Thursday, June 10 - Szczecin

So, on to Poland it is.  The train tickets from Berlin to Szczecin were incredibly cheap - we can only think that is because not many people make this trip.  It is about 100 miles, so not too far and we enjoyed seeing the countryside.  

When we got to Szczecin, we were a bit surprized - after the mega malls in the stations in Germany, the Szczecin station seemed a bit spartan.  That and without much Polish language, we were a bit lost.   We stepped off the train onto the quay and couldn't find the actual station. 

Fortunately we had planned to arrive in early afternoon, so we had time to sit with our city map and try to calmly figure out what to do.  I knew that in Poland there are actually 3 train systems, but didn't understand quite what that means.  In France there are also national, international, and regional trains, but you can buy tickets for most of the trains running in France in one area.  In Poland, there are separate little ticket offices, some not even in the actual station. 

I had researched two options: 1) rent a car in Szczecin for just a few days, then take the train to Poznan and rent another car there for the Grab trip or 2) rent a car in Szczecin and return it in Poznan 6 days later.  So we wanted to find the train schedule, determine if that was an option, and possibly purchase tickets.  Rick Steves advises to do this when you arrive in a town so you know what your schedule needs to be.

We did eventually learn the train schedule and found a kiosk where we could buy tickets, but decided to go ahead and find a hotel and check the car rental situation as well.  We started walking in the direction of the tourist office - which would also lead us generally downtown near several hotels.  Before we found the tourist office, we walked by a Novotel - a chain we are familiar with in France and in which the desk staff always speak English. 

We checked in there and found a Europecar rental office in the hotel. The car rental folks had good English as well.  It didn't take long to decide to go ahead and reserve a car for the next 6 days right there in the hotel. 

After we got settled in our room, we went out for a walk - found the tourist office and bought some driving maps.  We were surprized to find KFC restaurants to be quite common.  

We had asked the young man at the car rental office for a restaurant recommendation and he suggested a place in the area which we decided to try.  The restaurant was in the lower level and it was lovely.  The food was great, Fred had fish and I had veal, then we had ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, we walked down to the river.  The city was preparing for its annual river festival and there were boats of all kinds in the harbor.  Szczecin is on the  river, about 60 miles from the Baltic Seaport of Swinoujscie.  There are ferry routes from Swinoujscie to Sweden and Denmark. 

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 8 & 9 - Berlin

We left our little apartment in Leipzig today and after one more tour through the train station, we headed out for Berlin on the train.  The Leipzig train station is quite a sight rivaling some of our best malls here.  Lots of shops and all kinds of restaurants.  We have eaten at a fish restaurant in the station twice during our combined stays here and the food was very good. 

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

In Berlin, we found the tourist office in the train station, and asked for help with accomodations.  They explained that there was an aviation "fair" or exhibition and most of the hotels were booked.  We said pension, not too expensive, would be good and they found us a room in a hostel near the train station, actually a guesthouse of the Berlin Stadtmission, operated by the Protestant church. 

We had a very comfortable room with wifi and great breakfasts.  We were also walking distance from a laundry, which happened to be in a camping place in mid-city.  We learned later that the camping area was actually on former "no man's land" between east and west Berlin. 

We had purchased "city-cards" that provided transportation and some admissions, so took the metro or U-Bahn to a station near the Brandenburg Gate, and then walked Unter Den Linden, the tree-lined main boulevard in  Berlin that was laid out and planted in the mid 1600's.  Most of the trees were destroyed for construction or used as firewood during WWII, but were re-planted in the 1950's, so the street is again today a vibrant and beautiful part of the city.

We walked past the Russian embassy stopping at the Einstein Cafe for late lunch.  Then on past opera houses, monuments and museums to the Catholic Berliner Dom, which sits on the river Spree.

Berliner Dom

When we learned there was a concert scheduled in the Dom the next evening, we bought tickets. 





Then we noticed tour boats on the river and we were took advantage of the ride and toured the city from a river boat.  How relaxing!

After the river tour, it was almost 7:00 pm, so we headed back toward the Brandenburg gate to hop the U-Bahn toward our hotel.  Well, we had to pass the Einstein Cafe again and I thought a place like that must have ice cream, so again we stopped to refresh ourselves.

On Wednesday, we headed out again to see one of the 5 museums on Museum Island.  We spent a couple of hours there, then went across the river for lunch at a Radison Hotel, where I had Tandoor Salad and Fred had Currywurst with french fries - YUM!

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and I did some online stuff while Fred went to the laundramat.  That is an experience as well in other countries.  Well, the clothes were not getting dry, but he knew we needed to head toward the cathedral for the concert.  I suggested we walk to the train station and get a cab there.  We told the cabbie we had concert tickets and he went all out to get us there on time, including going the wrong way on a one way street and almost getting in an altercation with a bicycle rider. 

The concert was worth it - what a beautiful place.  There was a chorus of about 120 voices, an orchestra,  and one of the numbers featured the pipe organ. 

