ARRIVING IN GERMANY

And so we finally arrived in Germany. After a brief overnight stay in Cologne where we visited the closest 02 store to get German SIM cards for our phones, and a further overnight stay with friends in the quiet little village of Billinghausen, where much beer was consumed, we headed for our new home town Berlin.

We stopped briefly at a motorway service area at Marienborn. Until 1990, this area was the border checkpoint between the former capitalist West Germany, and the soviet-backed communist East Germany (German Democratic Republic, or GDR).

My recollections of this spot going back to 1977 were of a heavily guarded strip completed with machine-gun equipped watchtowers, patrolling armed guards, and comprehensive floodlighting. Although getting into the GDR was possible with the correct visas (obtained months before), getting back out was a different story. Travel to the west was virtually impossible for residents of the GDR, and the authorities acted and behaved as if every westerner who had been visiting the east would be attempting to smuggle someone out. It was just like a huge prison.

I had gone there in 1977 visiting family, as the town of my mother's birth, Freiberg, lay within the GDR (although when she was born, before World War 2, it was still one country, having only been divided at the end of the war).

Seeing Marienborn again brought back the memories of my car being thoroughly searched back in 1977, even to the degree of the rear seat cushion being removed. Everything from the boot had to be placed on fold up tables adjacent to the car lane. I believe that people who had never experienced the novelty of an East-West Germany border search could ever realise the gulf that separated the two countries.

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the two countries re-unified in 1990, and the former border crossing points became obsolete. As Marienborn was the main road crossing point, it has been partially preserved as a museum of the cold war years.

The monument on the left marks the position of the 1945-1990 divison of West and East Germany

Remnants of the Soviet-backed communist regime of the former East Germany. A watchtower and a system of floodlighting which cast no shadows

Long distance hauliers now park on the former no-go area of the border


The checkpoint for vehicles passing from the east to the west


A collection of guns in the former checkpoint area

A typical 'interview' room at the checkpoint, bearing a photograph of the East German leader Eric Hoeneker

A piece of East Germany technology - a Praktica camera. My first ever SLR camera as a boy growing up in London was a Praktica Nova 1. It's main attraction was the price, as they were about half the price of a Japanese camera. It was this experience that taught me the adage of "You get what you pay for"

Another view of the checkpoint

An inspection pit, used by East German border police to ensure no-one was hiding underneath the vehicle

For more cursory inspections, the mirror on wheels was used to check the underside of vehicles

An East German-made MZ motorcycle. MZ is actually one of the oldest continuous motorcycle manufacturers in the world, starting in 1922 and continuing through WW2 and the Soviet days. Following the German reunification, a Malaysian syndicate took over production. However, when state subsidies stopped, the plant was no longer competitive, and all production will cease at the end of 2008

Karen, Chloe and Chanelle wander through the Marienborn checkpoint area where a mere 20 years ago, they would have been 'detained' by the East German border police.

From Marienborn to Berlin was a brisk 1 hour 45 minute drive, and we arrived at our home for the next week, the Ibis Hotel. This was our base whilst we scoured Berlin searching for a suitable apartment to rent for the next few months. So our holiday essentially was at an end, and within a few weeks Karen would be starting work, Chanelle enrolling at school and Chloe looking for a job!

I found it somewhat ironic that adjacent to the Ibis was a bus shelter with a large advertisement displaying "Route 66 Cigarettes" (tobacco advertising hasn't yet been banned in Germany). Route 66 had been such a major part of our journey from the Gold Coast to Berlin. The ad says "join the ride" but ours had just finished.

Each day we packed the girls off on the U-Bahn, the Berlin underground railway system and told them to 'find Berlin' (they never actually asked where it was last seen), whilst Karen and I visited various estate agents looking for rental properties. As we wanted something close to the city centre, we soon got a handle on the good areas, and the not-so-good areas.

We looked at about 12 apartments, most in older buildings with no elevators, and interestingly most of the available apartments were located on the 4th or 5th floors! Finally, we settled on a ground floor apartment in Joachim-Friedrich Strasse, in leafy Wilmersdorf, adjacent to Charlottenberg, and only one block from the Kurfurstendamm, Berlin's main shopping and eating street. It was also handy for both Karen's work and Chanelle's school, so it was an ideal situation. Located directly across the road from our bedroom window is "Zur Wasserpfeife" (The Waterpipe), a small pub owned by a Tunisian guy who has lived most of his life in Berlin, and speaks fluent Arabic, French, German and English. Yes - it was ideal!

ACROSS THE CHANNEL TO FRANCE

and so we hot-tailed it to Dover, where we would take the cross-channel ferry for the mammoth 90 minute journey across the English Channel. I shouldn't really mock it, as it stopped the Hitler juggernaut in its tracks during World War 2. However, he did have the RAF to contend with, whereas the most we had was a flock of seagulls who insisted on following the ship all the way to Calais.

