I was cutting it a little closer than I would have liked it at the airport, and apparently Germans don't know how to go through security (I really hate when people wait in a long line and then don't get ready to go through security until they are). I luckily found a machine for tickets so I didn't have to go to the desk, I couldn't believe I actually pulled it off.
The flight was quick, and it was kind of amazing not to have a super discount flight. I had apple juice and a warm pretzel on it. And when I left, they gave us free chocolate. I was pumped.
It was easy to get in from the airport, just a cheap bus ride (and I barely made that one). The walk to the hostel wasn't bad either.
This is another really nice hostel. Both ones I've been to in Germany have been almost like a hip hotel instead of a dirty hostel. The downfall of the last hostel was the dirty bathrooms, these are gorgeous (although no free food in the morning). It's not in the heart of town, but in the 'hilly residential area.' It has a great East Berlin feel to it, graffiti, Communist concrete block buildings, but a safe feel too. And it's a direct shot into the heart of town.
And that's where I went. It was a nice walk in, past the huge TV tower and a surprising number of cool old buildings (they had to be rebuilt along the lines). I stopped and grabbed a pretzel and the worst cheesecake I've ever had at a bakery and ate them in the courtyard of the German and Art museums.
I went next to Checkpoint Charlie. I wasn't really sure what to expect. Turns out it's actually nothing. They had some really good history of the whole conflict leading up to the wall and post wall in pictures and description on walls by where Checkpoint Charlie was. They also had a recreated US checkpoint and the sign saying you were leaving the American sector.
I looked at my Berlin book and decided to do the 'Reunification Ramble,' which took me from Checkpoint Charlie to a number of really cool historical sites.
First up was a 200 meter (don't know how many feet that is) stretch of the Berlin Wall. It had a fence around it to preserve it as what it was like on November 9, 1989. It was really cool to see it how it was in place. They have bricks that mark where the wall ran going throughout town, which gives an interesting perspective on how life was like. To think that I was alive for the Berlin Wall is crazy, it seems so archaic. I wonder if the freshness of the events is clouding people's minds, it seemed to be the opposite with the Nazi's, in that that generation wanted nothing to do with it. Now I feel like everyone that lived though it wants to go to Berlin and see the wall. It almost turns that time in history into a tourist trap.
My next stop, ironically, was a forgotten Nazi sight. When the Nazi's moved up to Berlin, the SS headquarters and all were bombed out and demolished after the war. They dug up the foundations and have it as the "Topography of Terror" with more signs with pictures detailing the history. It's an interesting site, and should be a lot better when the new visitors center opens up next year. But it's sort of like the La Brea Tar Pits of Nazis.
I continued on the walk, going to one of three remaining guard towers (smaller than I expected) and a few small slabs of the wall. It led me into the center of town, with huge new buildings. Berlin reminds me a lot of what Detroit could be, a dirty feel, old industrial feel, but with a hip feel to it. It also made me confused as to how I should view the city. With many, like Prague, London, Munich, I try to view them historically. Here it's a historic place, but it's been so built it's almost like a new city. It's a cool place.
I then went through the Jewish Memorial, which are huge slabs of concrete of varying sizes laid out over a square (not far from where Hitler committed suicide, I couldn't figure out where that was though, the tour tomorrow will tell me). It was eerie walking through the memorial, it was like a maze. I feel like there was a Batman cartoon episode like that, Mark would know. But it was interesting and somehow moving. A better memorial than anything in Munich for sure.
The sun was setting and I read about going up on top of the Reichstag, the parliament building. It was a very interesting history, built in the late 1800s and used for government until Hitler came in power. It was also used for a major moment in the Nazi regime, when it was set on fire by some Nazis and blamed on the Communists, and they used it as an reason for seizing more power.
The current building is fascinating. They have the old historic exterior, but the interior is from a late 90's renovation, it looks very modern. On the top where the domed was burned out, they have a new glass dome, with ramps leading up to the top of it, like the Guggenheim of views. I waited in a line for a about a half hour, passed through airport security, and went to the roof. The views were great. I was super impressed, and having the dome with the ramps was brilliant.
I hung out on the roof for many an hour. It was by far the best mixture of old and new architecture I've ever seen in a building. It's one of my favorite buildings in the world that I've seen.
From there I went to the Brandenburger Arch, Berlin's famous landmark. It was actually in the no man's land during the wall period, and now it's open to the public. It's a huge (and really cool) arch, also one of my favorites that I've seen.
I then made my way back down through the city (it was quiet out and it felt sort of like I was walking in any major city, especially an American city) and went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. I was worried it was going to be a tourist trap. It was. But it was ok. The best part were the different methods of trying to get across the border. My favorite was the guy who hollowed out two surf board on top of his car and snuck his girlfriend across. They also had the original American sector sign, so that was cool.
After that I made my way back to the hostel (incredibly easy to do) but I wasn't ready to go back yet, so I wandered around the area, which was fun (although I didn't see a lot of anything interesting, but still). Then typed this up. A good day, especially since I wasn't really sure what I'd to here. I'm going to take a walking tour tomorrow, hopefully early in the day because I want to go out to the Olympic Stadium too.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment