July 6, 7 & 8 - On the way and first day in Berlin, Germany

MONDAY/TUESDAY,  July 6/7:
The flight went well from PC Beach to Atlanta. I was Packed and ready to go. But Delta had lots of mistakes on the flight to Amsterdam. We took off 4 hours late. We arrived 2 and 1/2 hours late. I missed my flight to Berlin. KLM helped by rescheduling me Business class on the next flight and gave me us of their  premium Lounge. I arrived in Berlin exhausted and 5 hours late. I stayed up till about midnight assembling my bicycle and organizing clothes etc. I did walk around some to get the "lay of the land". The picture on the left is of the bombed (in WWII) Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirsche. It is just around the corner from my hotel.


WEDNESDAY, July 8.
Te started well with a good breakfast. Finding the start of the wall at The Potsdamer Platz went well. I took a lot of good pictures (take my word). The wall was easy to follow as the Germanys have laid blocks in the street to mark the position.

 The picture on the right is of the block that show the location of the outer wall next to the former West Berlin. The East Berlin side a number of fortifications and included additional barbed wire fences, a dog path and an auto path for guards. It also had lights and tripwire flood lights.

I went by Checkpoint Charlie, got a picture. Too many tourist at tat location.  Everybody taking pictures. There were bus loads of tourists from many different countries.

This is a picture of the longest remaining piece of the wall. It is next to the Spree River. It was bout a kilometer long (2/3 mile).

When I got further south I had an accident. My chain came apart (broke). I tried to find the parts but could not. I asked a Germany about a bicycle shop and he directed me. After and hour or more of a delay I was back on the road with a fixed chain. That caused me to shorten todays ride. I only rode 55 km. Tomorrow I will move to the western section of the wall. I learned that only 43 km of the 158 km of the wall divided East Berlin from West Berlin. The other 115 km was outside Berlin between the border with East Germany.

Today was a very educational ride.  I talked with a lot of people.

 I had a snack for dinner at the KaDeWe department store two blocks from my hotel. It is the largest department store in Europe. The food areas on floors seven and eight are amazing. The name is short for Kaufhaus des Westerns. It has a long history in Berlin.