Everything is under construction. The Germans can spend plenty on their infrastructure because they do not have a large military and they are not (too) afraid to pay taxes. They did not have a military after World War II (remember, they were occupied!) until they entered NATO in 1955. That greatly helped their post-World War II recovery. After reunification, they inherited a large army from the DDR. They have been downsizing ever since, and now the military is a fraction of what it was before.
One humorous commentary I heard on a German newscast was about Donald Trump’s remark about Belgium: “Belgium is a beautiful city”.
All of Europe is soccer (football) crazy with the European championships, which are held every four years. After we walked past the crowds watching soccer on outside TV screens, we strolled to the banks of the river Spree, which in the daytime is teeming with tourists, but now was peaceful and quiet. Somehow that was a fitting good-bye to the city.
The train trip from Berlin to Rotterdam went smoothly. We had a scheduled change of trains in Holland. Our next train was scheduled to depart two minutes after arrival of our first train. But our first train arrived three minutes early, so we had a whole five minutes!