The Renault waits patiently in the queue for the ferry at Dover Harbour, for it's emotional return to the country of it's birth

And off we go, aboard P&O leaving the French boat stalled at the grid


The French get away, but we're already about three minutes in front


The cross-channel ferries are retired cruise ships which have been modified to take vehicles. This wide deck has obviously seen better days


Karen bids farewell to that famous English Icon, the White Cliffs of Dover


and in just over an hour we motor into Calais

Happy to back in continental Europe (as opposed to Political Europe)

A sister ship of the one we were on, sets course for Dover on the return trip

On arrival at Calais, we drove north along the coastline to our planned overnight stop at the port of Dunkirk, scene of the famous evacuation in May-June 1940. My father had been one of those evacuated by the fleet of the famous 'small boats' which rescued 330,000 soldiers under the onslaught of the German air force (Luftwaffe).

As a mark of respect to Dad, we called in briefly at the war memorial cemetary to pay tribute to his fallen mates

The cemetary is beautifully maintained by the Commonwealth Graves Commission

A sad reminder that many fallen soldiers were never identified

and so, after a quiet night in Dunkirk, and our first experience of a French pizza, the next morning we set off to travel through France and Belgium, and were heading for Germany

STRATFORD-ON-AVON

Stratford-On-Avon lies only about 20 miles from Birmingham, but we had to make a detour to get rid of Chloe. Well, she had organised to spend a few days with a friend of hers near Windsor, so it was just the three of us who went to explore 'Shakespeare Country'

Stratford is a very delightful town. The lady at the Tourist Info Centre told me the population is just over 20,000 but some 3,000,000 people visit every year to pay homage to a guy who we actually know very little about. Much of Shakespeare's life and times are based (mainly) on well-researched 'assumptions'.

Billy Shakespeare, or "The Bard" to his close friends, was born here, it is assumed, on 23 April 1564, which is quite convenient as it is St George's Day (the patron Saint of England). There is no record of his birth, although his baptism record shows 26 April 1564, so historians are more than happy to nail him down to St George's Day. We don't even know what he really looked like, as the few paintings that are believed to be of him differ quite considerably.

For trivia buffs, a 'bard' is a medievel term given to a member of a group of poets and scholars. Billy, naturally, is THE Bard, pretty much in the same way Don Bradman is THE batsman (sorry, terrible analogy).

It is known at 18 he married one Anne Hathaway (a lady some eight years his senior), it is believed, because he didn't use, should we say, protective measures whilst getting to know Ms Hathaway. Virtually nothing is known of the marriage, except that he wasn't there much as he spent most of his time in London, staging his plays. A clue as to his passion for Anne is found in his will, where he left her the marital bed. Considering when Bill passed on to that great playhouse in the sky, he had considerable wealth as well as a very healthy property portfolio, both in London and Stratford, leaving his beloved Anne a bed may provide an indicator of his feelings.

There are also several groups of historians who believe that Shakespeare did not actually write any of the plays he took the credit for. One of the more frequent names bandied around is that of Sir Francis Bacon (the Baconian Theory), who was a poet alive during the time of Shakespeare. Apparently, the 'Shakespeare Camp' say there has never been any evidence produced to substantiate this claim. More recent claims that British politician and author Jeffrey Archer is responsible for Shakespeare's work have been dismissed, mainly on account of the fact that he was born over 400 years after Shakespeare's plays had been performed in London.

However, Bill's legacy has left Stratford with a rich abundance of history and beautifully preserved buildings, and many establishments (in the absence of any contrary proof) claiming solid links to Shakespeare (although Woolworth's claim that he often used his American Express card in the store is, I believe, skating on thin ice). So without further ado, let's take a look.....

The River Avon flows gently through Stratford

We quickly established 'The Lamplighter' as a worthwhile venue for dinner, providing two meals for £4.95, a pretty good deal for England, let alone in a high-tourist area. Unfortunately it meant Chanelle didn't eat, although we did feed her a few chips through the window

Anne Hathaway's Cottage, one of five 'Shakespeare Homes' in Stratford, even though he never lived here. It was actually her parent's house


Hall's Croft, another Shakespeare Home, was where his daughter Susanna lived with her husband, John Croft

The gardens of New Place (the house no longer exists), which it was assumed was Shakespeare's final home before his death in 1616




The flagship of the Shakespeare Homes, Shakespeare's House, which was where his mother and father were living at the time of Bill's birth, and probably where he spent his formative years


Throughout the day, local actors give impromptu performances in the garden of Shakespeare's House, of acts from The Bards plays. Here is a scene from "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"


The back of Shakespeare's House



Karen and Chanelle have an ice cream outside a shop selling German Christmas decorations (well, there must be a market for them!). The reflection in the shop window is of Shakespeare's House


Many of Stratford's buildings date back to the 1500 and 1600's, although the businesses contained within may be a little more recent. For example, The Hathaway Tea Rooms were not necessarily frequented by Anne.

