Robert Hampton

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30th June 2012

Berlin Loose Ends
Posted by at 11.51pm | Out and About | 1 response

We’ve come to the end of my Berlin blogs. By way of a final flourish, here are some other things Andrew and I saw while we were there. They cannot justify a blog post on their own, but I’m bringing them here together for your enjoyment.

Berlin bears

Berlin’s symbol is a Bear (the animal, not a large hirsute homosexual gentleman, although there’s plenty of them around too) and these large statues, each uniquely decorated, are dotted around the city. Did the Liverpool Go Penguins team draw any inspiration from this?

Berlin Bear Berlin Bear

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16th June 2012

Tum-te-turm
Posted by at 5.23pm | Out and About | 1 response

Berlin FernsehturmIt’s hard to miss the Berlin Fernsehturm.

This striking piece of Communist architecture dominates the landscape in Berlin. It is 368 metres tall, making it the fourth tallest freestanding structure in Europe, just behind the Riga TV Tower and just ahead of Greg Davies.

It’s a long-standing joke that in films set in Paris, the Eiffel Tower moves around to be in the background of every scene. A similar comment could be made about the Fernsehturm and Berlin, but this time I think the effect is real.

When looking through my holiday snaps, it was amazing how many times the tower appeared in the background, even if I hadn’t noticed it at the time.

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