Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin. Bis Bald.

I may not drink their coffee but I love Starbuck's
"You are Here" mugs.
I need a shelf like this at home!

Well all good things must come to an end and I knew the 2 full days we had would certainly not be enough to cover all that I hoped to see. But that is a good thing....means we really do have to come back! Even Alan is looking forward to our return!

Checkpoint Charlie is behind me in this photo.
Our hotel is just beyond that triangular building
with all the glass.  So close! 

The hotel we stayed in was perfectly in between 2 U-Bahn stations,but Stadt Mitte was just a wee bit closer.  We also knew it would not take us that long to get to the airport, so we had time for breakfast, right at the corner next to the Checkpoint Charlie replica.

We were just a bit early though, no customers or tourists yet to pay their £ 3 Euro for a photo, so this soldier was actually checking his phone!  He did move himself out of range of our cameras though. Even actor soldiers have to keep up appearances!

We did some last minute shopping at the souvenir shops and then checked out of our hotel to retrace our footsteps to get back to Berlin Schonefeld airport.

It literally is only 3 u-bahns or trains to get there and takes about 1 1/2 hours.

One of the ticket inspectors

After almost exactly 72 hours of unlimited public transport, we realised no one had ever checked our tickets.  And just at that thought, our U-bahn left the station and the 3 doors to enter it had normal looking men at them. But these were not "normal" men, these were ticket checkers!  (They probably have a better name that sounds more official but I don't know what it is.)  There was no way to avoid these men and they did a pincer move so that each and every passenger's ticket was checked.  (We were ok, still had about 20 minutes on it, plenty of time!)  This exact situation happened to us in Bydgosch, Poland as well.  After 3 days on our bus pass and wondering if they were EVER looked at, the same sort of surprise arrival and pincer movement of officials happened on our way back to that airport!
Only this time there was a man on the bus with no ticket.  He was well and truly caught red handed!  I imagine these things happen more often than every time we head home after enjoying a 3 day travel pass, but what a funny coincidence!

It is always strange how quickly foreign things become so familiar and heading back to the airport was like that.

The Molecule Men

So nice to see the areas we had spent time in and now feel a bond with.  I can't wait to return.  On the way back, I was watching out for the Molecule Men who are standing on the River Spree very close to the East Side Gallery.  We really didn't get a chance to see them this trip and hope to get a better look next time. This photo is taken from the train and is only a reminder to us!

In addition to learning the history, seeing the remnants of the wall and dodging torrential rain showers, we also learned alot about social consciousness.  Remember Chris? Our Canadian guide on our first day?  One thing he had stressed was the social problems of joining the East and the West.  Imagine all of a sudden, you lose your home, your job and your means of support through no fault of your own.  The West was a successful Capitalist community but the East had a lot of catching up to do. On the surface, it looks like it has, but Chris said there is still alot of catching up to do. One thing he asked of us all was not to throw our glass or plastic bottles in the bin.  He admitted it might feel odd, but just put them down on the street. That way someone does not lose any dignity by having to rake around the bins but can simply pick these bottles up to turn them in for their deposits.  I had already thrown some away before this advice, but even when we checked out, I just left our plastic bottles on the work surface and did not throw them away.

The other fabulous peace initiative in Berlin is the Buddy Bear collection!  There are bears all over Berlin and many we would not see since they travel the world over encouraging peace and tolerance among the world's many different religions and cultural groups.  They reminded me of the Cow Parades I have seen in Florence and Edinburgh and in the article I linked with this paragraph, it says that was how the person who started this was inspired! They are darling and in all kinds of different places. There is one bear for each member of the United Nations and many others as well.  I will end our trip to Berlin with a collection of my bear photos!

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