16/10/07 Day 78
We drive to Berlin and arrive in the early afternoon, uneventful drive and didn't get although the GPS points and the address of the campsite didn't match. Great to see Pat and Mike, first thing we spot is the rather large hole in the left side bonnet of their car. As all parents do, they don't tell you about any problems before hand in case you worry, apparently a truck had removed this large area of metal on the way and they were waiting our arrival and gaffer tape... god bless gaffer tape, nothing cant be fixed with gaffer tape. We have lunch and I reveal the lady cake which Pat has named Dolorous and ironically despite her childish garish outfit, the cake was a lovely walnut coffee cake, just what the kiddies love. We spend the afternoon catching up and head down for drinks and dinner at the site restaurant which was lovely and long, talked about the plan for tomorrow, although I don't think anyone has a real idea whats going on. I find out they have wi-fi on site, so we look up some stuff about tours before we leave, don't write anything down, so still no idea.
17/10/07 Day 79
We head off in the morning armed with Berlin Welcome cards in hand and head into town with the aid of the site instructions, other than a few unscheduled stops we arrive intact. Its cold today, but the forecast is for even colder, so we bravely walk around Berlin trying to find where we want to be with the hope that when we see it we will know it. I ask Rob.. Where is everyone?? There is no-one here, a huge city and hardly anyone to be seen. We organise a tour for tomorrow and just wander around for the day seeing some site we knew, many we didn't, but with no guide book recitals, we didn't really know, don't want to ruin the tour tomorrow. Rob gets frustrated over this wandering especially when we go over 1.5km down one road and proclaims tomorrow we will have order and direction by the best equipped person, namely him!! We head back to the site and I cook a very very mediocre dinner and head off to bed.
18/10/07 Day 80
Get up bright and early with more layers than a cake and still freezing, today the top temperature is 8 degrees and it feels every bit of it, only Rob can still feel his feet and thinks we should just get a grip, its cool, but not cold. We do a general tour with an Australian guy from Melbourne who has lived here for 8 years. This is explained by his introduction which is a plug for a non existent fantasy film for kids he is hoping to get done and released in 2011. He tells us that the rent in Berlin is cheapest in any European capital with monthly cost including bills around 400euros and that's to live in the centre, this is how he can afford to be a film maker in the making and live comfortably. Apparently we were right, there is no one who lives in Berlin although as its really 2 cities in one (Previously east and west) when the wall came down not only the easterners but the westerner Berliners left in droves. The tour was good and gave us a general view over both sides of the city, due to its side you need to use public transport to see it. I am not a huge fan of Berlin, everyone who has been raves about it, but I found it empty and sad. The problem for me is that its amazing history is generally based on human suffering and pain, first the destruction of the city by the WWII after Hitler occupied and destroyed not only it but also his own people. This has meant many of the famous sites and areas have been destroyed by the soviet communists who are the natural enemy of the Nazi's and the first group Hitler openly killed, and the allies who didn't want any part of Berlin to become a shrine for future fascists. This means that there is little visual history left and its not vibrant or energetic enough to be a great place for a city break. There is no pleasing me know... its only 3 weeks to go... I cant do time wasters. This isn't fair I know, totally unreasonable to expect Berliners to preserve monuments and places of such human atrocities for the benefit of fellow travellers but there is little tangible history left. Hitler's bunker is a car park and a block of flats, check point Charlie is a American reconstruction with posters of war heroes (only the American has a metal given during desert storm!!). My opinion was only supported by the tour guide who although he kept saying how patriotic he was about being a Berliner now, he kept pointing out its faults, told us famous sites where not worth visiting. Pointed out that Berlin use to be a swamp and so that's why it smells like drains, that they put huge blue metal pipes all over the city to take water away from areas under construction or too boggy. After the tour we went to see the gates of Babylon as I had always heard about them but had never seen them, or really had any idea about it. We stop off for hot chocolates and to defrost abit and make it to the museum as planned only to find out it is free in an hour. So we head off to a local bar and spend an enjoyable hour over drinks. Finally gaining entry we find the gates, they are impressive, huge brightly designed tilled wall but as its getting late and everyone has had a long day we make our way back to camp after taking photos and walking through Berlin at night. We grab a kebab for dinner (Mike and Pats first) and make our way home, its bloody cold now, and its too late to get the shuttle bus so we walk back to the site, all talking about putting the heaters on, having a coffee and going to bed. I have not been very generous today have I but it was a good day despite all of this, Rob and I are excited about having his parents with us, its great to have their company.
