Berlin

The following post covers my time in Berlin - Sept 13 - 15, 2014:

Today started with my alarm going off at 2:40 AM.  Surprisingly I jumped out of bed - probably more from being nervous that we would oversleep.  Our private water taxi was scheduled for 4:15 AM.  We were both ready by 3:50.  We said our good-byes, discussing what an amazing trip it has been.  We headed down to the check-out around 4:05.

The bellman and front desk guy took us out to meet the water taxi - we were all a little early.  We were loaded and headed out before 4:15.  The water taxi was very nice.  Given the chill in the air, we sat in the enclosed portion, facing each other.  The driver took a few side canals to wind his way north towards the airport.  Finally we were in open waters and he started to go very fast.  It was interesting how traffic lanes had been created in the water with large poles on bouees.

We got to the airport in only about 22 minutes - about 10 minutes faster than we had expected.  Of course there were porters there wanting to take our luggage and drive us to the terminal for 20 euros.  It was only a 7 minute walk from the dock, so we passed.  The walk was refreshing.

The airport was pretty basic, although there was a very interesting fountain/water feature outside.  By 5:00 AM, the security line was surprisingly short and we both thought that she should go through since there were many people in line at KLM and other airlines.  I watched her go through security, with many good-bye waves along the way.  

With more than 4 hours until my flight, I found a table area at one extreme end of the terminal, grabbed a seat and started to catch up on my blogging.  I finished one day and was getting tired of sitting there.  Around 7 AM, I headed down to check my bag and go thru security.  I waited in line only to find out that my flight was not open for baggage check yet - not until 7:20.  So I waited with many more people waiting for the Berlin flight to open up for baggage check.

There were minor delays and bag search at security.  The shops after security were pretty impressive, but pricey - Mont Blanc, Burberry, Bulgari in addition to the usual Duty Free fare.

I got a water and a cream-filled croissant - I was starving by this point.  I had been up for almost 5 hours...and no food or nap! 

The boarding line started up before the inbound aircraft even arrived.  When the inbound plane arrived, they started scanning our boarding passes.  We were then sent about half-way down the jet bridge, to wait at a roped off area.  We watched all of the people get off the inbound plane and divert to a different area when they reached our roped off line. 

After it was all clear, then we were directed on to the plane.  It was actually quite efficient and very little down time between flights.  I'm sure the US airline flight attendant union would have issues with this type of scheduling and boarding.

As each person boarded, the flight attendant checked boarding passes again.  There were two male and two female flight attendants.  Was shocking how multi-lingual they were to be flight attendants.

The flight was uneventful and only 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I read the Rick Steve's guide most of the flight to figure out what to do in Berlin.  There was a kid directly behind me that was fussy at first, but was surprisingly good the rest of the flight.

We arrived in Berlin right on time.  I had my passport ready as we approached what looked to be an immigration check...but there were no guards working the desks.  We all just breezed through.  Then we came to baggage -  a short wait.  My bag came out pretty quickly and then customs was a breeze too - just walked through.

Outside of baggage claim and customs, I started searching for signs for the train and didn't see anything.  So I headed to the Tourist Information desk - they were very helpful, which was opposite of what Rick Steve's had suggested (they are paid by hotels, etc rather than the city and typically try to push their sponsors).  She explained that there is construction on many of the train lines around the airport.  However, the station that I needed is on an airport express line - I just had to wait about 10 minutes once I walked about 7 minutes to the airport station...not exactly the close proximity that we enjoy in MSP, ORD, etc.

The ride was relatively quick and smooth.  I really had to watch the signs on the train and at each station since the words were so foreign to me.  I arrived at my station and it was quite large - I later found out that it is a major transfer point.  There were many restaurants, shops, a grocery store, etc.

I wasn't sure the direction of the hotel - just knew the address, so I took my chances.  Luckily my first try was the correct one.  The walk was a bit further than the "short walk" referenced on the hotel website.  There were lots of uneven surfaces and cobblestones randomly mixed into the sidewalk.  For the third time today - and only times of the entire trip - I fell with my bag as I was rolling it.  Never hurt with any of them...besides my pride.

