T-Giving in Berlin
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
55
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Berlin,
Germany
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Sorry for the big delay in this t-pod. And we still have to put something together for our trip to Italy with Mitch and Robin, our weekend in Delft with Jeff and Andrea, our anniversary in London, and my b-day in Ghent. You would think we must've been busy lately. Actually, Jan. was the 1st month since we moved here almost 2 years ago that we haven't taken at least a weekend out of town. So what's the delay? I just got the Seinfeld DVDs. Sorry 'bout that! But here is the t-pod of our t-giving weekend in Berlin.
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THURSDAY
Our 4-day Thanksgiving trip to Berlin began with a train ride from Amsterdam Central station. We had made reservations for the direct train (EUR 135 for both of us both ways - actually a pretty cheap ride considering what I thought it would cost) a few weeks earlier and were now ready for the 7:13AM departure. Julie and I got situated on the train and put on the ipod, which we had gotten as an anniversary gift from Julie's parents - or maybe it's some sort of prize for handling their daughter so well for so long or bribery to continue to do so. To explain the ipod, Julie had been begging me for one for a while since she was getting sick of the huge discman and CDs that I carried with me on our monthly trips through Europe. I had a tough time accepting the concept of spending $300 for something to play music when I already had something that would play the same music. I mean, its not like paying $300 for new music, it was just another way to play the same music. In the end, she was right as it is a whole lot easier during travel, and we do travel a lot. Although I know I am way to cheap to buy it myself so thanks again Lynn and Marty!
Anyways, we relaxed while the train weaved its way east through the Netherlands. This is a small country so in less than 2 hours, we were at the German boarder. A couple of German boarder guards got on the train and began going person by person, checking everyone's passports. This was a bit strange since we had never been stopped when driving across the boarder and they don't even check when you fly between EU countries. In fact, I almost didn't even bring them with us on this trip since they never check but just before leaving the apartment, I figured, better safe than sorry. Honestly, I don't know why I thought to grab them but I'm glad I did - I can only imagine what sort of aggravation we would've had if we had not had them. While the passport guards checked for everyone's papers, the train continued traveling into Germany. After a few minutes, we were at the next stop and the guards had finished checking so they got off. I suppose they spend the day riding between those 2 stops over and over.
As we continued east, I took this chance to balance our checkbook for the first time in a while and let's just say 'ouch!'. All this travel has been expensive! But it's all been worth it! We had a small snack of croissants and Nutella, took a nap, and heard the unfortunate news that, for some reason, we would arrive in Berlin 30 minutes late. I don't know why this was since train travel in Europe is historically always on-time but it was. But finally, after 6 hours, we made it to Berlin at 1:25.
We were immediately welcomed to Berlin with the site of the bombed-out Kaiser-Wilhelm Church, one of the most sobering testaments of war around. Following WWII, the Germans decided to leave this church, which is right in the center of town, as it was with the steeple missing a huge chunk and other reminders of its 1943 destruction. It has become a monument to the war and a landmark of Berlin. It is quite powerful!
With the backpack on my back, we stopped at the tourist office to see if we could get a little bit of info. They were not really helpful. The Rick Steves guide suggested that we get the self-guided walking tour of the Nazi sites. When I asked for it, they looked at me as if they'd never heard of the Nazis. Oh well, but we were able to buy the Welcome Card, which includes a 72-hour subway ticket and discounts to many museums, for EUR 21 each.
We jumped on the S-bahn (elevated train) to the U-bahn (the subway) and in less than 10 minutes, we were at the hotel (Hotel am Scheunenviertel for EUR 70 a night). The hotel has about a dozen plain but clean rooms and is located on Oranienburgerstrasse, a pretty trendy street filled with tons of bars and Shprockets-like techno bars. As we walked up Oranienburgerstrasse, we passed by about a half dozen strange iron-work galleries where artists were creating sculptures. It sorta reminded me of the scene when Marty returns to present-day Hill Valley in Back to the Future 2 after Biff stole the time-machine and the Sports Almanac and wins all that money gambling. It was a bit dodgy and industrial like that. The neighborhood was actually a very nice one, it just had that strange feeling to it, like all the buildings were Communist-era buildings that were disintegrating. But it was totally cool and by coincidence, was also the heart of the former (and new) Jewish quarter. The very impressive New Synagogue is just a block away.
