Holiday Inn Berlin-Schonefeld Airport

On the morning of November 9th I headed out to the Documentation Center, the official wall museum. At the Nordbahnhof station there was a photo display describing the subway system during the division, including the "ghost stations" and other blockaded entrances. Nordbahnhof straddled the line between East and West. While open to western travelers, the entrances on the East German side were barricaded by two nested metal walls. As I walked out toward ...

... boards, enjoying the descriptions first of the history of the checkpoint and secondly of the daring escapes through the wall that happened here. Some of our favourites escapes were the people in the cabrio car that was so low it drove under the barriers, the truck laden with sand that smashed through all the defences and lastly the guy who simply walked the alongside a bus from the unsighted guards! From the checkpoint we decided to walk to the East ...

... about four blocks of photos and stories about the history of the wall. The memorial was built so it was as tall as the wall had been which was interesting and one photo showed a picture of the exact street I was on and how the wall had gone right through that location. I left there and wandered a little bit. I found another subway station and headed to the next place that was on my "to do" list ...

... the names of people and places, where I have been, where I am going, and I cant even talk sometimes! I seem to tune out and daydream a lot, especially when people introduce themselves. Rude I know, but I seriously cant help it! Its really bad. Today I went on a tour of the Saxenhausen concentration camp, a trainride out of Berlin. It wasn't the most pleasant day, I cant really say that I 'enjoyed it', but I needed to witness a little bit of that history. Theres ...

Ahhh. Today, I have embarked off on my own to meet up with an old high school buddy of mine in Berlin. I have found that everyone I spoke with in the airport spoke English. Whew, good thing cuz my dumb ass, having almost an hour to kill after getting through security and following totally unclear signs through the entire airport, got to my gate only to discover that I had misplaced my boarding pass. I probably lost it while sitting ...

... whereas i was excited to see something that i have learned so much about. so many people, as i have experienced on traveling, are afraid to go to auschwitz. i was the same, until i had studied abroad in italy, and my professor (who was jewish) went to auschwitz on her vacation time. we were all so perplexed by the idea of going to such a place, especially one that hits so close to home. she explained that she went because she felt that it was ...

... production line I had going, but the more surprising thing to me is that the look I returned back was simply one of "don't even be thinking of stealing my tomato buddy, I've got eyes in the back of my head y'know". Homelessness, now, while not a mirthful subject, is now much more understandable and rational to me, where I used to wonder how people got in that state (excluding the mentally ill). You start out paying for accommodation away from your normal home ...

... and construction projects everywhere. The food and service were great, and I am looking forward to spending a day at one of the first concentration camps Hitler built, tomorrow. We boarded a train to a quiet town on the outskirts of Berlin. It took about an hour to reach our destination, Ossenburg [?] a little German town like any other-except this one had the dubious distinction of hosting a Nazi concentration camp. This hasn't exactly helped its ...

... I looked down at my sandals, thought to myself, "What does she mean, I'm wearing... oh ****." I'd forgotten my newly bought North Face walking shoes with the Superfeet liners that were half the cost of the shoes themselves. I had almost left what I consider the most important items for traveling -- shoes that don't give you blisters. Peer threw the shoes down one at a time, I shoved them in my bag and then ran off. I'm still kicking myself at this near tragedy. (Pun intended ...

... not really sure when he's going to get here. I'm hoping it will be before 5:10 because that's when my last opportunity to get to Prgaue is. If I don't get there today, it's no big deal. I'll just be happy to have my journal back. And so with that, I have time to write about my other experiences in Berlin, although still no pictures. It seems like every hostel I've been in now has no USB access available. I really like posting the pictures because I have a feeling that's what ...