Week 23

Week 23: A tale of two cities

Berlin and Praha

When

07.03.2020 - 12.03.2020

where

Prague, Czech Republic

Berlin, Germany

what

I went to Prague when I was 18 and it was so cold that we could barely stand outside. Thankfully this time the weather was serving up some sunny delights with only a sprinkle of rain in the evenings. We took full advantage of this, exploring the city on foot as far and wide as possible. We arer very conscious of the risk of the Coronavirus even though the people, restaurants and tourists of Prague seem not to care at all. Meanwhile, we are carrying huge amounts of hand sanitiser and wipes with us, walking many kilometres instead of catching packed trams and avoiding crowds at all costs. Our days in Prague were fantastic. We ate well, drank good coffee and did some tourist things because unlike many other cities, the tourist stuff in Prague is actually fairly unique and mostly outside. Pat made me film him reenacting the opening shots from INXS’s video clip ‘Never tear us apart’, we got up at dawn to take photos of the St Vitus Cathedral and Charles bridge and walked and weaved through the stunning city, still not getting to see everything we wanted to.

After a wonderful time in the Czech Republic we headed for Berlin before our motorway vignette ran out and into Germany and it’s glorious, toll free autobahn. We pulled up to the insane Tempelhof airport where there is space for camper vans to securely park up while visiting Berlin. Where normally we would attempt to free park somewhere closer, we both felt uneasy after the Bratislava incident and were happy to pay the 6 euro’s a day for peace of mind. 

We packed a lot into Berlin. We saw the wall and Eastside gallery, some sketchy-as-hell gang of youths tried to rob us by thrusting a clipboard (made of a damp bit of torn cardboard box) at us and asking for signatures. While 2 of them approach, another two come up behind you. We more or less told them where to put it and watched them continue up and down the wall, stalking and targeting other tourists. 

We walked around the Brandenburg gate, Tiergarten and its impressive victory column, the Reichstag Building and the very stark Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We walked through the Topography of Terror museum which chronicles the rise and fall of the SS and Nazi regime and chronicles the millions of Jewish lives lost which felt very visceral after our visit to Auschwitz. We also did nice happy things like explore the city, eating great food, drinking at really cool wine bars, walking ages to get the best Doner kebab we have every eaten and take lots of cool pictures from the panorama near Alexanderplatz. 

As the week went on and keeping a close eye on the news and the Australian Department of Foreign affairs, we are starting to worry about the next stage of our Journey. Italy’s cases and deaths are getting out of control and we were intending on heading to Central America via New York which by the look of the United States probably won’t happen. As this week finishes up we have decided to head to Schwerin in Northern Germany instead of South to Munich as we initially planned. Southern Germany has had massive amounts of community transmission so bad that the Czech Republic were closing its borders as we left. We aren’t due back in England until early April but are considering heading back the last week of March incase further borders close and our risk of infection and transmission increases. Angela Merkel addressed the nation and said she doesn’t intend on closing German borders so at least we know we can get out toward the Netherlands still. Thank god we are in a camper van and don’t have to worry about booking buses/flights/trains or stay in common places. We have our own little clean home we can bunker down in to stay clear of this bloody ‘COVID-19’. 

Pit

Lots of things/borders/attractions are closing due to the virus

Peak

Really cool natural wine bar all to ourself