We dropped off our bags and hit the streets. First, we took the S/U-bahn back to the main train station where Julie grabbed some Chinese noodles from a fast food joint that she ate while we were on the move.
Since our train had been delayed 30 minutes, we would have to compensate for that! Taking Rick's suggestion, we got on the 100-bus which drove us past a few interesting sites, but nothing too interesting that warranted us to get off the bus or to return to it later. It was during this 10-minute ride to the Tiergarten Park that my overwhelming memory of Berlin set in - Berlin is a HUGE city (population of 4 million)!
During the ride, we also got a firsthand glance at some of the post-war architecture that made up this city and entered into the huge Central Park-like Tiergarten (park). One interested tidbit about the Tiergarten - following the war when the city was destroyed and the residents were starving and poor, the park was nearly deforested when the locals cut down practically every tree to be used for firewood.
As we made our way to the middle of the 300-acre Tiergarten, we passed the intersection of the 2 main roads that run through the park, marked by the Siegessaule (Victory Column). The Siegessaule is 69-meters tall and topped by a golden winged lady. It was built to commemorate the Prussian defeat of France in 1870. But this was just another victory column. But what makes it somewhat interesting is the fact that it originally stood in front of the Reichstag (Parliament) half a KM away. Hitler moved it in 1938 because he felt it would be perfect on his victory parades through town, past the Victory Column, through the Brandenberg Gate, and down Unter den Linden street, Berlin's version of the Champs Elysse. That Hitler sure was organized.
Anyways, the bus continued past the Siegessaule and past the Bellevue Palace, a former Nazi VIP guesthouse that is now the residence of the ceremonial federal president. We also passed a few cool-looking buildings before getting to our stop in front of the Reichstag building (which also happened to be on Yitzhak Rabinstrasse which I thought was interesting).
The Reichstag was awesome. It was built in the 1890s and served as the house of parliament until a controversial fire in 1933. There is not much known about the fire but many think Hitler planned it. He was just rising in power and blamed it on the rival Communists Party. This stirred up enough fear in the people to launch himself into the position of head of the country - doesn't it scare anyone that GW used the same scare tactics (terrorism)?!?! Following WWII, the Russians seized the building from the Nazis and eventually, The Wall ran right behind the building. There are actually really interesting pics of the Western Germans sitting on The Wall looking at the Reichstag building following the 'fall' of The Wall.
We decided we would go in and take a look. There was a 30-minute wait to get in. Outside the building is a memorial in the form of 96 gray stone slabs that stick out of the ground. It is for those politicians killed for having different views from those of Chancellor Hitler. We also had time to notice the spotty plaster patchwork that covers up the WWII bullet holes, a small detail that decorates the entire city and gives the Berliners a constant subconscious reminder of their past.
When we finally got inside, we had to pass through a security door and wait in a small holding bin while it filled with people. After it was full, the door behind us was closed and the door in front of us opened, allowing us to pass through a metal detector. All this security seemed strange since we weren't able to get anywhere near Parliament (and there's actually another glass security wall that separates the area beyond the metal detector from the Parliament hallway). Once through the metal detector, we were escorted right to an elevator that brought us to a glass cupola that sits 48 feet above the roof and provides beautiful views of the city.
There was a nice photo exhibit showing some of the history of the building with some commentary, including a comment that the Reichstag "never housed the sham government of the Third Reich". I thought this was interesting and have noticed all over Europe how people are very sure to point out how they didn't agree with the Nazis. I've wondered a few times what these same people and institutions would've said had the Germans won WWII. Not that I am comparing Bush to Hitler but in the event his policies do indeed backfire and cause more hardship for Americans as I think they will, I wonder if someday the Bush administration will be referred to as a "sham government". Anyways...
After checking out the photos, we walked up the winding ramp that encircles a cone of 360 mirrors that reflects natural light into the Parliamentary hall. You are able to look down onto Parliament through the glass ceiling. The architect added this providing the message that there will be no secrets in government. It's a really cool-looking building and the view of Berlin is amazing!
