| Author | Message | ||
     Pilot |
MORE MORE BRAVO ENCORE ENCORE. I have got to visit this place called Berlin. | ||
| Rasta_dog |
Wow, that is quite a collection of photos. Thanks for sharing your trip. | ||
| Sleez |
thanks, very great pics!! | ||
| No_rice |
i think i could spend days there....! | ||
| S2pengy |
Brankin You really need to go to Barber's.... Vintage Days are 10/19-21 | ||
| Jlnance |
Great pictures Brankin! | ||
| 1313 |
MORE MORE Sorry to keep you waiting, but there is still PLENTY more to see of my trip. Thanks for sharing your trip. What I've posted already only covers up until Saturday morning. The trip lasted until the following Monday, and the most interesting Buell content hasn't even been posted yet. So get ready for Part 2... 1313 | ||
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Okay, after spending quite a bit of the morning at MeilenWerk, it was now time to show my American colleague some of the sights of Berlin. En route to Brandenburg Gate, we went by Victory Tower (better pics this time).  And zoomed in to show more detail.  Down the street from Victory Tower you can see Brandenburg Gate straight ahead and the TV Tower just to the left of it.  1313 | ||
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Here's the same picture zoomed in a little for more detail.  As we were making our way (on foot) to Brandenburg Gate I noticed these 2 Trabants - the one in front pretty much stock, while the one in the rear was considerably modified.  Here's the first time I actually saw the front side of Brandenburg Gate.  A littel more detail of the sculpture on top of Brandenburg Gate.  1313 | ||
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Just around the corner from Brandenburg Gate was something artistic that was new since my previous trips to Berlin.   Thanks to the help of a souvenir postcard I found out that this is the Holocaust Memorial. Too bad the buildings are in the background of the pics as they take away from the memorial. 1313 | ||
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The pictures may be somewhat deceiving, but the Holocaust Memorial is a very neat place to experience. Just imagine playing a game of hide and seek there. The columns are not all perfectly perpendicular to the ground, some get wider at the top, while some get narrower. Then throw in the variations in height and then add the fact that the ground is not flat (think about a series of 'whoopty-do's' and it is quite interesting to walk through the memorial. Hopefully these shots capture it all:    1313 | ||
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After the Holocaust Memorial we set off on foot again. In the past all of the taxi's in Berlin were Mercedes Benz and, even though they are still the most predominant car in use as a taxi in Berlin, sometimes you will see an unusual car being used as a taxi. All taxi's are painted the same shade of yellow/tan/blah.  Interestingly enough, the British Embassy (with some very cool architecture) was only a few blocks up and over from where we saw the London (or would that be Berlin?) taxi.  1313 | ||
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Just down the street was the Bentley dealership.    1313 | ||
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Which also shared space with the Bugatti dealership.  With the highlight being a Bugatti Veyron.   Usually seeing a million dollar plus as exotic as the Bugatti Veyron would be an exciting experience. But with all that we saw at MeilenWerk earlier we looked at the Bugatti Veyron and exclaimed 'so what?'. 1313 | ||
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Leaving the Bugatti dealership and headed towards someplace to eat lunch (the Calzone would've been just fine with ham and mushrooms, but putting eggs on/in it just didn't do it for me...) I spied this interesting bicycle.  After a little more walking and sightseeing it was time to head back to the hotel. Since I haven't mentioned it yet, the rental car was a silver Opel Astra.   When I picked the rental car up I saw the license plate number FL AT 9844 (FL meaning it was registered in Flensburg - where the great Flensburger beer is from), I was hoping that the first 4 characters 'FL AT' would not be an omen. Thankfully I did not experience any flat tires on my trip. 1313 | ||
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Just down the street from the hotel was this interesting 'building'.   In a country where real estate is a prime commodity it seemed odd taking up this space with essentially nothing there. To make it even more odd, in the second pic you can see the ramp that went down to underground parking. 1313 | ||
