Germany June 2018
In the beginning of June I set off on my first European road trip of the year and headed down from South Wales in the early hours to the port of Dover. After a swift sailing across the channel I arrived in Dunkirk. Several hours later I arrived in my destination of Berlin staying in the Generator hostel within the eastern side of the city. The following morning after a quick tram ride to the center (the station is less then a 5 minute walk from the hostel). I started to do one of my favorite things when visiting a city and set off exploring.
My 1st stop was the Marx and Engels forum where you can scan a 3D barcode to listen the story behind the statues, and the history of the two from the thinking of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who together set the foundations of Marxism.
My next stop was just across the road in the DDR museum. For a small fee you can explore many exhibitions on all aspects of life in East Germany. From the school routines such as that all kindergarten children go to the toilet at the same time and no one gets up until the last one is finished. To a Stasi cell and integration room. Before finishing up in a recreated East Berlin flat, listing to Bruce Springsteen's concert from East Germany July 19, 1988
Upon leaving the museum we headed down to the Brandenburg Gate and onto the Soviet war memorial before heading back towards the center via the Reichstag's and onto Checkpoint Charlie as well as looking at the Berlin Wall exhibition
It was now time to head to the metro station to go and do what we originally planned to do in Berlin. So off we went to the Olympic stadium for the opening night of the 2018 European tour for Guns n Roses. The support act for this show is a local band to where I live called the Manic Street Preachers. Upon arrival and collecting our tickets we entered the giant stadium walking down the long stairway to the covered football pitch and heading to the front area (we spoil ourselves and got golden circle tickets). Only once we got to our spot looking back we got a scale of the stadium itself and how it must of felt for the athletes from all over the world entering the stadium for the first time at the 1936 summer Olympics. The concert itself was fantastic the Manics warmed the crowd up before Axl Rose and Slash came on and played 3 hours of back to back hits.
Once the concert was over was time to see if the rumors of German efficiency would be true..... No surprise they were got to the train station and it was there and not too long a wait and we were away back to the center of Berlin to get the tram back to the hotel after one more picture.
The following morning we had a few hours free so we decided to visit the Zoo which is in the western side of the city but with public transport being so well integrated it is no hassle to get there from anywhere in the city. There are several different enclosures to visit within the Zoo and if you opt for the extra Aquarium ticket at the entrance you are able to tour the exhibitions held inside as well. its well worth a visit to both.
Upon leaving the Zoo we went back to the car and headed up to the top of Germany for our overnight stop in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. Where I would be getting the ferry over to Sweden the following morning. One of the reasons to wanting to visit the island was the Colossus of Prora being built by the KDF between 1936 and 1939. It is a complex of 8 identical buildings stretching nearly 3 miles today the surviving structure stretches a still impressive 2 miles, the sight all run parallel to a large beach. After dipping my toes in the Baltic i made my way to my overnight stop at a local families house where i stayed overnight in an extension that they had built. They also had a lovely dog that enjoyed being fussed over. After a restful nights sleep it was off to the port for my ferry to Sweden and the end of my German adventure.