By the time the show was over, we were hungry, so headed to the Gendarmenmarkt where we chose the Refugium Cafe, built in what was once a chapel near the Berlin Koncerthaus.  We sat outside where Fred had fish and I had veal. 




What a day!  We are tired and happy - ready to start the next leg of our adventure - we move on to Poland tomorrow!

Getting It Back Together

Well, we finished the trip and I was either too busy or did not have good internet connections, so did not post daily while on the trip. I am going to start posting again, and will try to provide a daily account of the trip. Here goes......

Thursday, June 3 - Leipzig, Neichen
After WWII, one of my dad's cousins here in the US received a series of letters from cousins in Leipzig, Germany (written in German). I now have copies of those letters. Leipzig was at that time part of the communist German Democratic Republic. Times were difficult then and the letters reflected that, asking if the US cousins could please send coffee, eyeglass lenses, shoe soles, etc, all items they could not obtain in Leipzig.




On Thursday, before leaving Leipzig, we walked around the train station to find Ehrensteinstrasse 22, where our Kunze cousins lived at that time. Today, the neighborhood appears prosperous and well maintained.

After the walk, we picked up our bags and hiked to the Avis car rental shop to pick up a car and head to the country. We had a nice drive through the village of Oelschuetz, where the Winklers lived before coming to the US. Just 2 kilometers south of there we found a Pension (B & B) in Neichen at a family home. It was typical for the area, a courtyard with houses on two sides, several generations of the family living in one location. They also had a huge garden. The price was right, 20 euro per night for the room and 10 euro per person per day for breakfast. That is about $50 per day for room and a HUGE breakfast.

That night we drove to the Grimma, a larger town in the area with restaurants and ate at K House in the older part of the city. Fred had Salmon with potatoes and I had Schnitzel with fried potatoes and mushrooms - wonderful! We finished with a specialty of the house, an ice cream sundae with eier liqueur - yes, it is made with eggs, and the dessert was wonderful as well. So far, we have not lost ANY weight, despite walking miles per day. Till next time!

By Train from Dresden to Leipzig

Today we had breakfast in Dresden, packed, then rode the bus to the train station and purchased tickets from Dresden to Leipzig. We were able to get a good discount on the tickets because it was the middle of the week, the middle of the day, AND we were willing to take the "slow" train, 16 stops in 90 minutes. It was a pleasant ride through the countryside on a rainy but beautiful day. I found a schedule at the station that listed all of the stops, so was able to follow our trip on the map.

We went through Kuhren, the county seat of the area where our Winklers lived before coming to America in the mid 1800s. We also passed through Wurzen, another town linked to our Winklers.

We arrived in Leipzig and found the train station (Bahnhof) information desk. They were able to direct us to the city of Leipzig tourist information office just across the street from the station.

At the tourist information office, we found and booked a room in a reasonably priced hotel very near the train station. By that time, it was after 1:00 pm, so we walked to the hotel and were able to check in. At all of the locations except the Dresden train station, we met people with good English language skills, so had no problems there.

Once in Leipzig, we took a stroll through the Alt Stadt or old section of the central city. Our first stop was the Nikolai Kirche, dating from the 14th centruy. Between 1982 and 1989, during soviet occupation of the area, up to 2000 people of various religions gathered weekly in this church to pray for peace. One Monday in October 1989, 10,000 people gathered outside the church with candles lit to work toward a peaceful revolution.

After the Nikolai Kirche, we went to the Thomas Kirche, where J. S. Bach was cantor for 27 years between 1723 and 1750 and is now buried. After the church, we visited the nearby Bach museum, an interactive experience where we viewed various hand written scores and other memorabilia related to Bach. The museum maintains an archive of Bach related materials.

Leipzig has been known for centuries as a center for commercial expos, book printing and binding, universities, and music. It was not bombed as much during WWII as Dresden, and today we saw very little evidence of nearly 40 years of eastern occupation, at least in the Alt Stadt. Business appears to be booming, resulting in a lively town center.

We ate dinner at the Cafe Apoteke, Fred had stroganoff and I had veal goulash with potatoes, all of which was yummy.

A stroll back to the hotel with a diversion to the mall in the train station for necessaries shopping and we are in tor the night.

HOW TO: When traveling in a country where you do not speak the language, use online train schedules to do your research before going to the train station, then write down your destination, possible times, etc, on a piece of paper or take a map so you can show the rail service agent where you want to go. Whenever possible, pick up the train schedule at the station showoing all of the stops so you don't have to guess where and when to get off the train. Trains only stop for a minute or two at most stations, so refer to your schedule, then just before your stop, gather your belongings and head for an exit so you are ready to detrain. Allow someone else to exit first or watch at a prior stop so you know how to open the train door. On most trains, using the restroom while the train is stopped in a station is forbidden. If you tend to get motion sickness, try to ride facing forward.