June 27, 2021 (Sunday)
Since many places are closed on Sunday, I headed to Tiergarten, a beautiful inner-city park in Berlin. It was the largest park in Berlin until Tempelhofer field, a former airport, was closed and re-opened as a public park in 2010. But Tempelhofer has NOTHING over Tiergarten!!
At nearly 520 acres, it contains the zoo, a rose garden, the Victory Column, ponds, trails, statues, grassy fields as well as heavily forested areas in the middle of the city. Brandenburg Gate is at one end. It was initially established as hunting grounds in the 16th century. After the war, due to a shortage of coal, most of the forest (consisting of over 200,000 trees) was cut down for wood and the space was turned into temporary farmland. It was reforested between 1949 and 1959 with approximately 250,000 young trees. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Foreign Embassies were built along the perimeter as well as the ultra-modern Chancellery, the largest government headquarters in the world. A large tunnel was also built to run under the park to accommodate motor vehicles and transit trains.
Once I arrived via bus, I whipped out my cell phone, located an electric scooter parked nearby, unlocked it (again, via a cellphone app) and took off to explore the myriad of pathways within the park.
First stop...a beautiful flower garden
There were plenty of open lawn spaces for people to bask in the sun (some nude!) or enjoy a picnic. Interestingly, there were several instances where two trees were close enough together to attach a hammock....and many people did.
A woman had put out these little containers of flowers. I didn't ask what they were for, but the info card tied to them probably explained. I'm guessing you could purchase one for a donation to something. Cool idea!
I rode the scooter to the end of the park at the Brandenburg Gate and continued down the boulevard for more sightseeing.
Alas, the Grand Dame - The Berliner Cathedral
Inaugurated 1905. 322 ft tall. It used to be slightly taller but the dome was destroyed by allied bombing in 1944.
I signed out and left my electric scooter behind and hopped a bus to an outdoor cafe for dinner. After a LARGE beer and eating, I didn't feel like walking back to the apartment, so I checked out another scooter to tootle home.
Since I was tootling (vs walking), I decided to take the opportunity to view a few more places near where I was staying.
St Michael Kirche
Just down the street a few blocks from my apt. Completed 1861. In the final months of WWII, the area surrounding the church was almost entirely destroyed by air raids carried out by the USAAF with over 950 aircraft. The church suffered serious damage. As a result of the destruction of the roof, the dome is seen through the large portal window you see in front.
Engelbecken Park
In front of St Michaels Church, there used to be a 1.4 mile long canal that connected the river Spree and Landwehr Canal with a central pond named Engelbecken (or Angel's Pool). Completed in 1852, the canal was later filled in, in the late 1920's, and converted into a sunken park. However, the pond was retained and now includes fountains and an outdoor cafe.
"Hey Marty, keep an eye out for crumbs!!"
"I'm on it Gladys!!"
Down the street a few blocks from my apt, but in the opposite direction, is this church, completed in 1869.
More on this in Day 4 as I discover some fascinating trivia!!
By the way, if you're interested in viewing any of my past entries about travelling around Europe and where I live in Mallorca, simply scroll down past my signature to the end. There, you'll see 'Blog History'. You can click on any Month/Year to see the titles I published at that time. Simply click on the title you're interested in and it will take you to that page.
No comments:
Post a Comment