Arrived at the hotel and got a very nice front desk agent.  She was very efficient and very friendly.  I talked about my trip and she was very interested.  She suggested a few things nearby in Berlin.  But best of all, I was able to check into the hotel several hours before the official check-in time.

The walk to my room was VERY long.  The room was very nice - it had a balcony overlooking a lovely garden.  It was very quiet and peaceful.  The room was very bright and comfortable and had a wonderful modern bathroom.  I spent some time unpacking, rearranging and then researching what to do.  Before I knew it, it was nearing 3 PM.  I had figured out the directions and train transfers to go to a local Street Fair so I headed out.

The train ride to the first transfer point wasn't bad; however, it was a very long walk within the station to transfer trains.  

When I arrived at the needed stop, I saw a grocery store named Kaiser's!

After walking several blocks, I arrived at the entrance for the Fair.  It was a donation and the smallest thing I had was 5 euros.  The streets were PACKED!  

The crowds were incredible.  It was very difficult to walk through the main area and at times I would go off to the sidewalks for more air.  

I walked up and down the streets several times.  The fair went along for about 4-5 blocks and branched out on one street to include a stage.  There were numerous vendors and many bars that were mostly selling beer and food stations mostly selling sausages.

I had had enough and decided to leave the fair.  It was about 6 PM and I hadn't had lunch or dinner.  A small breakfast at the Venice airport, but wasn't sure I wanted to eat so early or in that area.  I stopped in a few more stores on the way back.

I walked past a burger place with great outdoor seating and debated.  Ultimately after walking a few more blocks, I made my way back to the burger joint and sat outside.  Had a great glass of Malbec and a beef burger with blue cheese and crispy, fried onions on a whole wheat bun and a side of pomme frites....only remember all of those details because you had to select everything.  I ended up getting a second glass of Malbec too.  Glad I noticed on the menu that they were cash only...and that I had enough cash.  The burger was incredible.  Not sure if it was how hungry I was or if the burger was really that good...but I ate every last morsel on my plate.

After dinner, I made my way back to the train rather quickly.  I made the transfer and was back in the main station by around 8.  I stopped at the grocery store and got a bottle of wine, a big bottle of water and a few small bags of chips.  Back at my hotel I looked at e-mails and thought about the wine.  I was getting more and more tired by the minute and ultimately went to bed without opening the wine. 

Sun, 9/14:

My alarm went off at 7:40 the next morning, but I continued to hit snooze until about 10 AM.  I was so tired.  The short night on Friday was catching up with me.

After finally getting dressed, I headed down to the lobby to talk with concierge about the hop-on/hop-off bus.  There was an older gentleman dominating the concierge's time...the concierge kept looking at me as if to say sorry.  Ultimately the older man saw me and started a conversation with me.  Asking where I was from...the US I responded...yes, he said, which city...Minneapolis, I said.  Miami Beach, he repeated, I visited there once.  I decided not to correct him.  We talked about my "home town" and the hotels and restaurants along Collins Ave....thank goodness I could remember the name of that street.  Next he asked my name - I said Matt...oh, nice to meet you Max....no, Matt, M-A-T-T, I said...oh, yes Mark he responded.  Close enough...I'm now incognito as Mark from Miami Beach.  Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the concierge chuckling at this point.

The older gentleman then was showing me his tie to guess where he had gone to college in the US.  It was a solid maroon tie with nothing else on it.  I was at a complete lose so I guessed Notre Dame.  I still have no idea why I said that, but it was the one college I could think of that might have large international draw.  Wrong - he had gone to Harvard Law School.  The solid maroon made more sense, but in my defense some type of crest or initials would have been helpful.

Finally I said that I needed to talk to the concierge about my plans for the day.  He started inviting himself along too, but I pretended that I didn't hear that part!  I told the concierge that I wanted info on the hop-on/hop-off bus.  He was very efficient in pulling out the map, quoting the prices and I made a quick decision.  Within 10 minutes, I was on the bus and plugging in my earphones.  Off to see Berlin.  