Unfortunately I think our day might have started an hour too late because it was already dark by the time we left the Reichstag - which made for a beautiful sunset view while we were in the building but bad for pics.
It was a very cold and very raw night. We made the short walk from the Riechstag into the former East Berlin. We passed by a series of white crosses that had names and dates on them, some of which decorated with memorial candles, flowers, and/or pictures. I'm not certain what this was but one can only assume these are people who died trying to climb The Wall into freedom. This small memorial was in the shadows of the absolutely beautiful Brandenburg Gate. I think seeing it at night, lit by floodlights and glowing with an awesome white, made it ever more impressive. The Gate is the last remaining of the 14 city gates and really has no purpose other than it is the symbol of a unified Germany after being the symbol of a divided Germany for so long.
We walked from the gorgeously illuminated Brandenburg Gate up the Unter den Linden. There were gorgeous stores that lined the street and the trees were decorated in white lights for the holidays. The street is famous for its 250 year old linden trees, which ironically were all torn down by, guess who, Mister Hitler. And guess why. Because the trees got in the way of the swastika flags which he planned on lining the street during his victory parades. All this for the sake of his parades. What a jackass! The street now has linden trees again. And it is a beautiful street.
We continued up the Unter den Linden and passed a handful of embassies, upscale hotels, and lots and lots of fancy shops. Had we continued up the Unter den Linden, we would've passed a mile full of palaces, theaters, libraries, museums, and universities. We decided that we were ready for dinner though.
We got on the S/U-bahn and went to Savigny, a really cute neighborhood that seemed a bit like Lincoln Park despite being in the middle of this huge metropolitan city. We ducked into a very nice, local restaurant (Zillemarkt), which looked like a cozy beerhall. The tables were a worn wood, the room was dark, and lit by candles. I had the local beverage, the Berliner Weiss, which is a wheat beer with sugary syrup added to it. This sounds pretty gross but was actually not too bad and almost tasted like Woodchuck apple cider or one of those fruity beers that Joey probably likes. The funny thing about this was they are offered as 'red or green', meaning with red syrup or green syrup. I asked the waitress what the difference was and she said 'the color'. When I asked if they tasted different, she didn't really answer. I asked her which one she liked and she again didn't really answer. Finally, I just ordered a red one - GO BADGERS! It was pretty good. Although I don't know if I need to ever have another.
As we looked over the menu, the waitress brought us bread and a bowl of butter. The only problem was the bowl wasn't filled with butter, it was filled with pig fat! Julie decided this would be a good time to adopt kashruth! Not quite, she ordered schnitzel and French onion soup. I had potato soup and salmon. When my meal came out, it was not as I expected it to be as it was basically a plate of lox. Oh well, the potato soup was delicious and the beer was a nice treat. The bill was EUR 36.
FRIDAY
Following the usual breakfast at the hotel, we headed up the street to see the New Synagogue. The exterior is beautiful with mosaics, columns, and a gilded dome that is tall that it is a definite part of the Berlin skyline. The temple was built between 1859 and 1866 and seated 3200 people. The temple escaped harm during Kristalnacht (the November 9 and 10, 1938 destruction of Jewish sites) because the very brave police chief of the neighborhood came to protect the temple when it was reported that a mob had amassed, ready to set the building ablaze. He told those who had gathered that he would arrest anyone who progressed with their plan. I was amazed to read this story. As much as I'd like to believe it, I definitely don't have that inside of me. Truly amazing!
Following the war, there were only 7,000 Jews left in Berlin, as compared to the 160,000 that lived there beforehand. Nine of the 10 temples in the west were destroyed as were 3 of the 4 temples in the east. This one, the largest in Berlin, was severely damaged in the war but was still standing until the skeleton was brought down in 1958. The dome and front half was rebuilt in 1990 and has since become a museum and cultural center. The remainder of the temple was not rebuilt but a plain glass window overlooks an empty lot with a white outline that shows where the rest of the temple once stood.
