One of the (few) perks of longevity at my place of work is that every now and again you are given the opportunity to take an extended holiday - not very long but certainly long enough to make it a proper break and that is what happened this Summer. As a result I was able to satisfy some long held travel ambitions and post a day November provides an ideal opportunity to write about it!
We kicked off with some time in Mittleurope with our first port of call a long planned trip to Berlin. I have long been fascinated by the place having studied German history at school and having also watched from afar the upheavals in the 1980s and 1990s most notably the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.
Berlin is however not the easiest place to reach from Dubai so for it was a flight into Hamburg and a train ride to Berlin Hauptbahnhof. E. And and the kids were already in UK so took a direct flight and so we met up in Berlin shortly after the end of the Football European Championships which it had hosted. I do not know if it had been given a facelift in honour of the football but certainly the City was looking in good shape when we arrived and our stay was marked by warm weather and a very accessible city - relatively few fellow tourists and good weather.
We were staying at a hotel next to Potzdamer Platz - very handily located for the Brandenburg Gate and for exploring the Tiergarten and over the next couple of days we were able to explore the various museums including the Staatliche Museum Berlin, the DDR Museum and Stasi Museum - all absolutely fascinating..The Hotel was on the Allies side of the B Erwin Wall form the Cold War days but a very short walk from the line of the Wall itself and the Bunkers used by the Nazis during WWII.
A and I also had a cycle tour around Berlin including Unter den Linden taking in the Cathedral and the Reichstag as well as (the remaining) parts of the Berlin Wall and the various memorials. I was also able yo hire a bike from the hotel and explore what is a very bike friendly City.
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