Author: CMR.sg

It was another warm day but I cannot say it was hotter than yesterday. Seemed to be about the same. It is supposed to be much cooler tomorrow. Down by about 10°C!

There were much less people walking on the streets. I visited the KaDeWe shopping center, an indoor venue, and it was packed. In the afternoon, I could see many young children were playing in the fountains, enjoying themselves.

I was told Berlin, even in summer, has very few truly sunny days. I have had 3 sunny days ever since I have been here. I must be lucky!

There were warnings of a heatwave for this week when I arrived in Germany last Wednesday.

And yes it is warm today. It was getting warmer towards the end of last week when I was in Munich but yesterday and today have been really warm. I can feel the intense heat as I am walking outside now. The saving grace is that its not humid and so with an umbrella it’s still walkable.

I was told this morning that tomorrow would be the most intense day during this current heatwave. Well today is already bad enough to keep me indoors most of the day. Cannot imagine how tomorrow will be like.

As I was walking to the Brandenburg Gate, I came across an unremarkable open space used as a car park. There were at least 4 different tour groups scattered all over the car park.

I walked on and didn’t think much of it. On the way back from the Gate, I again came a number of groups milling around the area. And there was an insignificant signboard nearby which people were reading.

It was then I realized that this was the site of Hitler’s bunker. The bunker was built near the gardens of his residence and he spent almost all his time there from January 1945 onwards and used it as his headquarters to direct the last stages of the war. He married Eva Braun in the bunker and committed suicide inside the bunker. His body and that of Eva Braun were burnt on his instructions just outside the bunker.

The site is now a car park as the Soviets who came to this location first and occupied this area till reunification wanted to destroy it and leave no trace of Nazi Germany.

Well today I stood on that car park imagining all the history that took place in that area beneath my feet about 80 years ago.

My first coffee in Berlin. Right behind my hotel, a minute’s walk away.

This cafe is open from 8am till midnight every day. It is a beautifully decorated cafe with nice ambience.

They have wonderful coffee, croissants and cakes.

The entire cafe was manned by just one person who is also the barrista, handles the orders and serves. He’s a young man from Syria and he speaks perfect German. He came here 9 years ago.

This train left on time at 1159 from Munich. It was supposed to be a 5 hr and 30 minutes journey.

The first stop out of Munich was Nuremberg. I remember this name from the movie Judgment at Nuremberg, a black and white I enjoyed very much. It seems Nuremberg was the place the Nazis had their massive rallies in the 1930s. The Nuremberg laws of 1935, stripping the Jews of German citizenship were named after this place too. The war crimes tribunal hearing the cases against the Germans who committed war crimes was based here.

After Nuremberg, everything was smooth until the train stopped at Leipzig station. There is a scheduled 30 minutes stop here. So I was just sitting in the train for that period.

After that, unexpectedly, the train stopped at a small station. There was a medical emergency to one of the passengers and an ambulance was called. When the passenger was eventually taken off the train, we departed with a 40 minutes delay. Sigh. Arrived at Berlin station at 6pm.

My cab driver to the hotel was a pleasant young man from Palestine.

I got off at the Berlin Sudkreuz station instead of the Main Station. My general impression was that the southern part of Berlin,where this station was located, up till near the hotel must have been part of the Communist east as it looked run down. My hotel at Potsdam seems to be on the edge of all the shopping areas and the attractions.

I have been taking taxis everywhere in Munich. I have found them to be comfortable and clean. The drivers are generally immigrants. I had one yesterday morning from Ukraine and another from Turkey. Surprisingly in addition to speaking German, they all seem to speak some English as well. They all use Google Maps to get to their destinations. Decent driving skills as well. Yesterday there was road blocks in the city center because it was Christopher Street Day. My driver knew how to navigate all the side streets to get me back to the hotel.

Also most of the taxis are huge and are the bigger Mercedes Benz cars or BMWs.

My taxi driver to the Munich Main Station was driving a large comfortable Merc and was originally from Bangladesh.

Whilst I was at BMW Museum in the morning, I received a text from a good friend, U Zyn, who suggested visiting this place.

I did go and I am glad I did. Didn’t realize the historical significance of this place.

The German Communist Party was founded here in 1919 and used this place as its headquarters.

The National Socialist Party, aka the Nazi Party, was born here in 1920 and Hitler was here at the inauguration of the Party. He delivered his 25 point plan for the Nazi Party here.

Lenin spent quite a bit of time here when he was living in exile in Munich before World War 1.

Mozart is said to have spent time here and cited this place as an inspiration for his opera Idomeneo.

This place was completely destroyed by the Allied bombing during World War 2 and it was then rebuilt in 1958.

I found the food just so so but the place was packed and bustling! I don’t think people come here for the food.

A wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning. I visited this place today. A fascinating showcase of their history and their past together with an amazing collection of their vintage cars, motor cycles and their engines over the years all displayed in their Museum.

The World features all the latest models of their cars.

There is a constant stream of people coming here. It’s a good showcase of their engineering prowess. BMW was making aircraft engines before progressing to making cars a hundred years ago. They were innovating with new and more powerful engines when the Chinese were nowhere. Of course now they are having difficulty competing in the EV marketplace with the Chinese.

Lets hope they keep progressing and continue making top end cars.

Had my morning coffee here this morning. It is a cafe connected to the hotel. Had my coffee with a chia seed pudding and a croissant.

Reasonably priced and good service. The croissant and the chia pudding was good. They have no service charge so tips are optional.

There are many cafes here. They are all well patronised and decently priced. I saw about 5 within 50 meters of the hotel. All with yummy looking bakes

I also visited the nearly Lidl supermarket. The things are so well priced, in particular the fruits. Stocked up on snacks for my next train ride.

I have to say the people in Germany are courteous and helpful. And you feel safe here. Not like Paris or London where you are worried about snatch thieves or pickpockets. Also such beautiful weather at this time of the year. Sunny and cool.

Munich is certainly a good place to visit although I have to say there are so many museums and historical sites I have skipped. Sigh.

My dinner last night was at this restaurant at my hotel in Munich. I had read the reviews about this place and they were good. But what clinched my eating here last evening was that I was tired and hungry after my train ride and when I checked in, it suddenly started pouring.

They focus on steaks and meats. And so they named the restaurant the lonely broccoli cos with all the many meat options, the veggies such as broccoli would be lonely!

Excellent food and service and at very good prices. Lovely setting too. I had a wagyu burger, eggplant and sauteed spinach with garlic. All yummy!

The chocolate dessert was glorious!

I didn’t know there was going to be such good food in Germany. And at such good prices. I thought it would be such lots of sausages.

Singapore is such a sad place when it comes to dining and finding reasonably priced good food. Sad. Everywhere else I go, I end up with wonderful food and coffee options which make you look forward to dining the next meal. And you have so many options too.