My impression is that the Neue Synagog was not burned down because a policeman stopped the crowd from doing it.

<i>It has long been assumed that when the Nazis set fire to the synaguogue on November 9, 1938, the building was completely gutted ... a number of memoirists recall the synaguogue being saved in 1938 by a police lieutenant, who was said to have been hanged at the end of the war by the Nazis for his courageous deed.</i> (Acutally he died in 1953). For a more complete text, see <i>Berlinwalks</i> by Peter Fritzsche and Karen Hewitt, pp. 100-101.

noe, I am glad to provide more info on the new State and University Library.

It was built 1998 - 2002 by Ortner &amp; Ortner, German architects, costs about 100 Million Euro. It is home of about 9 Million pieces (incl. mediathek/phonothek) at the moment, of those are 4.4 Million books. Many prints, scripts from the 9th till 16th century.

For a Virtual tour see
SLUB - Virtual tour (Flash Player required) and pictures

http://www.slub-dresden.de/ueber-uns...-spaziergaenge

Most famous are the Maya script (one of three existing worldwide) and the 'Sachsenspiegel'.

More about the Maya Script:
Codex Dresdensis:
http://www.famsi.org/research/graz/d...sis/index.html

More about the 'Sachsenspiegel'(law book between 1295 and 1363, one of the four remaining):
http://www.slub-dresden.de/sammlunge...sachsenspiegel

for pictures of this book:
http://fotothek.slub-dresden.de/digisamm/digisamm.html#

Thanks, guys for the feedback.

Michael, that is interesting about the Neue Synagogue. My guide book seems to follow the conventional, if incorrect, version.

Ingo, I appreciate the additional information about the library. It is a stunning building with a fascinating collection, and I'd love to see it when I'm next in Dresden. My older daughter has studied the Mayans; I had no idea the Berlin Codex was in Dresden.

<i><u>Sunday, April 19, 2007</u></i>

There is a taxi stand about a half block away from the hotel. We zipped our bags, said “good-bye” to the M&ouml;venpick, and walked to the taxi stand for our return taxi to Tegel. A cool thing happened when the taxi got to the airport entrance: the driver stopped at a little pull over place in front of an electronic sign. We checked by airline and flight # and found our gate. Then the taxi dropped us right at that gate’s entrance door (this might be my favorite airport anywhere!) Customs was centrally located, and I was able to get my “Tax-Free Shopping” refund in cash. We checked in at the gate in Delta’s medallion line, which was short but slow.

Now came the moment of truth: could I take the clock as carry-on? Or would I have to pull out the enormous plaid plastic suitcase? The check in agents were vigilant about making sure I could get the clock within all 3 dimensions of the “size-wise” measuring device. It was touch-and-go, but by putting it on the diagonal (thank goodness, it was only a few inches deep!) it squeaked by.

Once free of our luggage we went to the nearby Wiener Feinbacker for breakfast pastries and stocked up on chocolate bars (especially RitterSport – we love those) to bring home. We cleared security and passport control right at the gate. Our flight was delayed by minor technical difficulties, including a “COG” (center of gravity) problem that required shifting cargo around in the hold. Then further delay as we waited for Brussels to clear us to leave European airspace. We took off an hour late, but did make up a few minutes in flight.

We had a nice flight (when Jen wasn’t worried about making her connecting flight). I reflected on what a blessing I had received to have traveled over the past few weeks with each of my daughters. After having spent the past 23 days in the presence of one or the other of my children, I was going back home to my “empty nest” (filled with 2 dogs and a husband, and a very long to-do list, however.) I had to hold back the tears when I thought how much I was going to miss being with them. Jen was a little worried when she saw me so sad, but I assured her I would be fine. And I am. Although at times I long for their preschool selves holding tight to my hand, watching them grow into confident and competent adults brings its own rewards.

JFK was a total madhouse. There had been a storm on the East Coast and the airport was reeling from the effects of multiple cancelled flights. Jen made her connection, but her second plane got caught in a long queue at taxi and takeoff. As a result she missed her bus and ended up taking an hour-long taxi ride back to school. I had several hours for my connection, but it too was significantly delayed. I arrived on the ground in Atlanta somewhere around midnight, walked in my front door and was greeted by two slobbery dogs and my wonderful husband. My first words to him: “You will love Berlin!”

I have already booked tickets for a return trip to Berlin with my husband this fall. I’m looking forward to sharing with him the things Jen and I discovered and exploring with him the many, many other facets of this fascinating city.

I will add a wrap up post below.

