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Part 2 - Cornelius and Berlin

How does one briefly explain “Cornelius”?
It really can’t be done. I “met” Cornelius Friedsam on the Internet. He is a regular on the AOL Germany Board and had answered a question I had asked regarding where our riverboat would be docked in Spandau. Thus started a back and forth correspondence between him and myself via e-mail. After some general “pleasantries” Cornelius offered to show us around Spandau and Berlin. In one letter he suggested that we drop our car off a week early and he would then drive us around Germany in his car. Our spirit of adventure ruled this out, but we did arrange our itinerary so we would at least arrive on Sunday rather than on Monday when we were to board the boat. (It turned out we actually arrived on Saturday.) Now we are not so naive as to just accept such an invitation from someone we had never met, only to end up with a ‘bonk’ on the head, minus our wallets and other belongings. I checked Cornelius Friedsam out. First off, Cornelius has the appearance of a smiling gentle giant. Second, he is a Buddhist Monk and no, he does not walk around wearing a saffron robe. Buddhist monks, he told us, stay at the monastery for a while and leave for a while. Sometimes for year. Sometimes for a month or two. One of his favorite places besides Germany is Thailand and is known around the Wats of Thailand as the “German Monk”. Since he is a monk, he cannot accept money for himself. Any money he collects, by showing people around Spandau and Berlin, he donates to the building of a dam in the Black Forest. Third, Corneilus loves to show off Berlin, especially to Americans. He speaks, among other languages, excellent English.

Now, to continue our travelogue. After talking to Cornelius on the phone from our Pension, he suggested that we drive to his house. After missing the street we should have taken, we managed to come back at it, and found his place. Ruth did not go up to his apartment with me. He lives on the 4th floor of one of those Russian designed buildings that were built all over Eastern Europe and there is no elevator.

I had told Cornelius that Ruth could not walk very far. However, to a German living in Berlin, that evidently means not over two miles before resting. “It’s only a five minute walk,” he said. We got to hear that phrase several times on the rest of our trip. First we walked over to Spandau’s shopping area and had “The best pizza around.” Let’s just say it was the first time we ever had crunchy crust pizza with ham and dandelion greens on top. Different, to say the least. From there we walked to the “Citadel,” an old fortress that has seen a lot of restoration. It was impressive. Then we walked to the Spandau Bier Garten. In the evenings the place is always crowded, but not that afternoon. After having a beer brewed right there at the Bier Garten, we walked back to Cornelius’ place. Ruth had had enough ‘5 minute walks.” We headed back to our Pension for the night. At the ‘round about’ we got cut off by an irate man with a loud horn and couldn’t take the road we wanted. We traveled off in the wrong direction. After driving through what seemed to be a national park, we finally found our way back. Good thing it was summer and the days were long.

Back at the Pension we asked where would be a good place to get a light meal. He told us just up the road a couple of blocks. It turned out the restaurant was having a private party of some kind, so we drove along a little farther. We ate at the Falken Grill - very interesting experience! There we met a man and his 12-year-old son. Neither could speak much English. By his actions I don’t think he would have any trouble with Russian. To make a long story short, he was just overjoyed with meeting an American. I must have gotten at least three Russian bear hugs and “You American, you American!” he kept repeating and he just had to buy me a beer. Ruth had given the boy a dime, as he wanted something from America. I slipped him a dollar bill. You might think we gave him a new car. He had to go around and show it to all his buddies. In return, he insisted giving Ruth a little stuffed dog that ran backwards when you pulled a little cord on it. Later we saw it had a tag that said “Mc Donalds”. I’m sure he had just gotten it, but he had to give us something. They were so thrilled with talking to us. I think all four of us will remember that encounter for a long time.

The next morning we drove back to Cornelius’ place and both of us climbed up to his apartment on the 4th floor. There I was able to check my e-mail on his computer. The German keyboard has a different configuration than ours, so it took a bit of ‘hunt and peck’ to write a short note to Paul. Cornelius had just baked some bread, so we each had a slice with butter, or I should say, we had some butter with a slice of bread. It was quite good. From Cornelius’ we drove and parked the car at the banhof station and took the train into Berlin. Then another “5 minute walk” to a restaurant across the street from where we were to take a 3-hour boat ride around Berlin. The food was good, but very slow service. With a little prodding for the check, we did get to the boat on time. The weather turned sunny and the boat ride was fabulous. What made it fabulous is that although the narration on the ship was in German, Cornelius pointed out the sights and told us everything in English.