The place was surprisingly packed. As interesting as the temple itself is, I tried to listen in on what others were saying to figure out what language they were speaking. I couldn't really tell but I assume either they were all Germans or those who are American, must be Jewish. But then again, they probably aren't Jewish since most American Jews I know have this thing about not wanting to go to Germany, as if their tourist dollars are somehow linked to what happened 60 years ago. Sadly, I think those people are missing out on a really great and interesting country that itself is fighting with its identity and past. That is why I personally enjoy traveling to Germany but always remember 'Never Again'. Anyways, this is getting heavy.
One interesting thing I found about the museum was it basically tries to show the Germans that the Jews are just like them. There are exhibits on their jobs, homes, holidays, etc. It's kinda interesting. Most of the info was put together by people who were forced to flee for fear of death. Well, it's tough to not be angry at the situation but as I said earlier, you gotta move on.
From here, we jumped on the S/U-bahn and continued our Jewish tour of Berlin with a visit to the Jewish Museum. It opened just a few years ago and is another great collection which again focuses on a mostly non-Jewish audience and shows Jews as normal people. The building itself is amazing. You enter through an 18th-century yellow Baroque building into a great museum that touches on the Holocaust but isn't dominated by it as it also has an overview on the culture and history of German Jews. The building was designed in a zigzag to represent a broken Star of David and depict the destroyed Jewish life. It is really a wonderful museum.
But first we grabbed lunch at the museum cafeteria. After lunch, we headed into the museum. There were 2 really moving abstract 'exhibits' - (1) the Holocaust Tower is a small dark outdoor area that allows you to hear the normal outside world of birds chirping and cars passing but is cut off from that world by 40 foot plain gray cement walls; (2) the Garden of Exile is a slanted concrete garden with 49 tall columns with willow trees growing in the middle of each which is supposed to make you disorientated and confused. Both are really interesting. There were also some very nice exhibits about the lives of some German Jewish leaders. All in all, it was a very nice museum!
When we left the museum at about 5:00, it was already really cold and really dark. We stopped into a grocery store nearby to pick up a small snack. The store seemed to be exactly what I would expect a communist grocery store would look like. There were a couple of drunks in the grocery store that were recycling 5 or 6 empty beer bottles for 2 or 3 full ones. They seemed like they had been doing this exercise all day. Additionally, the eastern Berlin neighborhood had very boxy apartment blocks and sterile neighborhoods, which just looked like exactly what I would think of as typically communist neighborhood.
Anyways, from here we headed back towards the center of town to meet up with our friends Janet and Dirk that were in town from A'dam coincidentally. As we walked to their hotel, we passed a few hookers and 'Johns'. It was kinda weird because we were in a nice central area and they were just so out there. They stood on the street and a car would approach, a discussion would last a few moments, then the car would leave and seconds later, another car would stop. This happened a few times but I actually never saw any of the girls ever get into a car.
We continued walking and made out way to their hotel. The 4 of us walked a few blocks to a nice Italian restaurant (Il Sorriso). When we entered, the host asked if we had reservations. We told him we didn't but still got a very nice table. The funny thing is the restaurant never got more than half full so I wonder why they needed to know if we had a reservation. Anyways, it was a very nice dinner - I had tomato soup, gnocchi, and pike and Julie had salad and salmon ravioli with lobster sauce. It was good and a lot of fun to get to hang out with Janet and Dirk. After dinner, we walked them back to the hotel where - against my cheap-bastard instincts - we grabbed a cab back to our hotel. The cab actually only cost EUR 11 so that wasn't so bad.
SATURDAY
This morning we decided to set the alarm and take a 4-hour walking tour with Berlin Walks (EUR 9 each). We saw and learned about the TV Tower and Alexanderplatz (the main commercial square of East Berlin), Museum Island (an island in the Spree River with the Pergamon Museum with world-renown Greek antiquities, the Dom (Cathedral), and a few other museums and government buildings), Neue Wache (a memorial to the victims of fascism), Humboldt University (where Einstein taught right before fleeing Nazi Germany and both Marx and Lenin studied), Friedrichstrasse (a street that used to be full of cabarets in the 20s, one of which gave rise to Marlene Dietrich), the embassies, Hotel Adlon (one of the most posh hotels in Berlin and now famous for where Michael Jackson held his baby over a balcony), the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, Hitler's bunker, some remnants of The Wall, the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Gendarmenmarkt (a big square with a couple churches and other historic buildings), and many many interesting nooks, boulevards, and buildings of historical significance!
