in the height of climate change. what's in store. planning for the future. comes the chemical city hall to get insight. into. it's impossible to overlook the holiday season is in full swing there are sparkling lights all over berlin but that's about the only thing that's just like years past

and the run up to christmas and times of covert 90. there are hardly any tourists said the grand bowl of ours may be merry and bright but there are few people around to enjoy them. plenty of christmas trees though like this one in front of the brandenburg gate. the difference this year is especially apparent on john diamond one of the most beautiful squares in the city this place is usually hopping in december it's the site of a popular christmas market but due to the pandemic that was of course canceled this year. and spite of it all i'm on the hunt for a berlin's christmas spirit are people in

a festive mood at all where does the city shine brightest and with christmas markets cancelled where do i get my annual fix of gingerbread lol boy let's find out. we're going to pay a visit to $1.00 of berlin's most elegant hotels the outline. will also make a stop at the historic cause of the morial church. and will catch up with globe trotters steve payne a shot in the portuguese capital lisbon. the. traditional christmas markets were called off even before the most recent shutdown was announced but individual booths like these are still permanent. side of it how

do you feel about christmas markets being canceled it's sad yeah really a shame this for. once i'm a big fan of christmas markets for now we'll have to make do with what we've got and hope things will be better next year 1st of. all couldn't get an alternative set up like this substitute for the real thing no of course not this is just a compromise it's better than nothing but it's nothing like a traditional christmas market so feel fresh it's really sad that we don't have the regular holiday markets this year and that's going to but under those circumstances to protect our health and safety i think it is absolutely acceptable. so are you doing anything special to try and get into the spirit of things do you have any tips for us as marty as would be the target of everything if we just moved into an apartment together. and we've decided to put up decorations and stuff like that out a little christmas cheer in the bad right now from someone. who made an advent

calendar things like that to get into the spirit on the 1st sunday of advent we had waffles coffee and cake just like always but we're sticking to our usual traditions to give. the difference in many spots around town the striking it's so quiet potsdamer platz normally bustling with crowds is almost deserted usually you'd find a colorful christmas market here too complete with ice skating rink and sled run. the major traditional christmas markets and might not take place this year but when it comes to the festive season people in germany can get quite inventive here's a look at some socially distanced alternatives to germany's time honored christmas

favorites. snow christmas lights was a chestnut this may look like a typical christmas market but there's at least one major difference in the varying town of launching this year to traditional christmas market is a drive through on. what. i think we just had to christmas is our favorite holiday and we want to make the most of it this might be right we're looking forward to christmas and want to get into the spirit of the season and we're hungry. whether they come for traditional treats or to just soak up the atmosphere it's been a huge hit patrick smith had the idea after closing this restaurant due to coffee restrictions. and everyone is so happy we're doing this even when they have to work with no one seems to mind some actually like waiting it gives them a chance to hang around and enjoy themselves 10 or 15 minutes longer sort of the

meeting or to be seen going to. visitors can pick up traditional broad worse cotton candy and a lot of other traits without leaving the walk in safety of their own vehicles there's even more whining thermos flask on offer for those who want behind the we'll of course some travel quite a distance for the pleasure of a trip to the drive and market. we want to support this market and there's not much else around going to come for dinner and some old one well not all points for me the driver we're here to give our kids a. of christmas to get them in the holiday spirit. the restrictions to curb the spread of the corona virus have gravely affected the

tourism sector hotels are among the businesses hit the hardest at berlin's luxury hotel adlon there are more employees than guests these days but that didn't stop them from decking the halls. in these empty chair staring usually people from all over the world enjoying afternoon tea. i have an appointment with hotel manager costs that. has already been sold beautifully decorated but for whom do you have any guests at the moment ya beyond that we do have guests as many normally had this time of year that's about 20 rooms are booked that's a 6 percent occupancy rate. to create christmas you happiness for your furry guests and staff to spread a little joy. among the guests of the so very few guests how do you sustain

a hotel of this size during a crisis financially. we're not breaking even of course but a hotel like this would also cost a lot of money to operate even if you close temporarily but decided to make a statement of sorts to make it clear that the photo is open to all guests that are still able to call and want to call and to our regular customers business travelers for now that we are there for them and will provide our usual service and you came up with a very special thank you for the pandemics frontline heroes tell me more than once it's been hard on us sure but. take a moment to think about the people who are really making a difference in these difficult times it is clearly those working in our health care system people who work day and night to save other people's lives and nursed them back to health so we thought what can we do to shore appreciation and to give something back the answer was obvious as

a hotel we could offer them complementary stays so that's what we did on the how was the response enormous overwhelming within 34 days the 1000 overnights days you offered were all booked and the waiting list was started half of the states have already been redeemed more than half of our health care heroes have come to stay here in our hotel with that everything because to ensure they enjoyed themselves it's been incredible and that's when it comes from is a thing like the pandemic in the restrictions that followed the tourism and berlin on hold but that's not entirely true in the midst of the 2nd lockdown the long awaited new berlin airport opened its doors to the world and you can also now visit the reconstructed berlin palace my colleagues look at stake i went and checked out . my 1st stop the so-called b e