Nearly all the historical buildings and sights can be seen from this boat tour. One of the projects Cornelius is working on is to produce a small brochure in English, that could be used on this tour. I’m convinced no one knows more about Berlin than he. After the boat tour we went to Potsdamer Platz - Sony Center Mall. We walked, but at one point we stopped and took an elevator up to the second floor at a very trendy cafe, the famous Kranzler, along the Ku’damm and had a cup of coffee. We also saw the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. The ruins of the old church have been left standing and a new one has been built right side of it.

Not very attractive from the outside, but inside, it’s beautiful! The whole interior is bathed in mostly blue light coming through thousands of small panes of stained glass. Over the altar is a huge ‘gold’ figure of Christ.

We took a different train back, and somewhere in Spandau, stopped for ice cream. That was our supper. That evening we found our way back to our pension without getting lost.

The next morning we again met Cornelius (didn’t walk up the four flights of stairs) and he led us to the airport to return our rental car, first checking to see if the boat was at the dock. It wasn’t. When we stopped to fill the gas tank up, he transferred our luggage into his car. Finding just where to take the car was a bit of a problem, even for Cornelius. He actually had to ask someone. Once we found the garage area, someone from Avis just took a quick look to see if there was any damage done to the car, and we were out of there. Since we had time before we needed to board the boat, Cornelius drove us around Berlin, to show us those spots we didn’t see before. When we stopped for lunch, we gave him our donation that we had promised, plus a bit more ‘for the gas he used to drive us around,’ but that too he donated to the Black Forest dam project.

Cornelius then drove us to the address Uniworld, our tour company, gave us to board the boat. Still no boat! It was now 3 p.m. we were supposed to board by 4. “Where could the boat be?” we asked. Cornelius assured us that’s where the boat was to dock according to the address we were given. He parked his car where it shouldn’t have been parked, gave us the keys and said, ”If the authorities come around to check just speak English and shrug. That should stall them while I make a phone call.” When he came back, he looked perplexed. Not a good sign. He even called a taxi cab driver friend and he didn’t know where the boat was docked. We found the number Uniworld gave us for the boat in case of an emergency, for someone needing to get in touch with us while we were on the boat, and gave that to Cornelius. Again he came back. No answer. “Maybe that’s a “handy” phone number,” he said, and off he went again. By this time we were in panic mode. No boat, no way to get in touch with us, no way of knowing where the boat might be, no one else on the cruise waiting around to board, no way of getting in touch with Judy at Falmouth Travel, just no way anyway. A little while later the smiling “German Monk” returned. He had contacted the boat and they told him how to find it. Relief!! He drove us around through some side streets, making one wrong turn, down another side street and there was the m.s. Victor Hugo.

(We later learned that the bus driver who picked up the others at the airport, who had their vouchers to the boat, got lost.) Cornelius could see I was about to ‘blow my stack,’ kept telling me, “Calm down, calm down. It’s not the fault of the crew. They have nothing to do with the problem. This is where they were told they had to dock. Wait until you get back and then tell Uniworld what happened. Uniworld definitely owes you some sort of refund, if only for the aggravation they caused.” We were mighty grateful for Cornelius and somehow the dam in the Black Forest will receive another contribution.

Part 3 - The riverboat cruise from Berlin to Prague on the Elbe River

Because of the difficulties we had getting to the ship, André, the ship’s manager, saw to it that we had a nice cabin on the main deck. (Only after a couple of days did we realize that the air conditioner would only work partially. They never did manage to get it to work fully, but it really didn’t matter to us.)

All the cabins were small, but adequate. Two single beds with the customary German bedding, a small desk, TV (which we never used), wardrobe, and a small bathroom with shower. I estimated the whole cabin to be about 8-1/2 ft. x 12 ft. The captain of the ship was German and spoke very little English. (And, as I found out later on the cruise, very ticklish) However the rest of the ship’s crew were French, most of whom could understand and speak at least some English. They were a very efficient crew.

