Our first day back in Germany isn't actually in Berlin. We're about an hour away at Europe's largest indoor waterpark. The boys had heard about the building watching a 90s episode of scrapheap challenge where it was going to be used to build the world's biggest airship but the company went bust and they turned it into a water park.
We're all looking forward to a semi relaxed day and the weather is rather temperamental at the moment so being indoors suits us. Luckily it wasn't at full capacity as I thought I had booked tickets but couldn't find any credit card charges or emails so we just paid on the gate.
We ended up spending 7hrs there and it was fun but actually both kids agreed the smaller (and much cheaper) water park was better. It was very busy and a lot of the size was taken up with a rainforest, lots of restaurants and other activities trying to fleece you for even more money. The last ride we went on was a rapids ride and you had to be a minimum of 8 years old and a strong swimmer. We decided to chance it and as we got to the front of the queue the attendant of course asked how old Liliya was. She very confidently said 8, he didn't look convinced so made her get into the start of the pool before you go through the gates and said she had to prove she could swim. Fair play to her she did exactly that and we were all let through. To be fair it was nothing worse than we've all done at butlins but they don't have the strict rules and let kids use armbands.
We let the kids have a go each at trying to win a stupidly oversized teddy maybe it was a blessing in disguise neither them or Al won.
It's a short drive to Berlin tomorrow and we can't check in to the campsite until 11am which means we don't have much night travelling and the kids can get an earlier night for once. As they've done so well with practically no screen time for two weeks we find a petrol station to grab some sweets (no shops open Sundays in Germany) and after food they finish off the movie they started watching on the boat from Finland to Estonia.
Our first day in Berlin and first we have to check in to our campsite, not really sure you can call it that, more a lock up in the centre of Berlin. It feels like a ghetto, graffiti covers the outer walls along with broken windows of run down buildings but it's the only place you can bring a motorhome as the other 50ish people who are also here know.
Today we're heading to the zoo and after an expensive but easy tube ride the first thing we see are the majestic elephants really up close. It's a really well laid out zoo with a large variety of animals. The kids really enjoy petting the baby goats, my favourite has to be the pandas, Robert got to see his favourite animal the chameleon plus there were hundreds of birds, fish and reptiles. Other highlights for us all included the sea lions, monkeys and lions.
We spent over six hours there and we could tell the kids really needed another early night so rather than try any speciality German food the nearest place was an Italian, thankfully with very quick service so after eating it was straight back to our lockup (which is actually bolted shut and you need a key to get through the person only gates).
Our final day in Berlin and we're off to explore the city. So far I haven't got good vibes from the place and the grey weather as we set off probably isn't helping. Our first stop is to Brandenburg Gate. Several historical events have taken place here, during the cold war it was located in no man's land, and it was the location the celebrations happened after the wall came down.
Next on our list was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. There are 2,711 concrete slabs / pillars of varying heights arranged in rows to create an abstract and disorienting landscape designed to inspire reflection and contemplation.
After that it was over to Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous border crossing between West and East Berlin.
There was an interesting and moving open air exhibit with photos and stories from escape attempts including that of Peter Fechter.
At just 18 years old he and a colleague wanted to escape. Peter didn't make it, he was shot and left to bleed to death as the westerners watched unable to help. His death became a symbol of the brutality of the Berlin Wall where over 140 known deaths are now remembered.
It was then time to visit the Jewish museum, luckily I had prebooked tickets as the queue was really long. The museum is one of Europe’s most significant museums dedicated to Jewish history, culture, and the Holocaust. It was designed not just a museum but there is meaning behind is intentionally unsettling with narrow hallways, slanted floors, voids, and sharp angles. They were designed to evoke feelings of disorientation and loss and the number of times we found ourselves lost it certainly managed that.
The museum covers 2,000 years of Jewish life in Germany with personal stories and possessions, artworks, and exhibits about the religion where the children learnt how to spell their names in Hebrew. It was interesting and thought provoking without being too focused on the atrocities of the Holocaust which I think would have been too much for the kids (and probably me).
I also booked us tickets to the ANOHA Children’s World, a separate museum space inspired by Noah’s Ark and designed for kids up to 10. I wasn't sure what to expect from it but the kids had a great time, they got to build a boat and test if it floated.
The soft play type space had slides and climbing areas along with a ball pit to burn off steam, not that they have much extra with it being day 18. I think the late nights and 1000s of steps are catching up with all of us.
There was just one final thing we wanted to see whilst here and that was the longest remaining section of the Berlin wall. We did take a quick detour to go to a popular food market where the kids got some fancy ice cream of course.
Known as the East Side Gallery, a 1.3km section of the wall is now a permanent open-air gallery consisting of a series of painted murals. There were originally 118 from 1990 however all but 5 were repainted in 2009 due to vandalism and naturally degrading.
We now had a decision to make, we get locked in our campsite at 7pm and can't leave until 8am so we stay and have a long 3hr drive to our next stop or we need to be out before then and go half way. There were a couple of other museums we may have done had the kids had more energy but we could tell they both needed an early night so we opted to leave tonight. I'm glad we visited Berlin and the things we saw were good however as for the city itself I really didn't like it and it's up there along with Belgrade for most depressing capital city we've been to on our trips. Whatever the opposite to 'the icing on the cake' to leave a sour taste was being pulled over by the police about 10 minutes into leaving. The police car pulled in front of us on the motorway and turned on a rear window sign saying follow me in both English and German. We had no idea what they wanted but at the first possible exit they turned off and as instructed we followed them. As one officer asked for Al's ID and car registration documents the other got out a tape measure and began taking several measurements. The one looking at our documents then told us we had gone in a lane that we were too wide for, by 10cms! We now had to pay a fine of €40 and that had we been over 3.5 tons that would have increased to €525! The measuring guy looked really angry and disappointed like he was hoping we'd have been too heavy and that was the real reason they had stopped us. We just apologised for not seeing the sign then went on our way. I can't see us returning here any time soon if ever!
At least our stop for the night looks pleasant, we're in a car park next to some sort of castle with a playground next door.
Liliya has already fallen asleep on the drive and as we wake her up to move her to bed she starts to wake. We ask her if she wants to stay up for food or go to bed. This one doesn't like missing out on meals but she decides to lay down whilst the cooking is happening and doesn't wake up to eat so she must really have been tired. Robert is tired too but still keen to go to the playground. He's straight up and comes down the fireman's pole only to fall slightly and bash his knee.
He's in too much pain to walk so I give him a piggy back to the moho and he too is straight to sleep after food. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day all round.