For the weather you have to wait and see in October, but it looked like spring in the city of Berlin, Germany. We had two good reasons for our Berlin trip: In the first place we did want to visit the Bob Dylan concert and even so important we did want to have a taste of Berlin too. The last part is easy to for fill in Berlin, it’s a friendly and easy to travel city. The prices in restaurants and bars are much lower than in the Netherlands. The public transport is perfect and it’s a nice and easy journey by train from The Netherlands to Berlin. It takes about six hours to travel to Berlin. 

Bob advertisement

The first thing we did buy was a public transport day ticket for the city zones A and B. The costs for a day ticket are: 5,80 euro. From Bahnhof Zoo (main train station) the whole of Berlin is in easy reach within a half hour by underground. The U- and S-bahn does go almost everywhere and it’s a frequently service. At one o’clock in the evening the underground services stop. Buses will also operate during the night. Taxis are also available for reasonable costs.

U-bahn Station

At first we did go to the Kurfürstendamm and the Gedâchtniskirche. Most of the shops sell very luxury goods and brands like Gucci and Mercedes. There’re a lot.

Kurfürstendamm and Gedâchtniskirche

After travelling six hours and some walking around it was time to take a few half litres of beer at “Café Zeit” and a few hours later we had a nice meal at the “Blauerflug”. After this we had a nice walk and did finish the night at an Irish Pub in the Europa Center. In the pub there was a karaoke evening. After leaving the pub, the underground was already out of service, but a taxi was in easy reach, so no problem at all. At the second day we did buy a Berlin Welcome Card. The costs for this card is 22,00 euro and it’s valid for 72 hours for all public transports in the city. The first go was Alexanderplatz. At Alexanderplatz the first thing you see is the big television tower and a lot of building is going on. In a coffeehouse we could go on the Internet for free. We did use this service to see if Bob Dylan had a good concert last night in Hamburg, Germany. And of course he had. After this we did go by tram to Unter den Linden and after a healthy snack at a “Subway” we could go on further, with a lot of new energy. Walking around you still see a lot of influences of the old DDR regime. Luckily the people of Berlin have a lot of historic notion, so they didn’t melt all the statues of Stalin and his comrades.

Trabby in a shop

The city was covered in nice autumn colours; there are a lot of trees and beautiful parks. Trabbies (Trabant was a car made in the DDR) you don’t see anymore in the city. Some shops use them for promotional reasons to attract tourists and you can buy them as little souvenirs.

A Library

After Unter den Linden we did go to the Brandenburger Tor. Just as anywhere in Berlin over here also a lot of building activities. You see here tourists from all over the world. “Check Point Charlie” isn’t the same as in communistic times, but is still very busy and in business for the tourists. The Mauer Museum we will see tomorrow.

Check Point Charlie

We did see enough today. It was time to drink a few “Berliner Kindle”. It’s a nice beer. Slowly the concert feeling was coming up and after leaving the shopping goods in the hotel and taking the tickets we went to the Treptower Park, using the S-bahn. From the station it was a short walk to the Berlin Arena. Arena is a big word for an old factory. Sea containers made an entrance. But the food in a floating restaurant next to the arena was very good. Over here we had also a nice meeting with other Dylan fans from our country, Friesland, The Netherlands. A concert review you will find below. Tired but satisfied we did buy some pints in a café near by the hotel, reviewing the concert.

Sony Center

The third day started at the Zoologischer Garten. This is a point where a lot of buses and the U- and S-bahn are coming together. We did take Bus 200, this bus goes right through the city and you can hop on and off as much as you like. At the Sony head office fore Europe we did go off the buss to see the Sony Center. This is a magnificent peace of architecture. There are a lot of shops and restaurants. It did take a few hours to see around.

We did take Bus 200 right to the end and half way back. You do see a lot of the city this way. The Reichstag was the next attraction to see. We didn’t go into the Reichstag because we did find a long Q of people trying to get in. It was extra busy because of the army celebrations. The army did celebrate their sixty years existence. There was a high Italian visitor too, so the place was packed with, Polizei and Feldjägers.

Brandenburger Tor

After this it was time to see the Mauer Museum. Here we did find a detailed display of the years before – during – and afterwards the Berlin Wall. A lot of space is used to see the many ways people tried to escape from the communistic regime. Most of the stories don’t make you happy. It is nice to see how ingenious people can be if they want to escape. This museum is a must for every visitor.

Technikmuseum depot

The fourth day we did go to the Technikmuseum. Time was too short to see everything. Techniques are shown here in all of its variety’s. We will be back at Berlin and this museum will get more time then. Impressive was the locomotive and carriage which was used to transport Jews during the Second World War. You could still feel their misery. The food and drinks at the museum restaurant were as always good and not expensive.

Technikmuseum

At a quarter to five the train bringing us back to The Netherlands arrived at Bahnhof Zoo. The Dutch NS and the German DB had made no mistakes and we could take our seats. Coffee, roll of breads and other nice foods were available. At eleven o’clock we arrived in our hometown.

In about six hours we did travel by train from The Netherlands to Berlin. The journey is nice and easy.

Away the 24^th of October. Back the 27^th of October.

The Winter's Hotel Berlin was in walking distance of the U- en S-bahn Heidelbergerplatz.

Treptow Arena, Berlin

Capacity: 7500

Showtime: 8:00 PM

ticket prices: 50,15 - 55,90 EUR

The band members were: Bob Dylan - keyboard, harp; Stu Kimball - lead guitar; Denny Freeman - guitar; Donnie Herron - violin, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel; Tony Garnier - bass; George Recile - drums.

What a show it was!

The Berlin Arena, (just a disused bus-depot) was crowded and after a very chaotic entrance procedure the show started just a few minutes late. People still were entering the Berlin Arena at that time, through a path created by using old sea containers. The band members all were dressed in grey suits, some wearing hats it was a really rocking rhythm and blues band. Bob, dressed all in black, his jacket with a red collar, white polka-dot scarf, a little round black hat and he did seem to be in a good mood. As expected he played the keyboard all night long, with some harp in between. During the whole show the sound was perfect.

Lay, Lady Lay was as usual a highlight with some most funny, even self-ironical phrasings. There was a strong version of “It's All Right Ma, I'm Only Bleeding”. The two encores: “Like a Rolling Stone”, with a fabulous solo by Dennis Freeman and “All Along The Watchtower” performing Donnie Herron playing like Jimi Hendrix a solo on his pedal steel. The only acoustic song was “John Brown”, with a great performance of Stu Kimball on acoustic guitar. And last but not least “His Bobness” himself. Sometimes, speaking rather than singing, playing solos on the harp as well as on the keyboard. Fact is; it was another fantastic concert.

I’m, as maybe you did notice overlooking the rest of this website, a Tina Turner Fan too and what did struck me most was, there was more than one hour and a half encores, but Bob didn’t have even once eye contact with the audience. There was not even a welcome, except for the final "thank you" and the band i(ou)ntro. Some spectators more used to Dylan’s behaviour claimed that he was at the end of the show really talkative, because he didn’t only say the names of the band members, but also where they are coming from.

Overlooking the evening; The food was nice in the riverboat restaurant next to the Arena, the audience smoked too much and it was really hot, but it was a very good show.