Euro Trip - Amsterdam (Day 1)

Doogie made it! A late night (Berlin-time) phone call from Doogie made me very worried. He missed his plane but they were able to get him on the next plane out which was only an hour later.

I took an early morning cab to Tegel Airport and waited around for about 2.5 hours. I was there early because I made my arrangements for the cab prior to Doogie's new plane arrival time. It was okay thought because it gave me enough time to buy a new carry-on bag. I had this cheap black bag that had my neck pillow and books in it. It tore when I picked it up to get my cab. My luggage woes started a few days earlier when the wheels on my "good suitcase" shredded on the way to the retreat center near Erkner.

For this trip, I had two large suitcases with me - one with clothes and one for resources for Global Convo and DMYP. The resource bag was going to be thrown away because the handle didn't work. Now in Erkner it became my main bag. I figured out how to get the handle to work - but you couldn't put the handle down or it would get stuck. Needless to say, I was dragging a broken bag through the airport.

I was so happy to see Doogie come off the plane. Because his plane was an hour later we had to rush to get to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof in time to catch our train to Amsterdam. We made it to the station with about 10 minutes to spare. You can reserve seats (actual assigned seat numbers) on the trains. Folks without reserved seats would look for free seats. We took an ICE train to Hannover and then had to switch trains for the remaining trip to Amsterdam. In Hannover, I had to ask an old woman to get out of our seats (I didn't say it like that).  I think she tried to pretend like she didn't understand me but a woman behind us helped finish my translation. :) Once we got settled, Doogie slept for a good portion of the trip.

In Amsterdam, we caught a cab to our hotel - Eden Hotel Amsterdam. Our cab driver was really funny and shared information about the city. One thing to note is that there are more bikes than cars in the city. Bikes have the same rights as cars and people seem to ride them a lot. There are parking lots devoted solely to bikes that can fit thousands! The Eden is near Rembrandtplein. The plaza has a lot of restaurants and coffee bars nearby. We are staying in the smallest hotel room I've ever been in. The beds are two twins pushed together and the bathroom is a phone booth.

We took a walk through the plaza and up towards the center of Amsterdam. It was late in the evening and a number of stores were closing. The bars and restaurants stay open (of course!). The busy atmosphere reminds me of Times Square.

Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Plaza)

Alexanderplatz, Berliner Dom, Topography of Terrors

Me outside the Berliner Dom

So I had some fun experiences with the Estrel Hotel. Apparently they
are very serious about cleaning rooms. Even though I had a "Do Not
Disturb" sign on my door, they came in three times trying to clean my
room.

Alexanderplatz

Kendra and I took the S and U Bahn trains out to Alexanderpkatz. There
is a giant radio and tv tower in the plaza. At the top of the tower is
a ball that has a rotating restaurant and shop.

When the tower was built, it was considered a triumph of science over
religion. Ironically, when it is sunny, the light from the sunny hits
the ball at the top and forms the shape of a cross.

Berliner Dom

We just took pictures outside. I'll have more info on the church
later. There is a trip to the church as part of our Global Convocation
gathering. It's a very beautiful dome. We also explored part of the "Museum Island" and took some really cool pictures.

Berliner Dom

Neue Museum

Brandeburg Gate

Here you can find the U.S., French and British embassies and a musuem
for JFK. When we got there, the police were blocking the gate and
streets near the Reichstag because of an event near the parliment
building (the Reichstag).

We ran into Meg (from GBHEM) as she was wonderig around the city.

Topography of Terror / Checkpoint Charlie

From the Brandenberg Gate we walked down Wilhelmstrasse. We wanted to find Checkpoint Charlie but on our way we found the Topography of Terror. This exihibit is an extensive musuem on the history of the Nazi party propaganda, torture and intimidation. The grounds for musuem and exhibit space are where the Prince Albert Hotel and an art school stood. They were use by the headquarters for the SS and other Nazi activities. The buildings were bombed and destroyed during WWII.

I recommend visiting this place. I was there for a few hours and was
not able to complete the exhibit before closing time.

We then found Checkpoint Charlie but we didn't go inside because it
was at the end of the day.

Alex at Alexanderplatz

We concluded our tour of the city with a meal at Alex am
Alexanderplatz. This time I had Shnitzel mit Putenfleisch. Sorry no
picture of the meal but it was delicious.

Ersten Tag im Berlin

3 Weeks of Clothes

With my well-packed bag (and another 50+ lbs bag of resources) I took a 9:20am train from DC to NYC. Doogie dropped me off at Union Station and I met Kendra (from GBGM) at JFK to catch our flight. A quick hop (6 hours) over to London and then we had to run to catch a connection to Berlin. We nearly missed our shuttle bus at Heathrow airport.

Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche

Once in Berlin, we got settled in our rooms (at the Estrel Hotel & Convention Center) and went out to explore the city. We took the S-Bahn to the Zoo area (Zoologischer Garten) and walked around. On Hardenbergstrasse, there are many shops and Biergartens. I think I found a couple of souveniors but I'm going to wait until Doogie arrives. The Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche caught our eye. The church (built in 1891) was destroyed in WWII. There are beautiul towers surrounding the church with stained glass fragments embedded in the concrete walls.

After checking out the church we found a biergarten - Joe's Würsthaus zum Loewen - to get our first taste of German food & beverages. ;) I ordered  würst with mashed potatoes. This was my first chance to speak in German. Our waiter was very kind and was happy that I was attempting to speak "auf deutsch." ;)

We walked around Hardenbergplatz for a bit and then made out way home. After being up for so many hours traveling (18+ hours), I found it very easy to fall asleep. ;)

 My first meal in Germany.

Day Two: Alexanderplatz, Brandenberg Tor und Topographie des Terrors.

Deutschland und mich - Updates from Berlin

Here is a quick post from me. This is when we were boarding our plane from London to Berlin. We had to run to catch this flight.

More to come...