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My original plans for Saturday night vaporized, so I had to improvise. Based on the hangover I had Sunday (afternoon) I improvised pretty well. Well, when I got back to the hotel Saturday night (Sunday morning?) the sun was just coming up. The other American colleague and I decided to catch a late lunch and then he would set off on his own. Before we went back to the hotel I had a brainfart! To this point, I had been unable to find Mountain Dew anywhere during this trip. My brainfart was thinking that in the states, the Subway restaurants carry Mountain Dew, and even if it is just a fountain Mountain Dew it would help me to kill my hangover. We buzzed over to a Subway restaurant and as I walked in the door I looked at the drink cooler and lo and behold there was Mountain Dew! But the 1/2 liter bottles carried a pretty hefty price tag of 2.20 Euro with deposit. Content with finding a source for my Mountain Dew fix I bought 4 bottles. After my first 2 sips, amazingly I started to feel a lot closer to normal. You should have seen the looks when I went back for 8 more bottles later in the week... That's right - over $20 for 8 - 1/2 liter bottles of Mountain Dew. I think the local grocery store here in the US sells a 12 pack of 1/2 liter Mountain Dew for about $5.00. I'd have been in trouble if I drank as much Mountain Dew as I drink beer... Interestingly in Germany beer is cheaper than water! Beer is cheaper than any other drink on the menu anywhere you go, cheaper than Coca-Cola, cheaper than Fanta and cheaper than water! After parting ways with the other American colleague, to enjoy my newfound 'normality' I decided to take a ride in the rental car. Since Sundays are pretty quiet days in Germany there wasn't too much to see, but I did see some things to remind me of being back in the US.   1313 | ||
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After a pretty uneventful Sunday drive in Berlin I headed back to the hotel. I don't know what the purpose of this archway is, but it worked pretty well as a landmark.  Here's the 'better lit' side.  On the corner by the archway is a police station, with this interesting piece of artwork outside of it.  1313 | ||
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On Monday night one of the Berlin colleagues that I had worked closely with during my 1st couple of years had arranged to host a party at his place with all the motorradfahrer's (motorcycle riders) from work in Berlin that I had befriended. He had just gotten rid of his Moto Guzzi to get a classic style Harley.  Shovelhead:  How many H-D speedo's have you seen that read in Kilometers?  It was great seeing (and eating and drinking with) everyone that I grew to know so many years before. The people in attendance ride everything from BMW's to a KTM to a custom Harley to some pretty nice Sportsters. Amazingly, of the bikes present, my heart has a soft spot for this BMW R 80 G/S (with 1000 cc cylinders...).  I rode this BMW (back when it was all blue) on a motorcycle trip that my German boss 'forced' me to go on during one of my first trips to Berlin. Not only did I ride it on some great roads in the hilly/mountainous roads in the Thueringen region of Germany, but it was my first experience on the Autobahns. After doing between 160 and 180 km/hr (between 100 and 110 mph) for over an hour and a half, when I got back to Berlin I had such a buzz! 1313 | ||
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Here's something that I didn't quite realize was so special until a while after I took the pictures.    At first I just assumed it was a Magnum Wagon. It wasn't until I got home and was reviewing the pictures that I realized the front end was a little different than the Magnum Wagons in the US. A little research turned up the info that this is a 300C Tourer and it's only made for the German market. 1313 | ||
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My original plans for Saturday night (which had vaporized late Saturday afternoon) were re-scheduled for Tuesday night. The plan was to go to Last Cathedral a horror rock bar (that was closed every time I attempted to go there during my previous trips to Berlin) with a Berlin colleague who interned for our company in the US when he was in university. Finally I would experience Last Cathedral! On the way to meet up with the Berlin colleague I went by the bombed out church and got a different view angle of it in this pic.  After meeting up with the Berlin colleague we decided to get a bite to eat before going to Last Cathedral. Even though we didn't eat here, I thought the name of the place made it worthy of a picture.  During dinner I had mentioned that I wanted to find a good bottle of Absinthe during my time in Berlin. The Berlin colleague said 'There's an Absinthe bar just around the corner. Do you want to go there?'. Of course I did! And the Absinth Depot turned out to be more of an Absinthe store than a bar.  Look at the selection! I lost count (at over 70!!!) of the different brands of Absinthe they carry.   Not sure what kind of Absinthe you want? That's OK, because they willingly provided some sample shots to me in order to determine which kind I preferred!  After four samples I decided my favorite was the first that I had sampled and it was definitely time to head towards Last Cathedral. 1313 | ||