r berlin's major airport it is only been in operation since october 31st. so touristic me speaking this is the very latest berlin has to offer. this is the terminal building and i've got to say it's neither beautiful more ugly it's just an airport and it's not particularly big if you consider that the whole thing was designed for around 46000000 passengers a year. however as you can see. it is of little use if the moment there are only a handful of travelers at least the pandemic hit the airport hard in addition it was opened with an unbelievable 9 years dealing with please please please please please

and on the runway hardly any movement. it's. as you can see there is hardly anything going on here so let's see if it's different in the city center. plane. please please please please please please please please. please and that's the new old palace the so-called homeboy form to me it kind of looks like a film set a little bit unreal. 3 facades of the palace where once prussian rulers resided or built in historical stock only one side is very modern. i like their story

called facades better but many people have a completely different opinion. so the reconstruction is controversial mainly because of the reproduction of the historical facade. i am permitted to enter the courtyard the head of the opening the once completely destroyed palace has been rebuilt since 2012 there are only a few scaffolding left home but who vote for them or lynn palace what is it actually as a business is primarily a center for culture and science there are exhibitions events and have a culture education program consequently help. world cultures it's the whole level it's our questions relating to democracy and the environment there's an exhibition on how berlin and the world are interconnected another about the fascinating history of this site over the course of 700 years it's 4 different buildings including the whole forum and these were located at this site of the 1st dominican

monastery in the whole solar palace in the sea east germany's parliament and now the home port form which is now almost part of this history there what's the biggest attraction for tourists here what is there to see when to give the come out as i don't know if they're really in the garage larger courtyard reconstructed on 3 sides is a brand new part of berlin just waiting to be discovered then there's the north-south passageway and the palace itself so that. allegedly the home board form will open soon and that's a glimmer of hope jury was locked out. until mid december stores in germany were still open for christmas shopping. you always make and shore to keep it distance between mass shoppers encoded the probably berlin's the most famous department store. it 1st opened its doors over

100 years ago. on the 4th floor it's christmas the lower every kind of decoration imaginable everything you could wish for and more. it seems like business as usual to me but this is nothing compared to what they're used to. according to store manager to move into. anywhere how noticeable is the absence of tourists in the store. very barely those from the surrounding areas account for about 50 percent of cod a v. revenue the rest is generated by visitors from elsewhere in germany europe and the

rest of the world so we are noticing the difference at the moment but we're flying the christmas flag so to speak for billionaires to come here and feel and enjoy a sense of normality. no money of normality but only to some degree only 3000 people are allowed in the store at a time how do you keep track digital monitors at the doors count people as they come and go that shows us how many are inside at any given time and our team also keep a close watch on things. when you know right now barbara lynn are still coming here to ca davey or have you noticed a reluctance in people to spend time indoors during the pandemic once and tighten up on any movie stars honestly believe no i feel that we're leaders are supporting us standing by us we see plenty of evidence of that it is wonderful when 1st thing in the morning you see someone had 2 words it seems counter for a little chat because they may spend most of their time at home and have very

little social interaction lives here the seals deficit cheerful have to engage in conversation and out how they're doing that's what we're here for to. keep in touch talk to people and offer our customers nice things to take home. as an insecure assistant what's the biggest challenge for the store in the current situation i think of them i think there are many different kinds of challenges the 1st thing is respecting the regulations and yes the standards to safety is priority number one with the plane and i think we're doing very well at maintaining safety in this thing i can tell that from the feedback we're getting them just be that from the authorities or i guess it's and then of course our goal is to fill the story with the magic of christmas so that the visitors feel good when they're here relaxed and happy. setting off to discover foreign lands is not really an option for most people due to the coronavirus pandemic but our globe trotters steve painted just couldn't wait any longer and had it in portugal and the capital lisbon he wanted to

know what people there are doing to get in the mood for christmas. welcome to portugal where i'm spending winter this year due to the pandemic today i am in lisbon in the run up to christmas with my local friend how well i actually met 8 years ago travelling through bolivia and now he's going to show me how the portuguese are celebrating this time of the and that's why we are actually here in front of a church it's usually all the traditional portuguese christmas starts right fortunately still largely very carefully country and soul the traditional way to to leave it is you should fostering today and then you meet with all your family and all the community inside the church for a special service called me. and then after the service you can go to your respective family house and they have a feast we do your own families ok go in and check it out let's go all right.

