Friday 24 July 1998

Slideshow Pictures

We crossed the German border without any difficulty. There were cars and trucks parked on both sides of the road as we crossed into Germany, and I was trying to stuff the passports back in my pocket while driving. About fifty yards across the border a policeman was waving us to the side of the road. I, immediately, forgot what little German I knew and after a few shrugs of my shoulder was asked to step out of the car. The policeman took me to the radar which indicated 42 kilometers. It was a 30 kilometer speed zone. The policeman said that he had to fine us 40 Deutsche Marks $35 CAN. I explained to him that we didn’t have Deutsche Marks and took him to the back of the car, where I opened the luggage and the envelope that contained other foreign currencies, Swedish, Danish, Finnish but no Deutsche Marks. Remember I had spent it at the Money Exchange in Prague to pay for the "F#$%$%^^&#g" parking and stamps. Another policeman noticed the bottle of Tokaj in the luggage and looked for other alcohol. There was the bottle of Tokaj and three other small half litter bottles of Barack Pálinka (Apricot Brandy) that we were taking as gifts. After satisfying himself that we were under the limit he told me to forget the fine and to pack up the luggage.

In the meantime another policeman had asked Rita and Rachel to get out of the car and asked whether we were carrying guns, drugs or alcohol. He started searching the car, looked through Rita’s cosmetics bag, and a bag of laundry. Rita noticed Rachel’s shoes under the front seat and proceeded to try to pull them out. The policeman told her to stand back, he would do it. He pulled them out and found a pair of shoes with dirty socks stuffed into them. He had had enough and told Rita and Rachel to get back in the car. We drove away at 29 km. an hour and continued at that speed for quite awhile.

Stopped for lunch at a tavern in Thiendorf where I had Hungarian gulyás soup. It was neither Hungarian nor gulyás. We noticed a man, sitting on his bicycle drinking a quick schnapps with a beer chaser, at the (drive through window of the tavern), then mount his bike and ride away. After finishing lunch we were off to Berlin.

Arrived late due to road construction on the Autobahn. Stopped a pedestrian in the eastern part of Berlin, and since our hotel was near the Zoo, I asked for directions there. Looking at us, I was sure he would reply that the Zoo was already well stocked with Orangutans, and they didn't need us. But he was a courteous gentleman and gave us general directions to get there. We drove and drove, twisted and turned, down one one-way street and up the other. Finally we were on Budapester strasse, where I had looked at one of the hotels, when I was arranging the trip on the Internet. I knew this area from the map the hotels provided on the Net. We drove in front of the Zoo, there was a no vacancy sign out, so we drove to the Berlin Excelsior hotel instead.

Checked in at the desk, and proceeded to move in. We found the room to be too small, so I went back to the desk and arranged for better accommodation. They said they had a bigger room, but it was nonsmoking. I took the room keys and we moved in. Rita had taken an ashtray from the first room and opening the windows we were able to smoke.

We went for a walk to Kurfürstendamm strasse, better known as the Kudamm, and had refreshments at a cafe, Linda from Rita’s workplace had recommended. Walked to the east end of the Kudamm and turned north on Bundesallee. There were all types of stores offering pornographic entertainment with seedy looking characters standing around. We picked up our pace and got the hell out of there. Walked down Hardenberg strasse and back to the hotel. It was still fairly early so we decided to go back to the Kudamm, which we had found interesting. Rachel did not want to come so she watched TV while Rita and I went back. Walked westward on the Kudamm and decided to turn around and have a German beer at a sidewalk cafe. Then back to the hotel and bed.

I tried to wake the ladies early knowing that we had to leave the city by 1:00 p.m. at the latest, to catch the ferry from Sassnitz to Trelleborg.

I had trouble arranging the reservation for the ferry which left at 5:45 p.m. Had asked the ferry people, by E-mail, approximately how long the drive from Berlin to Sassnitz would take. I was told 3 ½ to 4 hours. So 1:00 p.m. was the latest we could leave if we hoped to catch the ferry.

With great reluctance the ladies got out of bed, the usual makeup time, breakfast at the hotel, checked out and were on the road by 11:00 am. Parked at the Grossen Stern walked around taking pictures at all the statues.

Walked to the Brandenburg Gate.

Walked back to the car and took off for Sassnitz at 12:30 p.m.