As usual i did last minute planning and booked my tickets and hostels 2 days in advance for a weeklong trip in Germany. I got lucky with the train tickets inside Germany and got cheap tickets and reservation during the holiday season. My plan was to fly to Bremen, take train to Hamburg and then go to Berlin by train and flu to Munich and finally spend a day in fracnkfurt.
Seemed like a long tour, but I somehow managed to get the different booking done in time to make it not so expensive trip.Bremen: Just spent one evening in the city square with a nice dinner and Bremen's own Beck's beer. Also saw the Brother's Grim fairy tale about the Bremen's musicians - Donkey, Dog, Cat and the Rooster statues.
Hamburg: I spend one whole day in Hamburg. the harbour town. Hamburg has the second largest Harbour in the Europe next only to Rotterdam. I took a guided boat tour of the harbour and was amazed at the sheer size of the harbour and how many ships it can cater to at the same time and also the docks where the ships are repaired or maintained. After the tour, I just took a stroll all around the city to different touristy spots and did what a regular tourist would do i.e take plenty of pictures :). I slept that night in Hamburg and proceeded to Berlin the next morning.
Berlin: What a magnificient city!! The modern buzzing city with the scars from the past... This picture speaks of it clearly... I took the free guided tour of the city along with several other toursists. The best part about this guided tour is that it is free and the guide is usually an american, brit or aussie and if you are happy you pay them tips for their service. I think its a fantastic idea. http://www.neweuropetours.eu/I went to the Berlin's most famous monument, the Brandenburg Tor (gate). It served as a victory monument under several kings and leaders. It was even a monument that stood right near the Berlin wall. Then we went to see the Holocaust memorial for all the holocaust victims all across the Europe. We then proceeded to a car parking place beneath which lay Adolf Hitler's Bunker in which he spent his last few days before he shot himself. We then went to see the remains of the Berlin wall which fell in 1990 when the communist East Germany united back with West Germany to become unified Germany. Some sections of the wall has been preserved and the rest of the wall has been demolished and replaced with brick lines along the road to remember the history. We walked along the wall to come to Check point Charlie which served as a check point between the East Berlin and West Berlin for the people to cross the border. We also walked along several other monuments which included Bebel platz, where Hitler urged the students to burn the books written by jews, the Berliner Dom, Opera house and Museum island. All in all it was a great guided tour with lots of historical information. I also went to the Berlin Olympia stadion to see the football pitch where Italy beat France in the FIFA Worldcup 2006 and Zidane headbutted Matterazzi. Its the same stadium which hosted the Olympics in 1936 which was inagurated by Hitler himself. I finished off my tour with a trip the Reichstag - The German Parliament. Its a bit strange that I ve been to two parliaments one in Germany and one in Norway, but I still havent been to Indian Parliament. I hope to do it at the earliest available opportunity.
Munich: The city of Monks, the city of beer and breweries... The history of Munich is that Munks from the monastries started brewing beer to the weary travelers and thus the city became famous for its pure beer and the munchs who started the tradition. Hence the name Munich or Munchen. I took the free guided tour in Munich too and went all around the city to see the beer garden,s Hofbrauhaus - the famous brewery in Munich, English gardens, the city market and Allianz Arena, home to Bayern Munich footballteam. Next day I went to the saddest place I ever been to. I visited the Dachau Concentration camp or whats left of it. I ve seen in pictures and movies, but I never imagined what it would be to enter one of these camps. The enterance is the iron gate in which it was written "Work shall set you free" in German. What a tagline to fool the entering prisoners and duping them into lifetime of servitude and death afterwards. It was so poignant to walk on the hallowed grounds of the camp. There were several monuments to the murdered innocent jews inside the camp. I also went and saw the living quarters where the jews stayed in the small bunk beds, used the common washrooms etc etc.. I felt a shiver when I walked into the Gas chamber where many jews were murdered in cold blood. It felt like a nightmare just being there and then you appreciate the cruelty and injustice done to them. I walked out of there with great sadness... After that I took the train to Frankfurt
Heidelburg: Since I didnt want to spend much time in Frankfurt I took the train to Heidelburg which is a small city by the river an hour south of Frankfurt. Its such a beautiful city with the ruins of the castle by the river. Took a castle visit and then a stroll along this beautiful city...Thus ended my tour of Germany which lasted a whole week and by the end of it, I was so tired of walking that I really longed just to go home and crash on my bed.. Someday I will go back and continue my journey and see other cities that I ve missed out the first time... Dresden, Cologne, Dusseldorf...
My photo album from the trip
Free Guided tours: http://www.neweuropetours.eu/
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