Berlin, Germany

Today we boarded a train in Warnemunde, Germany for a 2+ hour ride to Berlin. The train ride was not too exciting and was without too much scenery along the way. The only thing we saw was many fields of yellow flowers that are eventually turned into canola oil.

About boarding the train, it is really a process getting all the cruise guests where they need to be. There are multiple excursions for about 700 people, so we all had to be sorted out to the proper place. First we had a person leading us to the train with a preassigned letter based on the tour you were on (groups of about 30). Next, once we are boarded we are transferred over to a handler with a number. He stayed with us on the train both ways. When we arrived to Berlin we met a guide holding a sign with a number that matched the number the train guy gave us. So now we are passed off to the guide and driver for the day. The guide takes us to all the sights, to lunch and eventually back to the train where we are passed off to the train handler again. They have this system perfected. It is organized and everybody is able to get where they should be pretty efficiently.

When we arrived back to the ship (about 8:30pm), the captain and all the cruise executives were waiting for us in the terminal. They just greeted us and said welcome back. The lower ranked staff were lined up so that we had to walk between them after we exited security and walked toward the ship. They started cheering, but not just cheering, CRAZY cheering and clapping screaming WELCOME BACK while a Katy Perry song was basted from the speakers. It was like the beginning of a football game when the football players run onto the field between cheerleaders kind of thing. A very strange event for sure.

In Berlin, we went to all the sights...check the box. We had a very knowledgeable guide with three masters in history. His accent was nice and very easy to understand. I had mixed feelings about this motherland city. It was certainly interesting but the city is so filled with really old, new, kind of new, destroyed but left, kind of damaged but rebuilt and so on, it is hard to fall in love or hate with it, I guess will just appreciate the fact that it is unique. There are so many as or guide called it, not aesthetically appealing buildings in this city but I suppose mostly one comes here as a tourist not for total scenic value but the history. Our guide was really good at piecing all of it together with his tour. I did like the graffiti, somehow it works in this city.

I am posting pictures of our lunch. It was in a unusual 1920’s style restaurant under the train tracks that served traditional German food. We had potato soup, sausage and sauerkraut, meatballs, pork roast with gravy, boiled potatoes, fried potatoes, creamed vegetables and finally apple streusel for dessert.

Also, we saw the fake checkpoint Charlie set up where the original site was. Next we drove to the Allied museum where the real one was moved. Actually the fake one looks more real than the real one. My favorite display there was very colorful piece of the Berlin wall at the museum that was painted by the French artist named Noir.

So, tomorrow Copenhagen. I foresee a long nap about midday tomorrow. Good night!