Several days in Berlin may be just what you are looking for in your next travel experience. There is plenty to explore in the areas of history, art, food and shopping. Since 1989 when the city was unified, the wall area has been totally rebuilt with hotels and shops. Yet the eastern area has remained a bohemian dream. One might think they are back in the 1930’s with cafés and artisans. Paris and New York may not be able to offer lodging and venues for the underemployed creative person any more, but Berlin can! The middle of the city, Mitte, as it is called in German was divided and the eastern side is now the place to be, shop, and eat. The museum island was also divided and now it is together again and in the midst of significant restoration. These five museums offer 600,000 years of human history and soon you will be able to walk through “World of Antiquity.” Meanwhile, Museum Island as it is called, remains open.
Just beyond city center are lots of attractions: the Brandenburg Gates, Check Point Charlie, and several remains of the destruction of the city at the end of WWII. A short trip to Potsdam is more than worth the experience. There you can see the huge table where Truman, Stalin, and Churchill, later Clement Attlee, met the summer of ’45 to determine the future of Germany. It is a very interesting story how a round table could seem so rectangular. The town of Potsdam has an interesting history too since it looks like a Dutch village. So much to learn…
Also just outside of Berlin is Schloss Charlottenburg the beautiful home built in the early 1700’s by the Hanovers. Charlotte was the first owner hence the name. Many have lived there since and clearly it has a most feminine flair.
An hour train ride south is Dresden, also so very badly destroyed. The old city Cathedral
and museums have been rebuilt. It is most interesting how they used so many of the old brown stones. The new stones are a light yellow and the old brown stones stand out. Most of us know Raphael’s angels, the two cute cupids resting their heads on their hands. Well, they are at the bottom of a very large painting “Madonna and Child” and it is in Dresden! That makes it worth the trip all by itself.
From here I would take a river boat cruise up the Elbe River. Now that is a great two weeks. Shall we go?
AlwaysHarriet 