and we tried to make the most of the last few days.

One of the sites that we went to was the Berlin Olympic stadium. We only stayed there a short time as it was closed but we walked around looking at the outside of with it’s distinctive 5 Olympic rings suspended by wired between two columns. It was at this site that the 1936 Olympics were held. For most people, this Olympic games were most remembered for the games where Hitler wished to showcase his “master race” to the world but was upstaged by the track and field successes of Jesse Owens. It is unfortunate that most of the memorable sites in Germany so far have involved in some way Nazi’s, Communists or war.

On the last day of our visit in Berlin, we went to a newly rebuilt area of the city called Potsdamer Platz. This area was basically a huge empty field when the Berlin wall existed and became prime real estate when the wall fell. In the past 10 years, this area has undergone a massive rebuilding effort and it is now one of the very fashionable business districts. One of the highlights of Potsdamer Platz is the Sony Centre and has a stunning glass-covered plaza. Words don’t do this justice to describe this and I will post our pictures on our web site when we get home.

One of the real delights in our excellent German adventure so far has been the fabulous German food. Now I should state right off that if it wasn’t for the 5-10 hours of walking that we have been doing each day we’d really be packing on the pounds. Pretty much everything that we have eaten qualifies as high-fat but of course it all tastes good. Our typical dinner at a restaurant is some kind of meat (goose and pork are very popular) with about 1 cup of gravy poured over it, vegetables cooked in tons of butter and some kind of potatoes (also doused in butter). Another favourite is some variation of “wurst” (bratwurst, weisswurst, etc), served up with potatoes. Barb and I have gotten into the habit of eating lunches at these cafe’s where you can get these fantastic pre-made sandwiches with meats, cheese, tomatoes on this incredible sub-style bun that is fresh made that day. You can pick these up at practically every street corner for about $4 – a real bargain and these places are always packed with locals.

After our stay was finished in Berlin, we said our goodbyes to Barb’s dad at the train station and headed off to the Bavarian city of Münich.

…continued in Part 4

Barb and Baden

Continue on to Barb & Baden’s Excellent German Adventure – Part 4