19/10/07 Day 81
We bravely head off early in the morning to the crunsh of frozen grass and mist so cold you can only see our eyes from the amount of clothing we have on. Today we did a third Reich tour with a Scotish man who has lived here for over 10 years. It was a great tour probably my faviourite, his knowledge and depth of information made berlins history real and tangable despite the lack of visual aids. We walked through berlin and covered the rise of the Nazi party and the fall of socialism in Germany, we walked the famous invasion of the Soviets and the capture of Berlin in 1945 with stories and development of the battle and insane demands of both leaders in stages. Statlin wanting a propoganda photo of a soviet soldier on top of the old parliament building by the 1st of November (a national holiday) so rather than strategically taking the area they were ordered to do a frontal assult which meant they covered 800m in 3 days with thousands dead. Only to finnaly take the building on the 2nd and having to lie to starlin about when it was taken. Hitler and his crew also decided the death of the german people was a sacrific he was willing to make, stating that the german people had proven not worthy of him. So the school kids got to put their training into practice along with any man in the city, apparently death squads of Nazis forced the natives to fight or they were hung and displayed on the streets as a warning to others. Little little men. I learnt tonnes on this tour but mostly I gained an insite into the reality of the Soviet military history during WWII, my ignorance is pitiful. Knowing the effort and sacrific of the allies I never really thought about the soviets input, at least not to the extent to which they played a vital role. 27 million died compared with around ½ million british and ½ million US, both military and civilian including 1.2 million deaths due to the harsh weather during the seize of Leningrad by the Nazi's. They sent 2 million soliders to take berlin, pulling half back only 200 miles out as they were worried they would end up killing their own troops. Amazing... a nasty little man with sadistic aims who threw men after men, yet vital to defeat another little angry man who was threatening to destroy Europe and the world before he could. It was a great tour, not over dramatic which is a key when the topic is so dramatic and chaotic. He covered genocide and the final solution which I know all too much about now, but one thing I learnt which is even more horrific is that they use to inject the corpses with benzene so they would burn better. Enough said incredibly depressing day but one where I learnt not only the history of the war but the relationships of nations then and how they have shaped Europe today. The tour also covered the division and occupation of Berlin for 50 years post war and the measures taken by the communists to keep people in the East and the lengths people would go to escape. The Berlin wall was totally pulled down and about 200 meters of it put back up by popular demand and as its only one side without the death zone (area between the two) it was hard to get a real picture. The DDR museum which looked at life in east Berlin under communist rule (they did seem to enjoy playing sport in the nude!!) had pictures and information which showed a mixture of hardship and state protection (healthcare + Education). We walked through Berlin at night and headed home, Rob and I went to the bar for a few nigh caps while Mike and Pat cleverly put the heater on full and went to bed early.
20/10/07 Day 82
Today is Sunday and we are going to the local town of Potsdam which also has a lot of history. We get info on tours and have a coffee and book a bus tour around the city which stops at the palaces and famous landmarks with a guide to provide commentary on the bus and at the sights. Catch the designated shuttle to the bus as instructed, get caught in traffic and am hurried into a waiting bus. As soon as we head off I know there is a problem, mainly I don't understand German... and this women is speaking nothing but German. I get increasingly impatient as we wait for the bus to stop as not to make a scene, the tours not cheap and promised English, so I want answers (yes I am in one of those moods and am happy to make a scene but Rob smartly blocks my escape). We stop and I run to catch the guide only to find that the English tour left while we were in traffic and we should go on the other bus now, we wont get to see the new palace (very ornate from the glimpse we got) but the rest of the tour would be in English, so that's great. Until we are told the bus is full and we should head back and ask for a refund, the German guide has our tickets and they want to see them, and the man with the British flag on his badge is the coach driver and cant speak English at all. In the end they find the seats and off we go, me calmer you will be glad to know. We visit the summer palace where Frederic the Great took his man friends, naming it "no trouble" which is on the palace front due to the fact there was no women here. He had another palace for the ladies... get what he was great at??? The most interesting stop was to a mock Tudor palace built during the first world war (odd, I know) in which Starling, Churchill and Eisenhower met to discuss the division of German after the surrender of one of Hitler's Generals. Lovely building, covered in red and orange leaves of autumn, beautiful place, yet as mike said its had to come to such a famous place as you expect to feel awe and wonderment not to think it's a pretty building. We end the tour back in town and grab some lunch before heading back to the site and get organised to leave tomorrow. We go to the campsite restaurant for dinner and Mike precedes to get me drunk and Pat to get me talking, I knew I was in trouble when Rob whispered not to tell any more stories... I deny all!! Now they know why I don't drink, a great night with great company, I am taken to bed, don't sleep well despite my state but warm at last.. good old antifreeze.
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