Although it must be said the tearooms were very cosy, inviting and amazingly reasonable in price

The Shakespeare Hostelrie seems to think that Shakespeare "would have" drunk at this establishment


The Garrick Inn, named after the actor David Garrick as indicated on the wall plaque

A very old part of the King Edward VI Grammar School, commonly referred to as 'Shakespeare's School' although there is no documented evidence of this, as a fire many years ago destroyed any relevant documents. However, as the only school in the area which taught Latin, and with Shakespeare's command of that language, this is probably a safe bet

This pub didn't claim to have any affiliation with Shakespeare, but it did sell beer, and that was good enough for me

We stayed near Alcester, about 20 mins out of Stratford, and this was our local

And so concluded our three days in Stratford. Before leaving I must pay thanks to the multitude of leaflets I picked up at the tourist info office, and also to Bill Bryson for his bestselling book 'Shakespeare' from which I gathered the valuable information passed on to you in this blog, and without which I would not have known that 'The Merchant Of Venice' contains 26,885 words, which is of course, 5108 more than 'Macbeth'. What isn't so well known is that Macbeth has 227 question marks against 211 for Merchant. This leads me to suspect that there were more inquisitive people in Scotland than in Italy. I digress. The UK leg of our trip was drawing to a close and we had to make a dash for the south coast to get a ferry across the English Channel to France. I made a mental note to go via London to pick up Chloe......

BIRMINGHAM

On the way south towards Stratford-on-Avon, we decided to break our journey and we stayed overnight in Birmingham.

There's nothing too much to report about Birmingham except that I felt I had to share these remarkable pieces of architecture.

These two are of the Travelodge at Fort Dunlop, an area in Birmingham so named as it once hosted the head office and factory of Dunlop Rubber in the UK. (The older style building attached to the Travelodge). Apparently, way back in the 1920's it employed over 10,000 people. It has stood empty for nearly 20 years prior to being revitalised in 2007, and is now an offices/shops complex, with the Travelodge (with porthole windows in each room) stuck on the end.

These following pictures are of the Selfridge store (a famous UK department store in Oxford Street, London) in Birmingham, at the 'Bullring' shopping centre. This store was built in 1999, and apparently has won several major awards.

I really don't know what to say except that it's little wonder Prince Charles is so worried about the future of British architecture - and we know he can recognise great beauty.

Well, I promised a pic of the Renault complete with its roof box and here it is:

Hmmmm.......not much else to pad this blog entry out with, so I guess it's on to Stratford.....

LIVERPOOL

Liverpool meant time for some serious shopping for the ladies. After the dearth of shopping centres in the Moors, Dales and Lakes, the girls let loose on the multitude of shopping arcades and malls which now make up much of the centre of Liverpool.

Trivia time !!!! Something which isn't too well known, is that Liverpool claims to have the second largest cathedral in the world. However, this claim is a little muddied for want of a better word. Many people would assume the largest to be St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. However, the largest apparently is New York's Cathedral of St John the Devine, as St Peter's strictly is a church not a cathedral. (Perhaps one of our readers who is a little more religiously-inclined than I am could explain the difference). What is known, however, is that Liverpool is the largest non-RC cathedral in Europe (the World title going to the aforementioned St John the Devine). Whatever the claims and counter-claims it's BIG.

What is further interesting is that the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1904, and yet the cathedral was not completed until 1978. So not only did it see off Eddie 07 (or Ed Sev as his campaign team called him), but three other monarchs came and went before the last dollop of grout signalled completion. (Not even Masterton Homes can come anywhere near this).

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

This really interesting trivia was designed as an introduction to, what has been for many years, my favourite English city. Liverpool has something which London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham and the rest do not have, and which can only be described as 'soul' (and with the exception of Manchester, a world-class football team)

Every visit I've had here has been great fun. Sure, Liverpool's economy these days relies heavily on those four young guys back in the early 1960's who set the world on fire, and whose timing was impeccable. Liverpool once was the gateway to the UK for much for much of its trade. At the beginning of the 19th century 40% of world trade passed through Liverpool. It was one of the leading cities of the industrial revolution, and its shipbuilding industry was second to none.

The decline of Liverpool coincided with the celebration of The Beatles and now the tourist industry has picked up the ball. It is estimated 600,000 visitors come to Liverpool every year because of The Beatles and spend in excess of £20,000,000. That's a lot of T-Shirts.