Many of the sites were in the Rick Steves' guidebook and a lot of the info was as well, but there was also quiet a bit that we learned from our young American tourguide who had been studying in Berlin for the past 4 years. Here are a few interesting things from the tour...
** Practically all of Berlin is under construction. In fact, one of the cooler things from my past trip to Berlin, the Bebleplatz (a square where the Nazis conducted book burnings in 1933 which has a memorial underground of a room with an ominously empty bookshelf) was closed because they were making an underground parking lot. Other than the obvious construction sites, there are also big pink drainage pipes zigzagging along many buildings throughout town.
** The Kaiser left Germany after WWI for the Netherlands because his 1st cousin was the Queen of the Netherlands - it was his policies and leadership that led to the horrendous conditions that gave rise to the Nazis. In addition to the hardships of loosing a war, the Germans were further hindered by having to pay war reciprocity to the French...so in the end, WWII was the 'Dutch' guy and the French's fault. On a sidenote, Julie visited the house he lived in while he was under house-arrest. He moved trainloads of his furniture and art from his 400-room palace in Germany to his 7-room house in the Netherlands. Following the war (and after he died), the Germans tried to get this stuff back but the Dutch wouldn't go for it.
** 2.7 million East Germans escaped communism by entering West Berlin by train.
** 1200 East Berlin guards escaped to the West in the first 18 months that The Wall was up.
** I never really realized the geography of Germany but Berlin is very close to the Polish border, and thus very much behind the Iron Curtain. This basically means that there was this small pocket (half of a city) of capitalism in a sea of communism. It's almost like democratic Israel in the middle of the rest of the Middle East (dictatorship/monarchy). The guide told us that the 100s of miles of highway that stretched from West Germany to West Berlin (going through East Germany) was guarded and had barbed-wire fences similar to what you might expect along the US-Mexican border. If anyone from East Germany was able to get onto this highway, they had made it to the West. Amazing!
** Nobody seems to like the TV Tower and East Berliners even joked that if it fell over, they'd have an elevator to the West but I think its kinda cool. It was built in 1969 to demonstrate to the West how powerful and innovative the Communists were. The plan backfired when the East Germans needed to hire an architecture firm from Switzerland to finish it because the East Germans couldn't. At the same time, the Communists were removing the crosses from the churches since religion had no part in Communism. Again, the plan backfired when the sun reflected a huge cross on the mirrored ball atop the tower.
** The pedestrian street lights in East Berlin are different than those in West Berlin - in fact, the ones in East Berlin look very blocky and sterile, basically, they look communist. It's kinda hard to explain but they are cool.
** We visited a U-bahn subway station near the Brandenburg Gate that was closed during the Cold War when the city was divided. The West's trains sometimes ran through the East but the stops were closed and the exits were sealed so East Berliners couldn't walk along the tracks to get to an accessible West station and enter West Germany. Basically, West trains that ran through East Berlin were completely sealed off from the East Berliners. So these stations were unused for almost 30 years. They are now open again and are pretty cool looking. The look very Nazi-era, with cool stenciled words on mint green tiles that look like they are from another era (which they are) but the color of the tile strangely reminded my the hallways of my high school - another Nazi institution?
** The statue atop the Brandenburg Gate was removed by Napoleon in 1806 and brought to the Louve. When the Prussians got it back, they renamed the statue the Goddess of Victory instead of the former name, Goddess of Peace. Pretty funny.