I wanted a broad overview of the city.  I had heard that it was very spread out, not compressed like Paris, Florence or other European cities.  I wanted to get my barrings and decide which things to explore later on Sunday or on Monday.

I bought the pass that covers most of the old West Berlin with a little of the old East Berlin.  There was a second bus line that only covered the old East Berlin, but the concierge said that all of the major sights were on the West Berlin route.

The bus tour was very informative and lasted almost 3 hours...a bit longer than I had expected.  I rode the entire route.  There were time restrictions starting at 3:30 PM that I didn't completely understand and I didn't want to get stuck at some random stop in far West Berlin.  

Along the way I saw Brandenburg Tower, Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Wall Remains, TV Tower and many other key attractions.

I knew that I wanted to visit the Museum of the Murdered Jews of Europe since it was closed on Mondays.  I rode the bus back to the stop closest to the museum which was only one after where I had boarded the bus.  I was pretty hungry at this point, so found a street vendor with a big line...that has to be a good sign, right?  They had only pomme frites and sausages for food.  I got the pomme frites with warm, spicy catsup....and they they were incredible.  I sat down at a picnic table next to the vendor.  

From here, I walked about a block to Brandenburg Tower.  I had hoped to take multiple pictures and then walk across it to the museum.  However, there was a huge event/demonstration for Israel happening at the Brandenburg, so all foot traffic was blocked.  There were mutiple police officers with machine guns ready to fire at any time, so I thought it best not to forge any new paths.  Instead I had to make a long detour to get to the museum.  Luckily I was also able to get a few shots of Brandenburg from the other side.

I got to the Museum and the outside Memorial was very impressive.  It was easily as big as a full city block and the concrete slabs were reminiscent of tombstones and were to represent all of the Jews that were murdered during WWII.  After many pictures and wandering among the slabs which changed elevation - with the very middle being very tall - at least 10-12 feet high, completely blocking out any sunlight - I went to the line for the Museum.

Luckily the line was short, less than 10 minutes.  Had to go through a security checkpoint and then paid 4 euros for an audio guide and checked my bag.  Pictures were allowed, but no flash.

I started the tour around 4:15 PM.  I thought it might take 1.5 hours and that I would have time to stop at the hotel before going to Alex and Francois' for dinner.  Before I knew it, it was after 6:30.  The museum was quite overwhelming and very heavy.  The timeline, the stories, the families, the letters...it was really more than I had been expecting.  A few times I just had to sit down and stop reading for a while...the material was just too much and too emotional.

The museum first took you through the timeline from 1918 until 1945....the end of WWI,  the slow rise of the Nazi party and ultimately the escalating treatment and persecution of the Jews in Germany and other areas.   The next room moved into letters, postcards and journals of individual people.  The next room features 15 families across 12 different European countries - explaining their history, their initial reactions and actions to the Nazi uprising, and ultimately what happened to each member of the family - who survived, who died and how for each scenario.  Following was a room with a continuous reading of names and biographies of the victims.  To read the entire list and biographies takes over 7 years.  The next room highlighted all of the sites and areas where major persecution took place, with 8 sites in particular being highlighted.  At this point is where I noticed my very short amount of time before my dinner plans at 7 PM.  I raced through the last parts of the museum.  I did stop to watch some of the video interviews of survivors - it is only open on Sundays, so I felt that I was lucky to experience these first hand accounts.  

The room with letters, postcards and journals:

The room where names and biographies are read:

At this point I knew I was going to be late for dinner, so I decided to be even later and went to the Memorial for the Murdered Homosexuals.  The memorial was less than a block away from the Jewish museum.  The memorial was rather disappointing - a very nondescript concrete box with a small window.  When you looked in the window, there was a video playing of a same-sex kissing scene.  Something about it did not resonant with me and I couldn't understand or appreciate the message it was trying to convey.  There was a marker about how difficult it had been to get the memorial created and sanctioned by the state, so perhaps it was a compromise to get anything.