The place to begin the Magical Mystery Tour is of course Mathew Street, in the heart of Liverpool, and the home of the Cavern Club, where it all began

The original Cavern Club closed down in 1983, and was demolished in 1984 (arguably one of the worst development decisions of all time), to make way for a proposed underground railway line, which was never built. Industrious business people rebuilt the club to the same specifications, using most of the original bricks, and occupying about 75% of the original area. Unfortunately, although it's a 'must see' on any Liverpool visit, the fact remains it is not where The Beatles played

The present-day entrance to the Cavern Club in Mathew Street. The original entrance just a few metres down the street is now occupied by a shop

The rebuilt interior of the Cavern Club

The 'Cavern Walks' shopping centre, some of which is built on the site of the original Cavern. In the area behind the stairs it is said was the original stage

Statues of The Beatles in the Cavern Walks

The Grapes pub, across the lane from The Cavern, which is where The Beatles used to drink when performing at The Cavern, as the latter establishment did not have a liquor licence. We had one great night in this place, where Karen sang karaoke, and Chloe experimented with 'binge-drinking' English Bitter. After initial caution, the girls actually really enjoyed drinking with 'all the old people', most of whom were well over 25 !

A sign outside The Grapes, staking its claim to fame

Directly opposite The Cavern Club is now the commercially inspired "Cavern Pub" which never existed in The Beatles' heydey. The sculpture of John Lennon is taken from a early photograph from The Beatles' days in Hamburg, Germany.


Liverpool artist Arthur Dooley's 1974 tribute to the "Four Lads Who Shook The World"

Pioneer British rocker Tommy Steel's 1982 statue of Eleanor Rigby "Dedicated to all the Lonely People"

Strawberry Fields, the inspiration behind John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever", was a Salvation Army children's home in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. The gates of Strawberry Fields appeared in the video clip of the song. Lennon lived nearby and as a boy often played in the wooded area behind the home and would attend the annual fete here. It is said that Lennon could hear the Salvation Army band playing here from his own home at nearby Menlove Avenue, and this was his inspiration from a very young age to listen to music. The home closed in 2005, but the famous gates have been retained.

The headstone bearing the inscription "Eleanor Rigby" in the churchyard of St. Peter's Parish Church, Woolton. As a young boy, Paul McCartney would ride his bike through the churchyard, and it is said the unusual name was his inspiration for the song of the same name.



A barber's shop........

......a bank......

.....a shelter in the middle of the roundabout.....



....of course, it is Penny Lane.

When Paul McCartney wrote "Penny Lane" in 1967, the "barber showing photographs" was Roger Bioletti, although Tony Slavin has owned the shop for many years. There is also a fire station, although the song takes poetic licence, as it is not actually in Penny Lane, but a mile or so further along Allerton Road. The bus shelter was converted into the "Sergeant Pepper Bistro" some years back, although this has now closed down.

The "Penny Lane" street signs for many years were painted on to the walls, as they were continually stolen by souvenir hunters. Recently Liverpool Council installed a "tamper proof" sign at the Sefton Park end of Penny Lane. It was stolen the first night.

And so to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, or Philharmonic Pub, or locally, known as "The Phil". This has to be one of the most ornate pubs in the UK, if not the world. Built in 1898, and reputedly using out of work interior ship tradesmen, The Philharmonic is a blend of dark wood-panelled walls with copper reliefs, Art Deco lighting and mosaic floor and bar.

The Philharmonic was a favourite watering hole of John Lennon during his student days. He once quoted the price of fame as "not being able to go to the Phil for a drink"



The Philharmonic has two intimate drinking rooms for getting away from the busy pub crowd in the main bar, one is the 'Brahms' room.....


...and naturally the other is the Liszt



The front bar of The Phil showing the wood-panelling, columns, glass-work and ceiling

Another view of the front bar

The Gents toilets are almost as famous of The Phil itself, and once or twice a day special viewings are organised for women. Due to the angles and narrow aspect of the toilet, it was very difficult to get a decent picture of the Gents loo, but the BBC have posted a very good panoramic viewer of the toilets which can be viewed at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/panoramas/philharmonic_pub_toilets_360.shtml

It's worth a look!!

Other than The Beatles, Liverpool produced many other groups and singers who became famous in the early 60's. One was Gerry Marsden, of Gerry & The Pacemakers fame. One of his hits was 'Ferry 'Cross The Mersey'. I didn't mind this song, but when you actually travel on the ferry (now a tourist attraction, rather than a commuter facility), and hear the song as you are embarking, as you are disembarking, and for most of the time in between, and it's one of those songs that then becomes stuck in your head for the next three weeks, you can generate a certain dislike for it.

The Ferry 'Cross The Mersey, viewed from the Birkenhead side of the Mersey River, showing the Liverpool waterfront, now a World-Heritage listed site. the building with the clock tower at the front end of the ferry, is the Royal Liver Building, one of Liverpool's famous landmarks.

and so after four action-packed days in Liverpool, it is time to head south to the peace and tranquility of Stratford-on-Avon to discover the birthplace of William Shakespeare.