Ich Liebe Berlin! (I love Berlin)

           Berlin is a city with a lot of history and a lot of museums. We didn’t really get to see any of those museums because, although we really wanted to know all the details of the city’s history, we didn’t really have time to get lost in a museum for 6 hours. We didn’t get to see anything on the holocaust but we did see a lot on the Berlin wall, which was incredible.  For those of you who know your history, you can probably skip down to the pictures. For the rest of you I will share with you a bit of what I learned. Again, this will be my reader’s digest version of history but here it goes: After WWII, Berlin was split into four parts; the East was put under the control of the Russians, while the West was split between France, the U.K., and the U.S.A. Within the next decade or so, there was a huge migration from East Berlin to West Berlin, making the East lose about 1/6 of its population. The government freaked out which led to a wall being built on Aug 13^th, 1961. The wall blocked its citizens off from the West by way of the streets, the river, and the metro stations. Every time someone escaped they would reinforce the wall, leading to what was known as the “death strip”.  Basically you had to get over a first wall, lined with barbed wire, then run across a barren patch of dirt perfectly lit with street lights and patrolled around the clock by gunmen on foot and in a guard tower. If you made it that far you still had to scale the final wall which was something like 12 feet high. And if that wasn’t enough, they eventually upgraded the final wall with a rounded top so you couldn’t really grasp the top and pull yourself up. (That was a very vague description, I know, but you can check out the pictures.) If you were caught trying to escape they would not try to catch you, they would just shoot you dead. To make matters worse, about a third of the victims were children. Just makes you wonder how the government could possibly think that locking their citizens inside the city would make them want to stay there. The wall was finally torn down in November, 1989, only 20 years ago.

            This bit of history should always be a reminder of how the government can use fear and propaganda to keep its people in check (sound familiar?). They have constant reminders of those dark times (the wall and the holocaust) all over the city, because they don’t want to forget and repeat history.  If you want to watch a German film that takes place in East Berlin during this time I would recommend “The Lives of Others”. This movie isn’t so much about people trying to escape but more about the Stasi (State Security who had one informant/spy for every 66 citizens). When the wall fell, the Mfs records that were being kept on citizens were released, exposing most informants who were co-workers, friends, spouses, and relatives (which torn society apart). Again, it’s a German film with subtitles but it’s a good story.

            Other than the sobering memorials, the city is very upbeat and young; In fact, you are not likely to find a dull moment. Besides the monuments and museums, there are a ton of night clubs and bars that are open until early morning, so the trains and buses run all night long too. We had no problems finding a midnight snack and doing a bit of late night sight seeing, which was perfect for us as night owls.  We tried the local’s favorite snack, Curry wurst. Basically, it is wurst (sausage) sliced and covered in a curry sauce and seasoning. Mit Pommes (with fries), you get a pile of french fries on top of your Curry wurst smothered in ketchup and mayo. They really love a giant glob of mayonnaise and ketchup with their fries. Anyway, Curry wurst is so big in Berlin that they have an interactive museum all about the history of Curry wurst. We did not visit the museum but I’m sure it is a blast. Back to food: There are a lot of Turkish people in Germany so there is a lot of Turkish food available as well. We tried a Döner gyro which is mutton (I believe) with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sauce and some herbs. Very delicious!

            Everything is relatively inexpensive in Berlin, which is just another reason to love it. If you take the metro just a few stops from the city center you are able to get two Curry wurst mit pommes and a drink for around €5. Amazing! We may just have to spend the rest of our trip in Berlin. Then we might be able to afford a museum or two J

            We stayed at another hostel but it was nothing like our last experience. This hostel was huge (900 beds) and very modern (like living in an Ikea catalog). And this time we tried the mixed dorm experience (where you just rent a bed in a room of several beds). So we shared our room with two girls from Italy. They were very nice but we hardly saw them because we didn’t spend much time in our room. This hostel tried to be very trendy with parties and events for their guests to go to (for example: bingo night, walking tours, themed parties, pub crawl, etc.). We went down to their bar on our last night to play some pool and it was pretty busy, especially on the dance floor. Randy made some friends with an odd mix of Europeans who had met the night before. The group consisted of 1 Dane, 1 Pole, and 1 Welshman, two of which had come to Berlin to look for jobs. Our overall experience at the hostel wasn’t bad at all. Except when I did laundry, something in my load gave all my whites a blue tint.

            We did spend one day visiting the medieval city of Magdeburg, which is a 1½ hour train ride from Berlin. I was on a mission to see the water bridge in person. Years ago, when I was at work, I received a chain letter e-mail (office people, you know those kinds of chain letters I’m talking about) that showed pictures of a new water bridge that had been constructed to carry cargo ships and boats over a river. The water bridge works similarly to the Panama Canal, but it’s much cooler. ‘Water Bridge, Magdeburg, Germany’; Google it.  Well after finding the tourist office in Magdeburg we were informed that it is almost impossible to get to the bridge by foot or public transportation. After months of built up anticipation, my dreams of seeing the majestic water bridge were dashed.  So we went shopping instead.  I actually needed new boots. Although I Scotch guarded my boots before this trip, it seems I did not do a good enough job because I can only walk for about 30 minutes in the rain before my socks are wet. And I must constantly be on watch for puddles. So I found a nice pair of rain boots and now I can run around in the rain to my hearts content.

            Alas, all good things must come to an end. On Wednesday morning we set out for Lille, France. It’s a good thing we left that day because a storm rolled in and it was raining all day.  I think this storm is following us because each country we arrive in the weather is perfect for the first two days and then a storm rolls in. At first we weren’t staying in one place long enough to really be effected, but when we stayed for one entire week in Rome, it rained almost everyday we were there. So we will see if the rain will follow us to France or Spain.