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Finally!!! It's time to experience Last Cathedral!!! With a total of over 5 years of anticipation I was not let down! Here's what it looks like from the outside.  A lot of places in the US save their first dollar. I'm not sure if this is the first customer of Last Cathedral, but it is a pretty interesting conversation piece to have out in front of your business.  I've always wanted to have a coffin table so I really dug this.  1313 | ||
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The further you got into the Last Cathedral, the more interesting it became. On the wall by the stares to go to the downstairs bar was made up to look like a mausoleum.  This booth was pretty cool...  But what I really dug about it was under the 'glass' floor...  1313 | ||
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Even the more 'normal' booths at the Last Cathedral had some pretty cool accommodations.  And the beertaps were pretty cool too!  1313 | ||
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On my way into work on my last working day of the trip I was finally able to get a picture of this artistic 'wall'.  And after work I followed another Berlin colleague on his custom H-D as he had someplace he wanted to take me...   1313 | ||
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This Berlin colleague took me to an independent bike shop in Berlin that specializes in customizing Harley's, H&D Doctor's.    1313 | ||
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In addition to seeing the first Sprintex supercharger I've personally seen on a V-Rod to some pretty interesting custom Harley's going together, this place had all the bases covered...   One of the employees even rides a Buell!  I'm about half the way through the pics that I feel are post-worthy, and the next group of pictures contain some really cool Buell stuff! This is where the trip turns into a road trip on the Autboahns and also turns into a truly 'gute Fahrt'! 1313 | ||
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For my road trip adventures I had: 1. A rental Opel Astra with the gas being covered. 2. Mapquest directions to and from the various destination points on my road trip. 3. Two 2.20 Euro 1/2 liter bottles of Mountain Dew. 4. A large foldout map of Germany. 5. This map showing the Autobahns and smaller highways (it's a little bit bigger than what the picture shows...).  My itinerary was set as the following: 1. Berlin to Buell Hannover. Friday a.m. 2. Buell Hannover to my buddy Frank's place in Kaufungen (near Kassel). Arrive in Kaufungen Friday noon-ish. 3. Kaufungen to the BORG (Buell Owner and Repair Group) MSM (Mid Summer Meet) in Haltern am See (near Muenster). Arrive in Haltern am See Friday late afternoon/early evening. 4. Haltern am See to Kaufungen. Leave Haltern am See mid-late morning. 5. Kaufungen to Glauchau (between Gera and Chemnitz) to see Marilyn Manson in concert. Arrive Glauchau in time to see Marilyn Manson at the Woodstage Festival. 6. Glauchau back to Berlin. Arrive Berlin in time to get a couple of hours of sleep before my flights home. This map shows a little more detail and shows every place I would go in the course of the next 72 hours or so.  Leg 1 was from Berlin to Buell Hannover.  1313 | ||
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Even before I made it out of Berlin, I got 'lost'. Not really lost, just reacquainted with an area I hadn't been back to on this trip. Well maybe it was motorbike karma that caused me to get 'lost', as it allowed me to get a couple of (poor) pictures of this motorcycle art sculpture.  Maybe you can find it easier in this zoomed in pic.  During the leg to Hannover I saw this unusual cargo on a trailer being towed by a truck.  Sorry for the crappy shot, but since I was cruising on the Autboahn (in an area that there was a speed limit...) I was paying more attention to driving than taking pictures. Almost looks like a 'body in white' Lamborghini or something with a similar influence. 1313 | ||
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Oops, I also had one other 'tool' in my arsenal. 6. This sheet telling what certain road signs meant.  More modern than me previous trips, they had these nice overhead electronic signs in some areas.  Zoomed in a little you can see what the sign is better.  No need to tell me what to do now!!! 1313 |