All the passengers met in the lounge and were welcomed with a glass of champagne and some small snacks. The boat pulled out from the dock and dinner was served. There were not assigned tables in the dining room during the whole cruise. We could sit wherever we wanted and we usually tried to sit with someone we had not met before. The meals were wonderful! A large buffet breakfast and lunch and in the evening a choice between two entrées. Since the boat was designed to accommodate 100 passengers, and it didn’t look as if we had that many, we wondered how many were on the cruise. André told us only 54. (That probably accounted for our getting an “up-graded” cabin.) The small number of passengers made the cruise even a little nicer.

The dinner that first night was excellent, as were all the others on the cruise. At the end of the dinner a few of us requested ‘decaf’ coffee, only to be charged 5 fr. for it. It was explained it came from the bar, not the kitchen. We had a good laugh over it. Although I never did order it again, others said they were never again charged for it. That night we could hear a lot of banging and walking around on the ‘sun deck.’ Everything was being lowered so the ship could pass under the low bridges. Even the ship’s bridge could be lowered. We awoke early and watched out our ‘picture’ window for a while. It was a quiet running ship. It was a nice morning and I was one of the first to go up on the sun deck. We saw a lot of birds: ducks, seagulls, geese and some that looked like our great blue heron, only smaller. I think I was the only person to spot a beaver.

After breakfast we were not allowed up on the sun deck because everything had been lowered and there were no handrails around the deck. We were passing by fields of rolled hay. Around 10 a.m. they held gym exercises. We passed. Another man and I emptied out a large jigsaw puzzle on one of the tables in the lounge. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but although many of the passengers took turns working on it, it was not finished at the end of the cruise. We passed, the first of many, deserted and dilapidated factories. Evidence of the ‘great socialist utopia.’ Around 11 a.m. Giles, our Cruise Manager, gave a talk on WW II history. The man was an encyclopedia of history and could very clearly put various dates, and history, in a very understandable way. Why couldn’t I have had a history teacher like him in high school?

After lunch we made our first stop at Genthin where we boarded a bus for an excursion to Potsdam.

We saw where Prussian kings had their summer palaces and drove through the quaint Dutch Quarter and the Russian colony, Alexandrowka, now undergoing repair from the wanton misuse by the former Russian military. Later we saw Cecilienhof, the site of the famous 1945 Potsdam conference and toured one of the Royal Palaces.

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The opulence was nearly staggering. One could easily understand why the ordinary people, at that time, were so poor. The kings lavishly spent so much on themselves. We were back on the ship in time for another wonderful dinner of ‘baby chicken’ for Norm and sole for Ruth.

The next day we had a leisurely morning cruise to Dessau. Most of the time was spent up on the sun deck just enjoying the sights along the waterway. We saw a hot air balloon and people fishing along the river. We were now on the Elbe River, but why anyone would eat fish caught in that muddy river, I’ll never know. After lunch we again boarded a coach and drove to Wörlitz Park. The bus we were on was not air-conditioned and our local guide could not speak English, but had a young woman who was studying English interpret for her. According to our tour itinerary, it was supposed to be a delightful walk through the beautiful English style gardens. Ruth and Ruth Miller and a couple of others, who didn’t want to do the walk, decided to stay in a small outdoor restaurant. To me, and to most of the others, the walk was a ‘dud.’ It was just a walk along a well-kept path with very few flowers, and ferryboat rides across the same little stream four times. The ferryboats were propelled by a woman turning a crank attached to a rope from one side of the stream to the other. Maybe to the east Germans this was a beautiful park, but as far as a tourist attraction, a beer break in the outdoor restaurant would have been better. It was here in the park that the lens on my camera jammed. No more pictures. One of the passengers, Joyce from Sarasota, Florida, promised she would send me duplicates of her photos (but no luck yet).

From Wörlitz Park we drove through Dessau and were shown a number of buildings and the school where the “Bauhaus Movement,” headed by Walter Gropius, stood. Then, on to Wittenberg.

