Germany

I loved Berlin. It is the first city (although I’m sure it won’t be the last) that we have left and I can confidently say I want to go back to. This is partly due to the fact that I  have left with the feeling that we should have done more. Even though we did visit the sites and go to an amazing concert, I feel as though there was just so much more out there waiting for us to see.

Prior to leaving Copenhagen, Jase had carefully studied the maps and train routes so we knew exactly which trains to catch to arrive at our hostel, at approximately 11:30 pm. Unfortunately all his careful planning didn’t account for the hour delay we experienced due to the ferry that our bus from Copenhagen needed to board. As we exited the bus station in Berlin we made our way through the cold night to find the train station. We hurriedly tried to interpret the German ticket machine as a train (perhaps the one we needed to catch, perhaps not) approached. We didn’t get tickets in time so figured we would just wait for the next, only to find out that we had missed the last train for the night. We considered catching a bus but in the end caught a taxi. The taxi driver was very friendly and helpful. As we learned duirng the drive, our hostel was situated on a road that had only existed for 5 weeks.

Our hostel, called the Hotel Meininger was, as Jase put it, a money making machine. I was not as disappointed by it as much as Jase was but I did understand his frustrations. Its excellent location and expansive number of 4 bed dormitories meant it was very popular with school groups – who stayed in the masses for the whole time we were there. Despite its cleaniness and convenient, yet expensive bar, the hostel was much more of a hotel – lacking that community feel. Probably the most frustrating thing was that the small guest kitchen was often closed for “private meetings” between hotel staff or school groups, meaning that we could not access or cook our food.

But enough of that, on to the amazing city itself. Filled with so much history, there were many sites that we wanted to visit. Our first stop was the East Side Gallery, a Berlin wall recreation beautifully painted by several artists. The original artists that had painted the wall were invited to come back almost 20 years later to repaint their work on the new wall. I was really moved by some of the images and enjoyed strolling along the footpath, taking in the detail and emotion behind each of the works of art.

On our third day in Berlin we went on a free walking tour of the city. For me, this was a definite highlight of our whole trip to date. Our guide, Benjamin, was a young American living in Berlin. He was a fantastic guide – so enthusiastic, knowledgeable and entertaining. What made the tour so great was that while we saw many of the main attractions of the city, we discovered much of the history behind it – something we wouldn’t do walking past the sites on our own. The tour included sites such as the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, churches and other historic buildings.

The next day (our last day in Berlin) we went exploring once more, starting with the Reichstag (Parliament House). This was an amazing building with a glass dome positioned on the top, which is free for the public to access. The idea of the glass celing and dome is that democracy should be transparent and that the parliament members seated below only have to look up to be reminded of the people they are serving. The dome has a large walking ramp spiraling round it which gives fantastic views of the whole city.

A short walk through the Tiergarten led us to the Holocaust Memorial once more. While we had taken a moment on the previous day’s tour to walk through the myriad of  concrete blocks, I wanted to go back to visit the underground memorial museum. I always knew this would be a difficult stop for me, not because I’m Jewish or in any way closely tied to victims of war… I guess I am just an emotionally sensitive person. As we walked through the dark rooms, reading excerpts of letters, listening to accounts of concentration camp experiences, I wept openly. It was such an awful period in history but an important one to reflect on and remember the millions of victims.

After the emotionally draining experience of the Holocaust Memorial we needed a pick-me-up. Our deliciously filling doner pita  and the amazing Vampire Weekend concert were the perfect solution.  The day was a really fitting way to end our time in Berlin… the confronting experience of Berlin’s past, contrasted to the high of an overseas band performing to the vibrant youth of the city.