<b>Final thoughts</b>

<u><i>Overall stars:</i></u>
- the weather
- the public transportation system
- Berlin Red Map

<i><u>What we did right:</u></i>
- did research on Fodor’s
- spent 6+ days in Berlin
- took Dresden side trip
- learned the transit system
- packed light

<i><u>What we did wrong:</u></i>
- brought inadequate shoes for Jen
- pre-purchased the Welcome Card
- not enough time to plan, not enough guidebooks

<i><u>What we liked best:</u></i>
- Reichstag
- Berlin street markets
- Green Vault, Dresden
- Gem&auml;ldegalerie
- Berlin caf&eacute;s
- grillhaxe at Zur Rippe

<i><u>Honorable mention:</u></i>
- Gate of Ishtar/Babylonian Processional Street
- KaDeWe
- Einstein Tower, Potsdam
- Nicolaiviertel
- Prenzlauer Berg
- Tegel airport
- Zwinger, Dresden
- little shops

<i><u>What was just OK:</u></i>
- TV Tower (expensive, crowded)
- East Side Gallery (but it’s really the only sizeable remaining stretch of Wall)

<i><u>What we wish we’d seen:</u></i>
- more neighborhoods
- more Potsdam
- musical performance
- Sachsenhausen
- Nefertiti

Fantastic trip report. I have enjoyed this so much and there is such good practical info in it. Thanks and keep reporting! CJ

thanks for such an informative and well-organized report. Your material will be very helpful for those of us planning our trips. I am very excited now about going to Berlin. Initially, I wasn't; my husband wanted to go there, but now I know it will be great!

love reading your comments about your daughters. I hope to have a one-on-one journey with mine someday, too...

I love your report. I agree that there are very few Fodorite reports on Berlin. I'm going in 3 weeks and am really benefitting from this marvelous review. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Noe, last summer, my daughter and I walked part of the East Side Gallery coming from the direction of the Warschauer Strasse station. But we walked only part of the distance, because unfortunately I hadn't figured out how to get transport from the other end (although now I know), and she was sick for part of this Berlin stay. She was very impressed by the painting of Brezhnev and Honecker intensely kissing, which is based on a photograph. She enjoyed a lot of the other paintings too, because many had youth culture references that I didn't necessarily get.

One funny thing during our trip is that nice older ladies that she would see on public transit tried repeatedly speak to my daughter in German, and she couldn't say much more than &quot;I do not understand&quot; in German, which she found frustrating.

Thanks for the report - I'm sure we will visit many of these sites on our next trip.

Hello noe:

Terrific report! We are going to be in Germany in September, Berlin and Dresden for five days each. The account of your visit and your tips should enhance our experience immensely. We too have been shut out of Green Vault tickets by advance purchase. What is your opinion of the likelihood of success in the daily queue? Again, many thanks for a great effort. Gradyghost

Gradyghost, thanks to your post I looked up Green Vault reservations for August, and I see they are similarly impossible! I should have been alerted by all the previous posts, but failed to note that. As of right now, if you try to book one ticket, the earliest possible date is in October, and if you try to book two, the earliest possible date is in December.

WT: It surely is a tough ticket. I'll be interested in noe's opinion on the daily queue. Gradyghost

Thanks, folks for the comments.
CarolJean, I appreciate the encouragement. It is weird to write a trip report; you never know who is reading. But I have learned an extraordinary amount from this forum and posting a report is a good way to 'pay it back' and to 'pay it forward.' I actually am working on two more trip reports now - the London/Cardiff trip with my older daughter (which I hope will be shorter, as it was my third visit to London) and my Sept 2006 trip to Romania.

I know exactly how you feel, skatedancer. When we chose Berlin, I didn't know what to expect. The thing that inspired me was a statement by caroline_edinburgh that she'd rather go to Berlin than Paris! Berlin turned out to be one of those &quot;better than expected&quot; destinations for me; I hope you find the same.

I hope you have a great trip, sallyjane! Be sure to report back - even just the highlights.

The Breznev/Honecker kiss was the iconic image from the East Side Gallery, to be sure, willtravel. My daughter did really enjoy the art, similar to yours. I think I expected a more uniformly high quality of art, and I was definitely put off by the graffiti. Given what I know, I think I would do it again, but if I only had a couple of days in the city, I'm not sure. That's funny about the old ladies on the subway. Nobody every tried to speak with us, but we both communicated in German when we could. I let me daughter take care of anything tricky. The most frustrating thing I experienced was when I was trying to get help with the locker at the Gemaldegalerie - I was asking a high school aged boy near me and I knew the basic words, but he just couldn't understand. I also got the impression he didn't want to deal with this middle aged tourist lady. I was surprised also that he seemed to know no English, as all of our younger German relatives are quite proficient.

Your upcoming trip sounds exciting, gradyghost. Would love to hear your itinerary for your 5 days in Dresden especially.

<b>Green Vault</b>
I am sure that you can get tickets for the Green Vault in the daily queue, but you will need to be there well before the opening time of 10:00 to get a choice of time slots. The day I visited, it looked like people who were in line by 10:30 were going to get tickets. I base this on the fact that there were about 125 tickets still available when I finished purchasing mine just after 10:25. There was a line when I left.

