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HOW DO YOU DETERMINE VALUE IN A TOUR?

The ultimate buying experience is getting the BEST QUALITY for the LOWEST price. If your focus is only on lowest price, you are not an intelligent traveler as the dollar is more important to you than the experience. If this is for you, I suggest you read no further. If this is not you & you wish to take a tour, the first question is whether it is to be escorted or independent. The descriptions of independent tours are straightforward consisting of airfare, hotel & transportation combined. But in an escorted tour you have higher prices due to the hiring of a guide full time & the cost of a full time motorcoach & driver. In short, you have a more intense, well organized and thoroughly thought out itinerary giving you the maximum experience. However not all tours do this. If you look closely at most tours, they are routine, boring, poorly thought out & inflexible. When making such a decision, you should compare at least 3-4 tours to insure that you are getting a broad perspective of choices.

The following are steps to take.

1. Calculate the cost of the trip per day by taking the total price and dividing it by the number of days. Doing this will allow you to compare the overall costs of the trips in general. However since price should not be the only consideration, continue with the following items. Since most tour rates are PER PERSON, to get the TOTAL cost of the trip for you, multiply the figure from #1 times the number of people traveling with you to get YOUR TOTAL rate.

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For two cities within a city Berlin has so much culture, history and nightlife to experience 48 hours hardly seems adequate. This guide will help to give you the most out of it in a short space of time.

For close to 300 years Berlin has been the centre point in almost every modern historical European conflict. Unless you are familiar with the orchestrations of the Franco-Prussian War, the establishment of the first German Empire, World War I, World War II, the Cold War and the reunification, not to mention the figures behind the events, the weight of the history alone can seem totally overwhelming.

Then there is the intensive artistic side. Make your way through museums and galleries that display ancient Persian works through to the avant garde collections of modern artists. Travelling from one side of the city to the other takes you on a journey through 20th Century politics, from fascism to communism to democracy.

It is recommended that to be able to gain a full picture in an interesting and in depth way to take a guided walking tour. There are several well respected and reputable companies offering comprehensive walking tours that cover all aspects of the history of Berlin. Some specialise in particular periods but a more generalised overview is preferable. The knowledge of the guides helps to make the history come alive in a way no guide book ever could.

To familiarise yourself with the central layout you can cover the main interest sites by foot either as part of a tour or on you own armed with a comprehensive guidebook, that probably weighs as much as you do.

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Few people realise that the Cold War west Berlin was actually more of an island, east Berlin merely surrounding it as the city itself lies in the eastern half of Germany. ‘West’ Berlin was connected by a transport corridor to the western half of the country.

Start yourself off in the centre of the ‘capitalist west’ with the sights and sounds of Zoo Station (Bahnhof Zoo), made famous by the U2 song. This is the stop next to the Zoologischer Garten, home of the city’s zoo. The unique layout has the animals hemmed in with moats rather than fences and some are even left to roam free.

The area is also around the corner from the Ku’Damm, the rather more expensive shopping district with huge mall type department stores.

Next door is the Tiergarten, the central green space of Berlin, where many of the city office workers like to spend their lunchbreak on sunny days letting it all hang out, and more often than not completely naked. You don’t need to run for the nearest cop shop as they are merely partaking in the ‘frei korpo kultur’ or free body culture.

On the way through the Tiergarten you may spy between the trees the rather impressive Seigessaule, a 70m high golden statute. Some may recognise it as the statue that features in the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire, and also as the heady focal point of the Love Parade. The column is decorated at the base by bronze reliefs depicting the Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria and France, made from melted down captured cannons.

Continuing eastwards down Strasse des 17 Juni you will arrive in front of the Brandenburg Gate. This has undergone extensive restoration recently returning it to its former glory as a triumphal arch. This was the symbol of Berlin during the cold war, sitting forlornly in no-mans land between the divisive walls. The goddess Victory stands in her chariot drawn by four horses that look rather like the ones seen in Paris atop the Arc du Triomphe du Carousel and in Venice above the door of St Mark’s Basilica.

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The newly revamped Reichstag is close by, the transparent dome arching above the debating chamber of the German parliament. Entry is free and you can climb the spiral walkway to the top of the dome for a view out over the city.