At Wittenberg we spent a good amount of time in the castle church where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door. The ‘door’ is no longer there, having been burned in a fire some time ago. Today they have been replaced by large bronze doors, with some of the essential theses cast on to it. The interior of the church is very interesting and has statues of Luther and Melancthon on either side of the altar where they are buried. There were several other bronze plaques commemorating other prominent people involved in the Reformation. After leaving the church, the tour became a ‘disaster.’ We were told to meet across the street in the Information Center, which turned out to be a small place where cards and a few souvenirs were available. Where our Tour Guides were was anyone’s guess. We spotted a group heading up the street and were invited to join it, and, we were told it was only a “five minute walk” to Melancthon’s house. A half mile and fifteen minutes later, Ruth had to stop. The Tour Guide and some of the group who hadn’t dropped out were still going. We turned around and walked back, taking a couple of rests along the way, and had a soda near where we were to meet the bus. I put the empty soda can in what I was told by Giles was a trash bin, only to be yelled at, in German of course, by a woman on the sidewalk. Seems that it was a recycle bin, not a trash bin. I retrieved the can and made a hasty retreat.

The bus took us to where we were to re-board the ship, only there was no ship to board. There was a small Bier Garten right there and Giles told us to have whatever we wanted and he would pick up the tab. We didn’t get anything. Fifty-four people to be waited on and only one bartender/waitress. We sat outside, talked with others and petted the cat. The boat finally did get there. The official explanation: “We were behind a barge and couldn’t overtake it.” Unofficial explanation: “We were behind a barge and couldn’t overtake it.” Everyone took it in good spirits. Maybe the stop at the Bier Garten helped. That evening we had dinner ... close to 10 p.m. when we finished.

The next morning it was gray, but not raining. We had a walking tour of Torgau, an old walled city with a beautiful market square lined with Renaissance style houses. Since it was a hike uphill, Ruth declined and stayed on the boat. It was at the river’s edge, here at Torgau, that the American and Russian troops met on April 25th, 1945. There is a small monument built by the Russians to commemorate the event, and if you look closely, it even mentions the American troops. From what we were told, this was the actual spot they met, and the newspaper reports and photos were staged a day or two later, and were at another place down the river. Lunch was at 1 p.m. on the boat and we “set sail’ up the river headed for Meissen.

We docked early the next morning and after breakfast we were bused to the porcelain factory in Meissen. We toured the factory and saw demonstrations of how porcelain is made. (About the same as we saw last year in Limoges, France.) The prices were very high, even considering the good dollar exchange rate. We didn’t buy anything, although a few of the passengers did. After the tour, and since we had some ‘free’ time, a few hearty souls hiked up to the Albrechsburg Castle. It looked beautiful from down below. We came back to the boat for lunch and then took a city tour by bus and walking tour of the “Zwinger” area of Dresden. (We learned it is pronounced, “DRAYSden”). It was hot and tiring. There was considerable amount of reconstruction going on in Dresden. Much has been rebuilt since the horrific firebombing on Feb. 13-14, 1945. In the “Green Vault” we saw some beautiful and amazing works of art treasures. We also went into the “Frauenkirche” (Church of Our Lady) where a choir was practicing. Beautiful choir singing and it was a very ornate and beautiful Protestant church.

During the night the boat cruised to Bad Schandau and docked. At 10 a.m. we boarded our motorcoach and were driven up to the fortress Königstein, built on a plateau high above the Elbe River. It was a nice day, warm but a bit hazy. First we got on a large elevator and were taken to the top. The plateau was thirty acres, making it possible for a whole community to be self-contained. At one time, they grew their own foods, had cattle and sheep, a vineyard, and even a brewery since it had a very good working well. Most of the group took the walking tour around the Fortress’ embattlements and part of the settlement. Ruth and a few others decided to sit that walk out and instead went with Giles and saw the armory with it’s cannons, had another history “lesson” from Giles, and then relaxed in a cafe until the rest of us returned. The walk around the fortress was spectacular, with scenic views for miles. One could see why no army, including Napoleon’s, was able to ‘take’ it. Nothing but shear cliffs all around except for one steep road leading to the top. A few of us did walk down that road to the bus.

We were back on the ship for lunch and, shortly after, we crossed the Czech border and docked for customs. We were all asked to go to the lounge area and Giles told us of a problem. The water level was too low for the boat to proceed. During the previous evening it even scraped bottom. The ship could not go all the way to Prague. Instead we would dock shortly, stay there for the night and then we would be bused to the Renaissance Hotel in Prague in the morning, have a walking tour of the city, including lunch, and dinner back at the hotel that evening. Uniworld would cover all of this. Everyone liked the substitution. We had the feeling, however, this happened before on a previous cruise and would happen on the return cruise to Berlin!

