RIDING A TRAIN ON WATER?

This was another busy week for Flat Hawkster as he spent some time in Berlin, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark.  In Berlin,  he was able to visit some famous sites and learn more about the unique history of this city.  Did you know that Berlin used to be divided into two cities (East and West) by a wall?  After WWII and the fall of Adolph Hitler, Germany was divided up,   West Germany was controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France while Russia controlled the east.  The citizens in East Germany did not have many of the freedoms provided to West Germans and 2.5 million of them fled to the West after the war.  Russia eventually built the wall in Berlin (1961) to stop its citizens from fleeing.   It stood for almost thirty years before Germany was reunited as one country.

Much of Berlin was destroyed during the Second World War so the buildings are much newer than other major European cities like Paris or London.  The Spree river runs through the city and has been an important transportation route for a long time.  The river also provided a boundary for the Berlin Wall.

This is the final segment of the Berlin Wall that remains standing.  It has become
a wall of tribute for those Germans who lost their lives or their freedom to this wall.

This is the Brandenburg gate which has is a symbol of unity for Germans as
it was not fully accessible until after the wall was taken down in 1989.  Flat Hawkster
was surprised to see Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper hanging out here (below).

With all that walking to different tourist sites in Berlin,  Flat Hawkster needed some
food to keep him going.  He stopped by this cool "Hot Dog Stand" that just hung
on this man's shoulders.  He cooked the hot dogs (Franks) on the grill in front of him.

This is a photo of Flat Hawkster at Checkpoint Charlie.  It was the location
  along the Berlin Wall where people were checked to see if they could travel into
West Berlin.  Not many people were allowed through between 1961-1989

After six days in Berlin,  it was time to train to Copenhagen, Denmark.   The ride was about 7 hours long and involved crossing the water on a ferry.  Flat Hawkster was amazed to find out that the entire train was going to go on the ferry and meet up with railway tracks on the other side.  It was pretty cool!

This is a picture of Flat Hawkster standing beside his train that was on board the
ferry!  He had to go on deck during the ferry trip and get some fresh air.

Flat Hawkster discovered Copenhagen, Denmark to be a very beautiful harbour city with a rich history.   He found out that the Danish Vikings were not only a violent bunch (they conquered many lands in Europe) but also very talented.  In around the year 1000 they built a bridge that was almost 1 kilometre long, without any machinery to help them.  Pretty impressive.  Copenhagen is now a peaceful city that is the capital of Demark.  It is another expensive city but is ranked as one of the best cities in the world in which to live (Vancouver is right up there too:).     It is also one of the most environmentally friendly places on earth.   Almost 40% of the people in Copenhagen use a bike instead of a car to move around the city.

The very popular Copenhagen harbour.  There were a lot of
tourists and restaurants to keep them fed.

This is The Little Mermaid statue that is a popular tourist
site in Copenhagen.  You may have noticed that Vancouver
has one of its own in Stanley Park but it isn't nearly as popular:)

This is one of the many palaces in Copenhagen that hosted Denmark's royalty
throughout history.  In the video clip below,  you can see Flat Hawkster disappear
after he realizes he gets in the way of the changing of the royal guards.