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Warnemunde/Berlin, Germany August 31

This is the last port of call on the first leg of our journey and we are docking in Warnemunde, the closest port to Berlin, a 3 hour bus ride away. Since Rob was unable to see Berlin when he was stationed in Germany, as his security clearance would not allow him to travel through East Germany, it seemed worth the bus ride. We left the ship at 8:15 with a local guide, Kristin. During the trip to Berlin, they provided a snack of 1/2 sandwich, fruit, juice, etc. and a restroom stop halfway. At the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, we picked up a Berlin guide, Konstanza or Connie, for our 6 hours in the city. Our first stop was the Allied Museum which showed a lot of documentation and artifacts from the sharing of Berlin by Britain, France, the USA and Russia and also had a lot of information about the Berlin Airlift. The number of airdrops they made of food and more particularly fuel for heating the homes was staggering. At this museum they also had an original part of the wall and the original shack that was Checkpoint Charlie and that Daryl went through in 1968 (see how small it is in the photo.)
 

We then went to Templehof Airport which has been closed for the last few years but was the site of the Berlin Airlift. It is a massive series of buildings and is essentially unused at this time. They were supposed to be opening a new airport this year but have run into problems with construction so are putting all air traffic through a small airport until they get everything resolved. There is also a huge monument to freedom that you will see in the photos. Our next stop was the current Checkpoint Charlie which is just a tourist stop since there is no longer a Wall. You can pay 2 Euro to have your photo taken with fake guards in various uniforms. There are also a few segments of the Wall nearby that people have painted. The bus then took us to the Eastside Gallery, which is a series of segments of the Wall that they had known artists paint. Because the Wall itself was relatively poorly constructed the paintings have faded since the 1990s and the rebar was poking through so they asked the artists to return and repaint after they did some reconstruction, which they did.
 

Our next stop was the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz, where we had 1+ hours to find lunch on our own at one of the many restaurants. We chose sausages, etc.....very German. Then we joined up again and headed to the Brandenburg Gate, Unter Den Linden and walked to see the Reichstag. The last time Daryl was there, Unter Den Linden was in East Germany and all the buildings were gray and very functional, in the Russian style. Now, Berlin is just another modern, large city with all the hustle and bustle and a lot of foreign voices to be heard, especially in the big business centers like the Sony Centre. We had some additional free time in the Kufurstendam area for shopping, etc. and of course, it rained.
 

We reboarded the bus and dropped Connie back at Charlottenburg Palace, where we loaded on another set of snack packages (this time a whole sandwich) and headed back to the ship, where we arrived at about 9:15pm. Since so many of the passengers had done this long excursion, we were greeted by members of the crew all dressed in tuxes and gowns offering hot towels, juice and champagne and a live band. Most people headed to their cabins to finish their packing as the bags needed to be outside the doors by 10:30pm. The buffet remained open later than usual for those who had not been filled by the "snack." Since we and about 20 other cabins were doing "back-to-backs", we were in the lucky position of being able to relax. They had already assigned us new World Cards, which act as your ID throughout the trip, so we were all set. The ship pulled out for Copenhagen at 11pm.