I was in the queue at 9:15 and by the time I got to the front all the morning tickets were gone. It doesn't seem to be necessary that the whole group needs to be present to get tickets. I was able to get 2 tickets. I'm not sure how many I could have gotten, however.

My advice would be to send one person from your group to get in the line around 9:00, or even earlier if you need an early time slot. (If you are staying near the center of the old city and/or you have an early riser, you could go early to check if/how the queue is forming.)

For those who are going in summer there might be bigger crowds and an earlier queue.

Good luck!

Hello noe:

In Dresden we are staying in the Altstadt, so getting to the Green Vault queue should not be a problem. Thanks for the info on that exercise.

Insofar as our itinerary in Dresden is concerned, I am leaving most of the daytime planning to the higher minds that will accompany me. We are attending a Bach concert in the Frauenkirche one evening and plan a day trip to Leipzig.

For myself, I am interested in WWII so I would like to learn more about Dresden in early 1945. I have several books on the subject which I hope to complete before the visit.
I am generally responsible for dining activities on our trips to Europe; based on Ingo's comprehensive rundown, I have reserved thus far at Bean &amp; Beluga (Chef Stefan Hermann's new restaurant), Schmidt's, and La Casina Rosa.

I suspect this may be enough to keep me out of trouble. Many thanks for all of your help. Gradyghost

I also meant to say that the Green Vault demand would most likely be higher on weekends, so the queue might start earlier or build faster.

You have the makings of a wonderful trip, gradyghost. Sounds like you have the dinners under control. Are you also planning Berlin food?

Two things I initially considered as day trips out of Dresden:
1. a trip to explore a bit of Saxon Switzerland, Pirna and towards the Czech border, and
2. seeing G&ouml;rlitz, near the Polish border
We ended up deciding to focus on Berlin with just a short trip to Dresden, so abandoned those plans. I still want to get back that way. Maybe we will cross paths in September!

And then we might have a GTG in a fine restaurant here! ;-)

The queues at the Historic Green Vault are getting longer and longer day by day. It started with the Easter holidays that the number of visitors increased dramatically. Now - probably also a result of the mediterranean-like spring weather - the accommodations in the city are well booked and it's hard to get any opera tickets or such things. Bottom line is, you better get in line earlier (before 9 am).

Noe - these day trips sound excellent. Too bad you didn't have the time for them. One other thing to consider is Meissen (especially if you're into medieval architecture). Stunning castle plus cathedral and there is also the world famous porcelain manufacture there.

Another wonderful sight is going to re-open after years of restoration - the so called Fasanenschl&ouml;sschen, a small Roccoco palazzo (rather a small mansion) with originally preserved coloured/painted silk-wallpapers. A jewel. It's part of the Baroque Moritzburg hunting lodge complex (which is also worth a visit!) a few miles north of Dresden. Would make a good combination with Meissen for a day trip.

I better stop here :-)

Yes, Ingo, you'd better stop or I might have to stay a month for my next trip! I knew about Meissen, but hadn't really thought about the medieval end of it, just the porcelain. I will definitely put it on the list!

Another daytrip I'm considering is Frankfurt (Oder), which is about 1 hour from Berlin Ostbahnhof, and then walking across the bridge to Poland.

I am so impressed by how much you saw on this trip, even with Jen's sore feet.

noe: I would have liked to visit Gorlitz, but we seem to be limited to one side trip (in order to avoid vacation overload). My DW's sister, an accomplished pianist and our fellow traveler, has her heart set on visiting the Bach museum in Leipzig so I am out-voted. Maybe next time.

We do indeed plan to dine in Berlin, but apart from my existing luncheon reservation at the Reichstag (like you, courtesy Caroline), and a dinner/concert at the Berliner Residenz at Schloss Charlottenburg, I have not yet seen the type of well informed suggestions that have been offered up by Ingo for Dresden and hsv for Hamburg. Perhaps they are on this board and I simply haven't recognized them. Wait one --DAX had some ideas and I'll follow up on those.

BTW, I e-mailed Red Maps to see if they had city maps for the other cities on my itinerary besides Berlin (i.e., Cologne, Bremen, Hamburg, Dresden). Red Maps responded immediately on a Sunday with the info that Berlin is the only one, but they are sending the Berlin map today and are looking for a check from me in payment. The last time I witnessed this type of trust was from a then-famous (at least in these parts) family restaurant at the crest of Cresson Mountain in central PA, where the owner was happy to give me a dinner check and receive my check by mail in due course. Those days are gone, I'm afraid.

I must say that I'm looking forward to this trip more than any other in the past. I guess it's because it's a bit off the beaten path; I couldn't even raise a first hand restaurant experience for Bremen. Take care. Gradyghost

I enjoyed reading your report, noe847.

I am planning a trip to Prague - Dresden - Berlin this summer and your report gave me good information. I looked at the pictures as well, and liked them.

Scary, though, with the Historical Green Vault... Tickets are now for the second half of December already. I'll have to wake up early...

Looking forward to your trip report about Romania.