At this point I knew there was no way I would have time to stop at my hotel and freshen up.  I walked to Potsdam Plaza to catch the train - it was only about 2 blocks away.  I still had to connect through Friedrichstrasse, so I stopped at a grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine.  

The lines at the grocery store were horrible and I later found out that was because most other grocery stores and liquor stores are closed on Sundays, so everyone goes to the train station....what an opportunity to open a grocery store chain that's open on Sundays!!

It was only two train stops and the walk from the station was rather quick - just over a river footbridge and then about a block up a major street.

I was terribly embarrassed when I got to Alex and Francois' apartment - I was over 20 minutes late.  However, Alex and Francois were very gracious hosts and said that it no problem as they were feeding Raphael.  These are the folks that are friends of Bridget who I met in Paris and we exchanged contact information to get together when I was in Berlin.  Francois is French, Alex is German...and they are both tri-lingual.

Almost as soon as I arrived, Raphael, their 11-month old son wanted me to hold him.  They were shocked - they said that he rarely wants to go to strangers.  

Francois offered me a drink and I just had water.  Later when Alex came down, we all had the same drink - a port-type aperitif...wine with cognac added, served on ice.  It was rather nice.  They served Rosemary potato chips for appetizers - saying that we were eating in a very French fashion, not at all in a German manner.  Little did I know that Chris and I often eat in a very French style with appetizers and drinks preceding dinner.

Dinner was very German, just as promised - Gulasch, Kloee and Red Cabbage.  All three items were delicious.  Francios had made the entire dinner, so added a little bit of a French flair to the meal.  We all had hearty seconds of everything.  I warned them that I am a very slow eater, so I was finishing my first helping as they finished their seconds...but I still finished a second helping.  We enjoyed the Italian wine that I had brought and then Francois opened a second bottle - one from Mendoza.

Francois had done lots of thinking and research about my Monday in Berlin.  I mentioned to him that I had a few things in mind, but so did he...and he seemed very interested in showing me around.  He suggested a WWII Bunker tour which is relatively new since the bunker was only discovered a few years ago and a local non-profit company has been returning it to the original state.  He had even found the exact times for an English tour.  I knew I was going to have to make a few adjustments to my Monday plans, but it seemed worth it.

Around 11:45, I left their apartment, hopped the train and was back in my hotel just after midnight.  I stopped for a glass of wine at the lobby bar to take to my room - a Chianti for only 6 euros.  In the room, I looked at e-mails, planned for Monday, finished the wine and was off to bed around 1:45 AM.

Next day, 091514:

Today is my second full day in Berlin.  The first planned event of the day was the WWII bunker tour at 11 AM.  I needed to arrive by 10:30 to get my ticket and the train was about 10 minutes.  I had initially thought about trying to go to another museum before the bunker, but the ones I was interested in visiting didn't open until 10 AM, so the logistics didn't work out.

I easily found the ticket office for the bunker...it certainly helped that Francois had pulled it up on Google maps street view last night.  There was a cafe next door, so I got a Coca Light to use their outdoor tables to journal for a while before the tour started.

The tour today was so large that it was split into two groups.  Luckily I weasled my way into the first tour - no need to wait around for the second one to start.  Plus I liked the Canadian accent of the first tour guide.

For the smaller group of 20, she asked who were native English speakers - only about 5 people.  She then asked how many Americans - 3 of us raised our hands.  However, I was towards the back, so she only saw the couple at the front.  It ended up being good for me - she sort of ridiculed them during the entire tour.

She started the tour by explaining that most of the bunkers in Berlin where not built until after the war had started.  Hitler never expected Berlin to be hit.  When the air raids started, he was surprised.  The goal was to build 3,000 bunkers, but only about 1,000 were built.  Sounds impressive, but some bunkers only held one person.  In total, it is estimated that the 1,000 bunkers could handle only about 10% of the Berlin population.  So there was fighting and competition to get into the bunkers whenever the alarm was rang.  Being of the Arian race also helped your chances of getting in the bunkers.  The other very interesting thing - the vast majority of the bunkers were not "bomb proof" as advertised.  Since they were in the middle of war, resources were short, so many corners were cut.  There is documented proof the Hitler knew they were not bomb proof and said that as long as they weren't hit then the general population would never know.

