Berlin 5: Bowling, Materials Institute and Schnitzel

We had the bowling alley to ourselves.   In between we also ordered supper which was way overdue by 10pm.   The owner couldn't speak English but made himself very clear - especially as far as wearing bowling shoes went.

Thursday was focussed on leaving.   Although our flight was only about 7pm, we checked out of the hotel after breakfast and no matter what we did, we were aware that our bags were in the taxi and we were on our way out.   This made the day seem wasted although it was not.

We visited the Materials Institute and find out interesting things about their projects.   One of their focusses is safety so they have a facility far away from the city that Mythbusters would love, where things are dropped from heights, burned and generally tested to destruction.

Another of their projects focusses on new generation cements and how adding polycarboxyllates can generate a much stronger, self levelling product.

Next order of business was lunch and since we had hardly had any German food but had been existing on McDonalds and Burger King besides the excellent breakfasts, the driver, Kei had take us to a Schnitzel place where we all enjoyed Schnitzel.

After that it was off to the Airport via Kaizers and the One Euro Shop.

The wait in the Airport was long, we didn't want to break any notes and we were all a bit down.   The flight was standard, very good landings and for me made better by the camera footage that we could see on the screen of the plane arriving at the airport.

That was a short but wonderful adventure.   We were all greeted enthusiastically by family and whisked off home to take up real life again.

Berlin 4 - In closing

Yesterday was taken up with the closing ceremony of the German/South African Year of Science 2012/2013.   It was held at the Technology museum which was full of modes of transport:-  planes, boats, trains, even bicycles. 

 There were a number of speeches by important people, including Dr Johanna Wanka, Minister of Education and Research for the Federal Republic of Germany and Derek Hanekom, minister of Science and Technology of South Africa.   Unfortunately half the speeches were in German.   We had translating devices but to hear best I closed my eyes to concentrate.   After so many late nights you can just guess how that ended.   I noticed other members of our team were having the same problem.   There was an interesting talk/slide show on conditions in the Antarctic and presentation of awards to other sudents of South Africa who had been prize winners in an Essay competition.   A long time was allowed for drinks and snacks leading straight on to lunch and we decided to go home and sleep rather than battle through the afternoon which actually might have been the most interesting part.

We returned for the evening function which was luckily a sit down affair.   We got to meet the other South African students and had photos taken together.

We didn't get home too late but I still ended up going to sleep after 1am.

Today we visited the Astrophysics Institute and had a look at their telescopes.  

Sanusha had a wonderful time.   Then we took a walk in the caste gardens and saw the castle from a view site.

The afternoon was devoted to shopping for souveniers  and other which even the boys excelled at.

After recovering (involving a nap) we started packing amid much sorting out to try to fit in all the extra stuff.   At about 10pm we went to a nearby bowling alley where we paid 12 Euros for a lane for an hour.   I think that is a much better system than paying per game.

Tomorrow we are going to visit a materials institute in the morning and then on to the airport in the afternoon/evening.   Our trip is ending.   The young people seem to have had a wonderful time.   I have also throughly enjoyed myself and got to know Berlin a little.   I will be happy to get back to my family and everyday life though.   It has been a wonderful experience.

Berlin 3 - schools, bunkers and ice skates

After the usual yummy breakfast we were taken to the Nelson Mandela school.   Nobody knew what to expect But we got shown around the school and managed to interact with some grade 9 students and Sanusha addressed the grade 8 art class about what the team

 had done and what they were doing in Germany.

Our Next stop was a tour of an underground bunker where we were not allowed to take any photos but we saw some interesting things and learned a lot about life in Berlin during the war.

Ever since we had heard about the Berlin trip, Alex had wanted to buy ice skates in Berlin.   She plays provincial ice hockey and apparently it is much cheaper to get a good pair of skates in Germany than South Africa.   Our driver/tour guide, Kye, very kindly took us to the ice hockey shop.   There were a couple of problems - the lovely whate skates were not available in the right size, the credit card machine seemed not to recognise the travel card but all the problems got sorted and Alex is now the proud owner of a pair of new Bauer skates plus some other hocky stuff.

