We arrived at Prague station at 8am and spent half an hour staring at the departures board, waiting to be told which platform to proceed to. When the train arrived we went to the first class carriage and were told our carriage was the next one and pointed to empty space. Eventually a new locomotive arrived pushing our first class carriage and joining it onto the train. We had a very pleasant four and a half hour trip, following a river that is either the Elbe or its tributary through very scenic valleys.
We passed through Dresden but saw little of the old town from the railway line. It is now four or five years since they completed the rebuild there.
Our apartment in Berlin was easy to find, following the main road from outside the station for 10 minutes. We had to pay 3.50 Euros for the wi-fi and when we tried to use it, we could not post photos and download Facebook, so we complained at reception and they cancelled it for us.
Our hotel is located just inside the former East Berlin, so we were able to walk to the Remembrance area to see a section of the wall, which was surprisingly thin - less than 100 mm at the top. Over a hundred fugitives were killed and memorials are there for all of them.
After visiting so many European and Asian cities where walls were built to keep foreigners out, it was disturbing to look at a wall built to stop citizens from leaving. Only prison walls have this function.
The remnants of the wall show how the reinforcing kept it erect.
This was part of the memorial wall.
The remnants of the wall show how the reinforcing kept it erect.
This was part of the memorial wall.
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