An example of the single person bunkers:

Unfortunately pictures were not allowed in the bunker - the non-profit group does not own the bunker and they had gotten in trouble when pictures from previous tours started showing up on the internet.  I would highly recommend doing a Google image search - it was very interesting.

The first room we entered was the bathroom - a surprisingly big room with about 10 toilets lining the wall.  No privacy, but there was probably little light during the times that you were in the bunker.  It was very surprising that the glow-in-the-dark paint used through most of the bunker would still illuminate the room....not terribly bright, but enough to see a few people beside you.  It was estimated that the paint would have been much brighter in the 1940's, enough to read a newspaper and the Nazi propaganda that was hung throughout the bunker.

The guide was very good about distinguishing between people in Berlin at the time who were supporters of the Nazi regime vs. the people who were under Nazi rule.  Hitler was elected with only 40% of the vote.  One of the key aspects of the Nazi rule and any dictatorship is conformity.  Once in power, the Nazis used propaganda, peer pressure and other tactics early on to ensure conformity.

During my time in Berlin, I've often wondered why people did just leave Berlin and Germany altogether.  I discussed this with Alex and Francois last night too.  Ultimately, there's probably multiple reasons - had always lived there and didn't have courage or interest to leave, didn't know another language or trade to go elsewhere, couldn't afford for travel to another place plus there's not the same transportation options that we have today, other countries were blocking their immigration from Germany...and ultimately the Nazi propaganda was convincing that Berlin would be fine, especially at the beginning of the war before air strikes started.

The last twelve days of the war was the most destructive for Berlin.  The number of bombs dropped during those twelve days was more than in the previous 4 years combined.  By the end of those 12 days, more than 70% of the city was destroyed.  After the war ended, the people of Berlin faced life among rubble, without basic necessities and needing to rebuild their lives.  The bunker showcased how the residents had greatly reused items - a soldiers helmet was turned into a colander, a bomb casing was made into a small oven, old tires were used for shoe soles.

One of the last rooms to visit in the bunker was a "hospital" room.  Given the frequency that the bunkers ultimately had to be used, the hospital room was important for women who might be having their baby at that exact time, to separate any sick people from the others and for the high rate of suicides that occurred while in the bunker.  The guide said that birth certificates for babies born in the bunker actually lists the bunker as place of birth.  While we were in this room she also talked about the very high rate of female rapes by both Nazi and Russian soldiers.  The statistic she gave indicated that most of the women in Berlin were raped multiple times.  There were stories of some women making deals with high ranking Russian officers to be raped by them as many times as they liked in exchange for being protected from others raping her.  What a way to live...to survive.

From the bunker tour, I headed back towards the station - I wasn't going to meet Francois for another 45 minutes.  There was a large shopping mall next to the station, so I went in for some shopping and lunch.  I got a new SD card for my camera - I'm up to over 7,000 pictures on the trip, so nervous that my card might get full.  Then I had a delicious lunch at McDonald's - yes, McDonalds...first I love it and second it was quick and easy!  

I went outside and ultimately met up with Francois.  Our first stop was a section of the Berlin Wall.  This particular section still has the guard stand and "no man's land" in tact.  I never knew until today that there were actually two walls - one wall, then a span of land referred to as no man's land that was about as big as four highway lanes, then another wall.  So even if someone from East Berlin climbed the wall, they would be shot by the guards in the no man's land before they could get to the second wall.  Several people tried to dig their way out, spending years digging tunnels that may or may not ever lead to freedom in West Berlin.

In the foreground is West Berlin, in the middle area was East Berlin.  Note how long the base supports are on the West Berlin side - it was much shorter on the back side...this was so that people in East Berline could not push the wall over.  You can get a sense of size by the people walking in front of the wall:

Throughout the city, there are markers and different brick/rock to indicate where the wall had been for almost 30 years.  Here is one marker and where the bricks are different:  

Living within a walled city, without the possibility of leaving is so foreign to me.  Being here for a few days I'm starting to appreciate a very small amount of the desperation they must have felt, but in no way could I ever fully feel their emotions.

