Berlin/Vienna (May, 1996)
Mike Fagan and I drove around Europe for a week to hit some
European hot-spots I had managed to miss before. In particular
Berlin and Vienna.
Berlin
Berlin is a mess. Most of the central part of the city is undergoing
construction as Germany throws money at the problem of re-unifying
the divided city. Oddly enough, the West German side needs the most
work it seems - the East German side was never built up much after the war:
The Riechstag is undergoing complete renovation in preparation for
the unified German government's relocation. And you can see next to the
Brandenburg Gate signs of more construction:
Checkpoint Charlie has been completely torn down and is being developed
into a corner full of new offices and shops:
Most of the Berlin Wall has been torn down. It used to run on 'our' side
of the Brandenburg Gate but as you can see that it's completely gone.
But as we drove out of Berlin along a south-east road, we managed to come
upon a section of wall still standing:
Vienna
In Vienna, we stayed at an incredibly cheap pension in the very center
of the old part of town, inside the inner ring. We're surrounded by
shops, restaurants, coffe shops, etc:
Just outside of town lies the Shoenbrunnen Palace, home of the Emperors and
Empresses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Out back they've got a little
gazebo, known as the Gloriette, the "tiara" of their palatial estate:
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