CPH-TXL Berlin 1

Flying in to Berlin took less than an hour after the delays, bus into the city was not bad either. Problem was I couldnt find the hotel and wandered around for a bit, Jeff was on google maps by text, I asked someone in the end, and I was very close, wrong street... At the hotel, which is nicely placed, I could not find the key to the suitcase, now matter how I tried... So I spoke to reception and they sent a guy with a huge pair of bolt cutters... All for a tiny lock. What's worse, I found the key later on.....

All that aside, here's some pics from the first full day in Berlin.

This first one is a commuter train in Copenhagen...they have internet !






brandenburg Gate, one part of the East West divide and fave podium spot for Mister Hitler





I am sloping to the side again....















This is the parliament building, the big dome on top I have to go up...





Tram time




Train time




The East Side Gallery is a large outside art installation made on the old Berlin wall that kept all the Eesterners out of the East, as they had ideas of stealing all the riches they had, or was it the other way around?








The most famous picture in the gallery... Russia deep kisses East Germany... Like many things in Europe, politics melds with art... Pretty evocative pic of the scene as it then was...





It is the largest remaining stretch of Berlin Wall... I have a piece in my bag...









A Cuban one too...









This is my local station for S bahn and U bahn trains.








The Berlin Tower, built 1969




Pick below is almost all the way in on the lens Jeff, see how it brings it in... Yes, there was a few mins between for the sun to come back out...




Nice views of the city...








In the pic below the black rectangle towards upper left is where my hotel is, that is the HQ for Opel Cars. I should have removed the polarizer, it shows the tempered glass too well




The river is the Spree, said like "shpree"




















The Berliner Rathouse means red house, no rats





River cruises I dont normally do, but lots of boats here like Amsterdam




And these Turkish guys selling fur hats pretending to be old DDR East German hats, I hope they are not real fur, I'd pick a fight if they were...




Here I am giving absolution, and here Jeff is a zoom part way in on the new lens




These two must be tax men, they have a ledger



Here I am green, as I cannot stand heights, but giving thanks for all that Berlin has shown, sunshine, coffee, etc. I wish you could hear the roar of applause and share it with me...








The National Gallery is a place I have wanted to go to for some time...




These pics are often close ups, because i want to see how they made the light work in the pics. the Berlin and Dusseldorf painters liked realism, some look like photos they are so real... Amazing




They look like magazine photos rather than painted by hand








This is the original Rodin sculpture of The Thinker




A Monet




See the water drop and the moldy grape? the water drop looks 3D in person, astounding




This is painted flat, looks like relief in plaster though...




In this glass not only is the window reflected, you can see he painted in his own reflection working on the easel... Amazing artworks....




Get ready for day 2 ! Gut Nacht.

- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.