There is a memorial at this section of the wall for all of the people that died while trying to cross the wall...there are pictures or names in each of the squares:

I was shocked to understand how quickly the wall was built.  It is merely sections of concrete dividers placed side-by-side with concrete filled in between them to make a solid surface.  One marker said that the initial wall was constructed in only 50 HOURS.  Families were divided before they knew what was happening, lovers were separated and roads and trains completely blocked as the wall went up.  At this location, it showed how a former major road was closed off when the wall was built.  Over the years, sections of the wall were rebuilt and/or reinforced.

Next we went to a typical Berlin park - it is a section of the previous no man's land that has now been converted into a park.  From here we walked around a new trendy neighborhood and ended up in a beer garden.  

Francois convinced me that I couldn't come to Germany and not have a German beer...so I drank an entire glass of Hefeweizen.  It was drinkable, but certainly didn't turn me into a beer drinker.

From the beer garden, we drove on to the East Side Gallery.  This is the longest stretch of the Wall still standing.  It has been created into an outdoor Gallery with artists from around the world being invited to paint particular sections.

Raphael enjoying the day at East Side Gallery:

As a last stop with Francois, he dropped me off at Checkpoint Charlie.  This seemed rather touristy, with the men dressed up in US military uniforms charging for photographs with them.

I had seen a large Christmas store during the bus tour on Sunday, so I hopped the subway to go there.  The trip was during rush hour, so not the most comfortable, but I certainly got to experience more of every day life in Berlin.  The Christmas store is in a very high-end shopping area, so I walked passed stores for all the major designers as I made my way to the Christmas store.  There were so many wonderful ornaments!!  But I have so little room to buy anything at this point...plus they were so fragile.  I ended up getting a Berlin ornament in a very Radko-esque style.

A cool sculpture along my walk that I had heard about on the bus tour - it is to represent the re-unification of Berlin.

And without my head:

From the Christmas store, I walked a few more blocks to the huge German Department store - Ka De We.  It reminded me of Harrod's in London.  The men's section was enormous, but the most impressive portion was the gourmet food area.  It was an entire floor of the store, with each counter dedicated to a different speciality - cheese, bread, pastries, chocolates, desserts, teas, coffees, etc.  I wandered around and around, with my mouth drooling.  Most of the eating bars were full, so I passed on sitting down.

I hopped the train and headed for the TV tower.  It is the tallest structure in Europe and something that the leaders in East Berlin built to show the power of Communism.  Unfortunately, they were sold out of tickets for the observation deck for the evening and you had to have a reservation to go to the restaurant.  So instead, I got back to the train and headed to the hotel.  I wanted to refresh before going to dinner.

The concierge recommended a German place close to the hotel.  I walked by it, but didn't like the menu.  There was another German place just next door and it looked much more like what I wanted.  I got a sausage sampler plate with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.  There were three sausages on the plate - a grilled sausage, a smoked sausage and a pork knuckle sausage (I probably don't want to know what's in the last one)!  They were all covered in a barbecue type sauce, but I also asked for the special curry sauce that I've heard about.  The best I can describe it is warm catsup with curry added - anyone who knows more about German food, please enlighten me more.  The mashed potatoes were quite good.  I've never liked sauerkraut, but decided I would give it a try since it was on the plate...and it was delicious.  Admittedly, I didn't eat all of it or even half of it, but having eaten any of it is a big deal for me.  The two glasses of Chianti were also quite nice.

A few pictures of the street crossing signs in Germany...there are entire stores now just selling merchandise with these guys:

I headed back to the hotel and decided to try out the lobby bar.  It was nice and I had a great view of the main staircase.  Enjoyed two glasses of Chianti there before heading back to my room with another glass in hand...they were small :-)

I packed, journaled and headed off to bed around 1:30 AM.