Further to the right of the Brandenburg gate lies the completed Holocaust memorial. This outdoor site covers 19,000 square metres and consists of 2,711 granite blocks of varying height conceived by American architect Peter Eisenman. It has provoked some controversy throughout its construction, not the least being how it sits over part of the former Nazi HQ bunker complex.

Heading further into Berlin-Mitte you will reach Checkpoint Charlie. Little remains of the original checkpoint, the hut standing in the road is a replica. There were three checkpoints between east and west, this was the only one with vehicle access.

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The Checkpoint Charlie museum is small and houses a collection of wall memorabilia as well as harrowing recounts of survivors and non survivors attempts at crossing over. Across the road is Caf

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Did you know……..

That the Westminster Abbey that we tell you has been there for 900 years has not
really been there, as you see it, for that long at all? The original Abbey, as created by
Edward the Confessor, was completely different and was built in the Norman style. And
did you know that this great man was for a long time England’s patron saint? And did
you know that Westminster Abbey, as you see it today, took almost 500 years to build? In
fact, the famous West Towers designed by Christopher Wren’s pupil, Hawksmoor, in
1745, are actually among the last major structures to be added around the nave and central cross.

So today’s Abbey started life with the idea that Henry III had: in order to properly revere his hero, Edward the Confessor, it was necessary to modify his Abbey and have himself buried next to the saint. This idea rolled on through the centuries, with various kings leaving their mark by making special additions. For example, during the reigns of Henry V and Richard II, the nave was completed - and Henry VII helped to establish his authenticity by making the Lady Chapel his Henry VII chapel, with a huge mausoleum bronze effigy of himself and his dear lady wife Elizabeth of York. So finally we have today’s image of our great coronation church which has almost totally destroyed that of Saint Edward! Some way to revere a saint!

Well at least the Gothic style did lighten things up - literally. Those flying buttresses that you see on the outside, and which are often thought to be ungainly, are what allowed the architects of 500 years ago to have thinner, higher walls, with today’s huge windows that we now take for granted. But did you also know that today’s cathedrals are not at all like those of 400 and 500 years ago, in entirely another respect? Today, we think of the inside of these places as sombre and dull, and that that must be a reflection of how religion has always been. You could not be farther from the truth, from the reality. Yesterday’s churches were wonderful bright places blazing with colour with pictographic stories plastered all over the walls and windows. But this is all before the Protestants who took over in Edward VI’s reign (oh, what a great time they must have had running riot during the short time of this sickly boy king’s time in power - and even more so in Oliver Cromwell’s Republican regime - not a misprint, yes Republican - which had even more puritanical leanings). (Did you know that Britain became a republic for quite a few years in the middle of the 17th century - and happily chose to go back and embrace the monarchy with profound joy?)

Did you know that this original Westminster Abbey used to sit on land that was known as Thorney Island? For that is what it virtually was, an island, surrounded by streams and rivers and marshy land. In fact did you know that the whole of that solid and respectable area that we now call Belgravia was marshy, inhospitable and crisscrossed by villains who used to be called footpads but are now known as muggers? So why are things so different now? Well because, although people liked to make profits just as much as we do today, they were willing to invest their heart and soul, as well as tremendous vision, energy and drive. So a man called Cubitt, who was developing St. Katharine’s Dock near the Tower, had the bright idea of moving the sludge up to today’s Belgravia and draining the area so it is now very solid indeed. And why is this land called Belgravia? At the time and up until today, the Duke of Westminster owned - and still owns - all the streets around Belgrave Square, including London’s longest and most prestigious square Eaton Square. Aristocrats had the amusing habit of naming parts of their city empire after villages and towns on their country estates. So if you think of Chester, Belgrave and Eaton squares as quaint little parts of London, you wouldn’t be thinking quite the same way as the dear old Duke himself - as no doubt he believes they are rather quaint little parts of his country estate.

Now reader, if you knew all these things, you really do not need a proper registered London Blue Badge Guide. However if you did not know some of it, and want to hear lots more, then get in touch with one, and tune in to one of the world’s most fascinating stories.

© Peter West Tours 2006

Peter West is a registered London Blue Badge Guide who specializes in made-to-measure sightseeing tours around London, as well as longer trips around England, Ireland, France and anywhere else in Europe. Please visit his website http://www.peterwesttours.com/ to contact him.

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