christmas wouldn't be received this without christmas pastries and what we have done in germany you have the bull's eye bull's eye is the super traditional christmas reds. that's usually made with crystallise fruit on top so it's very colorful and he also has tried treats and raisins and so it's and it was invented right here it's called victory in us you know right in the heart of the. our self let's finally try it so let's try it.

while. it was just you know by all german christmas bread. week christmas eve felt. in germany we have christmas markets do you have anything like this you're. not in the same sounds but usually what happens is this hold on to an area where it's very much a shopping and serious question here every shop gets decorated and then you can see that's all they specialize in the christmas tree so usually people just to have a waltz and enjoy the christmas episode. let's talk about christmas dinner some might say the most important part about the whole christmas eve and we actually came to

a more traditional restaurant here in this venue to try something you would actually have for christmas dinner but not in the restaurant i would i would say red never in the restaurant you always have the christmas deanery with your own family but still this is it would be exactly what you have called fish we just some vegetables around chickpeas potatoes some cabbage sometimes. very down to earth and very typical and this was actually in the past somewhat expensive cut so families would really save up. so they could afford but i don't know for the christmas you know i mean so it's not christmas eve i would say let's enjoy it let's you get. drunk as whole. christmas experience we have a tradition oh. right yeah sweet chariot liquor called is using a nonsense so that's not the fish with all.

kinds of food. for many people around the world the christmas season is a time of contemplation and celebration of their face. in front of the kind of do have a memorial church star shaped ornaments with personal wishes written on them remind us how quickly the ordinary can become something extraordinary this person wishes they could spend christmas with their grandparents.

for many going to church isn't there a vocal element of christmas but will services be possible in the midst of a pandemic. gamma has been the memorial church's pastor for 15 years as one of our not of us has ever experienced a christmas season quite like this one how is it been for you. fortunately we were allowed to worship together and that's what we were designed to on christmas eve i told the early services mid day because on that night and something we have already been doing for doing the advent season has been said on weekdays we hold midday prayers. services there are fewer people in attendance the usual that those who come in are really appreciative it means a lot to them and we think it will be the same on christmas eve thing we have done

also the economy what service like in times of the coronavirus what care and what can't be done. from what i met on does it was the 1st of all we maintain want to have meter distance between chairs no one sit side by side as your only good but that's a certain quality of its own you focus more on yourself and perceive those around you differently with the thought of we're not allowed to sing so instead we have the organ sing for us if you will the and then we can either sing along in our heads or i read the words aloud to the music. it's interesting this gives us a new sense of protection which can be very positive. and i think in the volume of mother thinks currently our services are shorter than usual because we leave things out that would normally be part of the services but that in turn helps us focus more intently aprile for those who were on board the come on over thunder what was

quite simply on this count among all this can you even get in the mood for christmas or is there something missing. it does pretty well i'm curious to see how things develop from my experience as a pastor i can see that true christmas spirit is when we really began to celebrate it before that we're busy organizing and preparing everything and that's not the same as the christmas celebration itself i think we reach christmas eve and christmas day we will find ourselves in a festive mood and then hopefully we can leave the hustle and bustle in a few of our troubles behind and focus on what christmas is really about is important to remember that some christmas god became man born as a child in a manger works in a makeshift shelter. with a big gun considering that the things here are still pretty home on this it all began under the circumstances were well that's what's nice about it what does associated with and i'm providing already way back when happy holidays thank you to

. the. 'd one bright check plots right next to the church some scattered stalls are doing their best to spread a little christmas cheer. merry. with and again i think what mulled wine please. and at least some things haven't changed. after all that 2020 has put us through i almost didn't believe it possible but my little stroll through berlin really didn't get me in the mood for christmas there's something comforting about all those shimmering lights although of course the

cheerful crowds are missing hopefully next year we can all get back to how things used to be happy holidays and a safe wherever you may be. the

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the rate of infection been developing. measures are being taken. what does the latest research say. information into context. the coronavirus of data the code of special monday to friday on w. up to date don't miss our highlights w. program online w dot com highlights. of you all with words. of where i come from you don't want to weigh from. confrontation. when i was 5 years old my father took me to his friends and i was hooked on the spot. a sport that you learned soul enters your soul. fencing as a language and

a good sword fight is a conversation. must leave your opponent on the stand thinking new of the men to get close otherwise. it's not unlike a tough interview really when interviewing politicians or corporate c.e.o.'s you have to wait for the right moment just to get around the defensives then make your own. guess i'm taking risks to get results. i'll go out office and i work at. the frankfurt. international gateway to the best connections road and rail. located in the heart of europe connected to the whole world. experience outstanding

shopping and dining offers and try our services. be allat guest. managed by from. this is news and these are our top stories more than 300 school boys kidnapped in nigeria have been returned to their families the boys for also meant by the president and state's governor and on the ones medical checks the jihadist group boko haram says it's abducted the boys but the government is blaming other criminal groups. at least 15 people many of them children have been killed in a bombing in eastern afghan.