That evening, while tied up at a dock just over the Czech border, we had “The Captain’s Dinner,” a five course meal, the main course being stuffed breast of chicken. Later the crew put on some entertainment. Everything from a waltz by the Captain with one of the passengers, to a magic show by André (he was excellent), to a floor show by crew, including a male strip act, that wasn’t especially liked by some, to nearly everyone joining in doing the “Macarena,” then, followed by ballroom dancing. There was a box with a slot in it for the passengers to leave their gratuities. It gave us a good chance to substitute some of our Deutschemarks for the U.S. money we had set aside for tips. I believe most of the other passengers did this also. We were to have our luggage out at 8:30 in the morning and on the bus for Prague by 9 a.m.

Sunday morning, July 1st, we checked into the Renaissance Hotel in Prague. A 5-star hotel! The bathroom was nearly as large as our cabin on the Victor Hugo. After we were settled into our rooms, we all met in the lobby and walked first to an ATM where some of us used our debit cards to obtain Czech currency, then to a ‘grotto-like’ restaurant for our lunch in the Jewish Quarter. The meal was good, but the service was very slow. After lunch we resumed our walking tour of the city. By the time we about reached the Vltava River, Ruth was too tired to go on. We had the guide call us a cab and returned to the hotel where we met some others who dropped out of the walk. Norm enjoyed a beer and Ruth a vodka and tonic. We cashed a $50 traveler’s check as we estimated we only had about $15 worth of Kronas left and we knew any extra Kronas could be spent at the airport. We had a chance again to talk to Giles regarding transportation to the airport. And again he said, “No problem. We’ll get you in with the group that will leave at 8:30.” That evening we had a wonderful buffet dinner, with a glass of wine, and fabulous desserts.

After a good night’s sleep, we were up at 7 and headed for breakfast. What a buffet breakfast! Everything except fried eggs. We said our “Good byes” to Giles and André, who in true French tradition, gave Ruth a kiss on each cheek. They certainly were great, and we wondered how they would cope with the next cruise to Berlin. It was supposed to have 97 passengers. We left the hotel just about 8:30 a.m., for the airport, six of us in a Toyota van. The ride took about 30 minutes. Our flight was to leave at 12:20 and we were supposed to be there two hours before. We tried to check in at the British Airways counter and were told to come back at 10.

We sat down to wait. Sitting beside me was an Oriental-looking man who was the very caricature of an orchestra conductor, including uncontrolled bushy hair. I asked him, “Do you speak English.” “No English, no, no,” he said, jumping up and all but pushing a young gal to sit beside me. She could speak English quite well. We learned that they were part of a group of a 40 member chorus who had sung in Vienna and Budapest and perhaps elsewhere, and he was the conductor. I told her that I visited Tokyo many years ago when I was stationed in Korea, and we also sang in a choir at church. When she relayed that info to him, he immediately gathered all 40 of the group and had them sing an “Ave Maria” piece for us. It was beautiful! What a treat! We extended our grateful thanks to all of them. I further learned that the woman sitting beside me was the pianist, and the group was from Osaka. She gave me both the director’s and her business cards. Of course they are in Japanese, so I don’t know their names. They were flying first to Paris then to Tokyo. I’m not sure, but they may have been performing in Paris before flying back to Tokyo. As they were heading for their plane, they waved good bye to us. They were so friendly! That was a concert we won’t forget. Later we spent the remaining Kronas buying a few miscellaneous items, some for gifts, some for ourselves.

We boarded our plane at 12:15 and were on our way shortly after the scheduled takeoff time of 12:20. We landed at Heathrow, made our way from one side of the terminal to the other (bus ride included), and had a peach-flavored ice tea while waiting. Our flight to the US was scheduled for 4:05 and we got off the ground pretty much on time. The plane, a 747, was hot and the seating was cramped. Not the best flight we have taken. At Logan we went through ‘Customs’ without a hitch and went out to catch the Bonanza bus for Falmouth. A few people on the bus, including a couple with a small child, who had flown in from Calgary, were trying to catch the last ferry from Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard. Because of this, the bus driver went first to Woods Hole and then back to Falmouth. Thankfully, the DeRosas were waiting for us. We were two very tired travelers. It had been a delightful and interesting three-week trip.