MUNICH--MUCH MORE THAN THE HOFBRAUHAUS

 MUNICH

HISTORICAL AND INTERESTING BAVARIAN CITY

Munich is the capitol of Bavaria and the third largest city in Germany. It has many architectural features and historical places and is quite compact  if you focus on the old town.

ALOFT MUNCHEN is conveniently located to the historic center.

Walk to the Marienplatz,Neves Rathas, Peterskitsch, Fraunkirsch and Feldhernhalle.

Do not overlook the Hofbrauhaus

WALKING THE BERLIN WALL-A SAD REMINDER OF THE PAST

THE BERLIN WALL

A TRAGIC HISTORY REMEMBERED

Try the following hotel which was just neatby and very good

Berlin Marriott Hotel

The wall was commenced on 13 August 1961 and remained in place until 22 October , 1990. It issentiall divided Berlin. The wall cut off West Berlin, from surrounding East GermanyThe Eastern Bloc portrayed the wall as protecting its people from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the people from becoming a socialist state. Over one hundrd thousand attempted to escape and some five thousand succeeded  althugh hundreds were killed in the process.

Even today  not far from the wall there are the remains of old Ruissian style buildings, so much in contrast to the clean modern Berlin on the orther side. This part of Berlin was far more intersting than expected and worthy of a visit if for no other reason to refresh history  and to understand the futility of what the wall was designed to do.

Check-point Charlie. A McDonald's Restaurant sits alongside.

The Wall

A Memorial For Slaughtered Jews

A Moveable Beer Hall at the Brandenburg Gate

 

Where The Wall Stood

A Remaining Russian Building on the Eastern Side

Brandenburg Gate

Check Point Charlie-A Reminder Of The Cold War

Check Point Charlie named by Allies was the major crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.It is now a major tourist attraction with a McDonalds Restaurant adjacent and people dressed up as US and Russian soldiers who take money for a photo probably unaware that in 1961 Allied and Russian soldiers faced each other at this crossing.

If in Berlin you need to visit this historic place. 

For accommodation options in Berlin please use this link.

Tale Of A Three Wheeled Rimowa

The Three Wheeled Rimowa And No One Who Cared

A three legged dog walked into the bar and said, "I am looking for the man who shot my paw."

Just as dogs and horses were designed with four legs Rimowa designed their luggage with four wheels. This is a tale with a happy ending although it took four and a half weeks to fix. It would be fair to say that if you vigorously tried to rip off one wheel of a Rimowa ,using various tools and appliances it would not be that easy and almost impossible for a mere human. Not so for the gorilla's they have handling baggage at Finnair and a few days into a five week trip Finnair did it with rare skill. Off came the wheel literally ripped from the suitcase by someone super human. or perhaps hell bent on destroying Rimowa luggage and travellers lives.

It was in Munich Airport on arrival that the three wheeled monster misbehaved and immediately the Finnair Agent was advised, action was taken to help the unhappy traveller to resolve the issue and things looked good.; oh how misguided that view was. As Munich was in Germany the home of Rimowa resolution seemed possible but alas not so. Finnair sent an email apology and  was then missing in action and never heard of until an automatically generated email survey was sent four weeks after the event seeking whether I had resolved the problem or made a claim and hoping I was now a happy camper or had disappeared over a cliff never to be heard of again. Their German agent tried hard but it would take two weeks to fix the thing but the advice was good--'Have it fixed and send your receipts to Finnair." No one really cared and least of all Finnair who finally was let off without any repercussions for their rough handling of my luggage and inadequate assistance after the event. Even the poor reviews on Tripadvisor (R)  achieved not even some recognition of what they had done. Sadly no one cared.

So the three wheeled Rimowa accompanied me throughout Europe with no chance of resolution and frankly no one, least of all Finnair taking any interest in my predicament. Until the final leg of the journey in Tokyo (Narita) where Rimowa has a service operation. Anticipating the Japanese with a willingness to assist this old "gaijin' my broken Rimowa was left, my goods and belongings in another bag and two days later on departure the suitcase appeared with a new wheel. 'No charge as it is under warranty' they said with a smile and proud they could help. "But what about Finnair," I said to myself , "How do they pay for what they did?" The answer is simple I surmised, travel without luggage that might break or don't fly with airlines like Finnair who don't care because they are never made to account for what they do. No one heard and no one answered but thank you Rimowa Japan for your service.

As an after thought this was not the first Rimowa that has lost a wheel. American Airlines had the same gorilla's, which is probably disrespectful to gorilla's and some others have fractured various parts so maybe the Rimowa service in Tokyo is correcting a problem that is inherent with Rimowa.