In the evening we took a boat trip along the canals and the river Spree.   Probably my highlight so far.

Berlin 2. Adventure

The breakfasts at the hotel are Yummy.   we are staying at the NH Hotel Frankfurter Allee.   we were still enjoying our breakfast when the driver came to collect us to go to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp.

We got back to the hotel at about 5.30 and decided to go to movies.   If we left at 6.30 we would be able to see one of three movies showing in their original language (English) at Postdamer Platz.   This involved catching an underground subway (U Bahn) and changing at Alexanderplatz.   The friendly lady at the hotel reception had told me which numbers to catch and that the service stopped at 1am in the morning but then we could catch a bus No 5.

Danilla and Sanusha on the U Bahn

Well, we didn't leave accoeding to schedule and we were 10 minutes late for our movie so we decided to watch the 10.30 movie instead.   Meanwhile, after investigating the possibility of McDonald, Pizza Hut or some more expensive restaurants, we settled for Chinese food at one of the malls nearby.

The roof was amazing - apparently designed to represent Mts Fujiama.

We also got to see a Lego giraffe near the Lego workshop.

The movie we saw was a comedy called "Identity Theif."   It was fairly light watching and at least two of us fell asleep for a while during it.We almost had the moviehouse to ourselves.

The movie came out at twenty to One and we rushed off to the U Bahn station.   Unfortunatley the next train was only due in 12 minutes and although we got got to Alexander Platz, we were too late for the connection.  

So we went looking for a bus stop.   Unfortunately each U bahn station has at least 4 entrances and we came out of one that had no sign of a bus stop.   We asked at a late night cafe and were told that it was outside the hotel.   We had just seen a sign with a curved arrow towards tha hotel when a large taxi came driving past and Danilla waved it down.   We each had only to pay two Euro fifty which was in fact cheaper than the combined ticket for our 2 leg journey and we got taken right to our door..   We got home at 1.45 and in bed by 2am.   Danilla and I both hope that this is the most adventurous part of our stay.

Berlin 1

It was 2 o'clock this morning and I wasn't asleep.   All around me plane passengers were in various stages of unsleepfulness, with many on board screens silently showing movies of various types. I remembered how it all started.   The excitement when the Rand Park team won the materials video competition and were told we had all won a trip to Berlin.   I think there's a photo of us with our mouths open somewhere. I remember how three weeks ago I couldn’t walk to the staff room from my car without resting on the way and how I had gone to the healing team at church and asked them to pray that I could walk in Berlin and do all the things a tourist should do. Now after a certain amount of pressure when it looked like the visas weren't going to go through and a lot of prayer,   we were finally on our way to Berlin.   Alex and I had met at the Gautrain station and travelled to the airport by high speed train. 

  We met up with Sanusha and Keagan at the airport where we were later joined by Danilla who is our representative from the German Chamber of Commerce who is accompanying us..  

 After bidding goodbye to loving family we were on our way. We have had a lovely day.   We met Reece at Berlin and we were taken to our hotel (NH Berlin Frankfurter Allee) We found a Pizza place near our hotel so we had Pizza for lunch. 

Then this afternoon we went on a sightseeing tour.

The Berlin wall.

On the other side of the road was the Ice Hockey stadium.

The Brandenburg Gate with actors playing soldiers ready for a photo. 

The Reichstag Building

And the Charlottenburg Schloss

 

The Victory Monument 

and the Emperors square.

After the tour we did a little shopping. and exploring near the hotel.   I managed to get a German sim card for my phone and I have been able to send a whatsapp message to Keagan and Sanusha so we are getting ourselves organised.

Although we didn’t get much sleep last night, everybody is still up and planning more shopping trips to buy ice skates and sports shoes.   This is not going to be a restful holiday bur rather an adventure