Ramblings about life and travel: Berlin

Sunday, January 1, 2012

World Routes 2011 at Berlin

Routes is an opportunity to network with professionals in the industry as well as to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. In 2011 it was held in the exciting and dynamic city of Berlin. They definitely put on a great show. Some of the highlights in the form of pictures...............

My friends at GMR.

But there was plenty of wine at the various booths.

Etihad even brought their F1 car prototype.

Boğaziçi Jazz Choir who sing without any accompaniment of instruments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkDscMwgHFw

The B-boying world champs put on a show!

The colourful girls.

Old friends and new

The Berlin Bear

Berlin’s coat of arms features a black “bear rampant”, that is standing on his hind legs and facing to the left – you will see it everywhere you go. Indeed you will see all sorts of bears, as this has become a sort of unofficial emblem of the city. There are different theories as to why this is, but the most common suggestion is that it relates to Albrecht I, who was nicknamed "the Bear” and who is considered to have been the conqueror and founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Another rather nice theory is that it relates to the German pronunciation of the first syllable of the city’s name which sounds a bit like "Bär" (bear).

So forget about the elephant parade, here come the bears.............

Berlin - a city one can never tire of.....................

On my third visit to Berlin, I was still discovering new sights and experiencing the old ones in a different light........I explored the city by tricycle, helicopter, boat, bus, tram and car!!!

The Brandenburg gate

One of my modes of transport to discover this buzzing city

The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals.

The concert Hall

Segways are another way to discover the city. But I have not tried it yet.

Don't remember what this beautiful building is.

The Humboldt Building is a unique design

The Museum Island which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Museum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln. It is so called for the complex of five internationally significant museums, all part of the Berlin State Museums, that occupy the island's northern part:

The Altes Museum (Old Museum) completed on the orders of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1830.
The Neues Museum (New Museum) finished in 1859 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Schinkel. Destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt under the direction of David Chipperfield for the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and re-opened in 2009.
The Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) completed in 1876, also according to designs by Friedrich August Stüler, to host a collection of 19th century art donated by banker Joachim H. W. Wagener
The Bode Museum on the island's northern tip, opened in 1904 and then called Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum. It exhibits the sculpture collections and late Antique and Byzantine art.
The Pergamon Museum, the final museum of the complex, constructed in 1930. It contains multiple reconstructed immense and historically significant buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate of Babylon.

Berlin Cathedral

The Berlin TV Tower

The Lustgarten or the Pleasure garden

The National Gallery

The boat cruise on the River Spree

The Bode Museum on the river Spree

The warehouses on the East side which look thoroughly decrepit and rundown from the outside but come night and they turn into the hippest night clubs.