** There is a Starbucks right next to the Brandenburg Gate - 2 symbols of freedom and capitalism!
** JFK is absolutely loved in Berlin. While Reagan is remembered as the man who told the Russians to "tear down this wall", JFK was one of the first world leaders to visit West Berlin after the city was divided. Letting the West Berliners know that the US stands with them, in his speech at The Wall, JFK said "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'". The problem is, while trying to show off his German language skills, he told the audience that he was a jelly donut. "Berliner" is someone from Berlin and also a jelly donut and there is something grammatically wrong with this phrase, which says he is an object rather than an individual. Pretty funny! The Germans knew what he was trying to say and absolutely love Kennedy nonetheless!
** There is a Holocaust Memorial being built near Brandenburg Gate. The tourguide told us a bit of the discussions that have taken place about this. Much of the discussion is about the location. Some feel it should be at some place that has some historical significance, like a deportation site. Others felt it should be at a place that would make it convenient for tourists to get on a bus and be driven 60 KMs north to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp that was where all concentration camp workers were trained. It is not one of the more infamous camps and there is a lot to do in Berlin so it doesn't get too many visitors. But there were many who thought the Holocaust Memorial should incorporate Sachsenhausen. Adding more discussion to the location, it was discovered that the site is above Joseph Goebbels' bunker. Ooch! In the end, the site has no relevance to the victims of the Holocaust but as a major positive, it is right in the center of Berlin, just 100 feet from the biggest Berlin tourist site (Brandenburg Gate) and will certainly get more tourist's attention than if they had to take the S/U-bahn to some former deportation center or bus-stop linked to a concentration camp that no tourists are looking at anyways. I think the site of the Memorial is very appropriate and displays just how important the Germans feel it is.
** Adding more controversy to the Holocaust Memorial, it was recently discovered that the company that will be manufacturing the anti-graffiti paint used for the site is a sister company of the company that manufactured Xyclone B, the gas used by the Nazis in the gas chambers. Ouch again!
** There is ABSOLUTELY no sign of Hitler's bunker, which is in the middle of (or was under) an indescriptive apartment block. While many tourists look all over town for this site, and there were other tour groups there when we were there, the Germans feel it is better to leave the site unmarked and have chosen to honor the victims of the Holocaust rather than the perpetrators.
** I found it rather disturbing that Hitler's suicide note expressed his disappointment in the German people for not winning this war. Julie had read a book about the post-Hitler Germans who were very angry with Hitler, not only because he led them astray, but because he took the easy way out by killing himself instead of sticking around to receive the consequences of his misleading like the rest of his countrymen. Hitler was a horribly misguided man, and a coward! How dare he criticize his people!
** There is a brick line throughout Berlin, which traces the path of where The Wall once stood. I thought that was kinda eerie but also pretty cool.
The tour ended at 4:00 and we were finally ready for lunch. We jumped on the S/U-bahn and went back toward our hotel. Just down the street from our place was a small pizza place (Pizza Pazza). We jumped inside and had a small snack (EUR 12) and then continued walking to the hotel where we grabbed a small power-nap. Our power nap turned into a 3-hour nap! I guess we had walked, seen, and learned a lot in that intense 4-hour tour!
When we woke up, we decided we would check out one of the 17 Christmas Markets. We went to the one at Breitscheidplatz. I'm sure they were all about the same but this one was advertised as having 'more than 100 traders, showmen, and craftsman, including glass-blowers, wood-carvers and doll-makers'. It was actually really nice. There was a man selling hand-painted tree ornaments that were absolutely beautiful (only EUR 8)! They were painted from the inside. He uses a flexible brush with precision. They were awesome! This was the only time in my life when I wished I celebrated X-mas.
I also had my annual glass of gluhwein (hot sweet wine which is traditionally drank during the X-mas season). I wanted to buy a gluhwein mug but the coolest one I found was used by the vendors who sold the wine. It was a red mug in the shape of a X-mas stocking with the words 'Berlin' and '2004' on it. I opted not to steal the glass at the expense of my EUR 2 deposit and asked if I could buy one. The irony was it cost me EUR 3 to buy one whereas it would've cost me only EUR 2 had I 'stole it'. Oh well, honesty is expensive. Before leaving the market, I grabbed some potato pancakes too. So yummy!
Julie didn't find anything too appealing to eat at the market so we left and decided to head back to the hotel. I said to Julie "there's a subway" to which Julie said "I know". The thing was, she thought I meant the S/U-bahn. I meant the sandwich restaurant, which we don't have in A'dam but love whenever we get a chance to have it. I thought that was funny. Unfortunately, the place was closed already. So we jumped on the S/U-bahn and we grabbed McDs instead. I was full from my potato pancakes so I didn't have any. We ended a very intense and mellow day with McDs.
SUNDAY
We woke up and went to Karl Marx Allee, a typical street of the Communist days in East Berlin. It is an endless row of plain apartments. Afterwards we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, a museum that tells the story of The Wall including descriptions of some escapes, which stands just beyond where the crossing was between the Americans and the Soviets. Checkpoint Charlie was so named because it was the 3rd crossing - ie. the military way of counting: Alfa Bravo Charlie. The museum was created in 1962 and stood defiantly just steps from the Soviet (and American) border officer until The Wall fell. Because of the proximity to the West, and freedom, many of the buildings in the East near The Wall had their Wall-facing windows covered up by brick to stop people from taking a jump out the window despite the risk of injury. The museum had many successful escape vehicles including hot-air balloons, cars with special hidden compartments, chairlifts, and home-made submarines. It also had many exhibits about other non-violent human right struggles like Gandhi and MKL.
After a few hours of battling crowds in the museum, we saw what we wanted to see and went for lunch. Luckily, there was a Subway across the street and this time it was open.
We walked around town a bit more and saw a few last places before our train ride back to A'dam. We walked through the X-mas Market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. We didn't know this ahead of time but most of the shopping areas are closed on Sundays. We had wanted to go to KaDeWe, a high-scale store with a very extensive cafeteria, but it too was closed. So we looked around the Potsdammerplatz shopping mall. There was also another X-mas Market, this one complete with a huge artificial snow-filled 'hill' where people were inner-tubing. It looked like lots of fun.
It was now time to go back to the hotel to get our luggage, and continue on to the train station. For some reason, we decided to go to a different train station than the one we arrived at. Everything worked out fine - and we got an extra special surprise when I peaked outside and saw a huge section of The Wall. Most of The Wall has been removed but this stretch was quite impressive, and scary.
After walking along The Wall for a bit, I went back inside and stocked up on some food for the ride back to A'dam. We had our last full of junk food - a crepe and a pretzel! We got on the train at 4:30 and started westward. The train was ridiculously crowded. There were people sitting on the floor by the doors. It was crazy! Janet and Dirk happened to have been on the train also so I met Dirk in the bar-car for a couple beers. We continued to A'dam and eventually made it back just before 11PM. We grabbed a taxi with Janet and Dirk as they live just a few doors down from us.
Some final thoughts...
** Looking back on our time in Berlin, I wonder who the Berliners think caused them greater hardship, the Communists or Hitler? To me, it seemed like a tie.
** An interesting comment that Rick Steves makes in his guidebook is that in a strange way, Hitler's dreams of a dominant Germany with Berlin as one of the capitals of a unified Europe have come true with the EU. Weird.
** I remember as a backpacker thinking the city was spread-out (which it is) but it's a bit more manageable than I remember. This was a great trip and I hope to get a chance to get back to Berlin soon.
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Well, that's that. Joey is arriving for a 2-week trip on Friday. We are pretty excited to hang with him. We are going to Vienna for a few days, then driving around Slovakia for a few more days, before finishing our week with a few days in Budapest. Should be a SWEET trip! After our time in the East, Joey is coming back to A'dam with us for another week. Again, should be fun.
Although Joey's trip is already off to a crazy start. It wasn't until a few days ago that Joey found out he was arriving in A'dam on Fri. morning and not Thurs. morning. He is leaving on Thurs. afternoon, which gets him into A'dam the morning after. He didn't realize there was a time difference or something! I'm very glad I looked at his itinerary because if I had woken up early and gone to the airport at 7AM a day early, I would have been very angry!
Between Julie and the way Joey's organization of his trip has started, Vienna, Slovakia, and Budapest should make for great future 'daddy' training! God help me! I'm sure you'll hear from us on the road though!
See ya soon.
-Stephen
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