Berlin has so far been quite an experience. I know I pretty much always say that, but this time I really mean it. Which is not to say that I don´t mean it every other time either, but let´s move on.
I´ve been here since last Thursday, the humble guest of my gracious hosts, Miriam (of Miet and Miriam in Guatemala fame), and her very cool boyfriend, Tobias, who is a photojournalist for Reuters here in Berlin. It would have been enough for them to just let me crash at their very nice Berlin flat, and let me roam loose around the city with a metro map and their emergency contact info. But no, Miriam and Tobias wouldn´t stop there. Both have taken tons of time from their busy lives to take me around town amid the sights and sounds of Berlin. And there is no shortage of things to take in at this very dynamic, cosmopolitan and ever-evolving city, let me tell you.
We went and checked out a tour of the vast underground bunker system in Berlin. During WWII, the Germans constructed a bunker system that tied into the tunnels of their subway system. After the war was over, the West Germans expanded the bunker system even further to prepare for what then seemed the inevitable nuclear war against East Germany and the Soviet Union. These bunkers were designed to house a good few thousand people underground for as long as 1-2 months, if I understood Miriam and Tobi´s translations of the tour (which was in German).
The tour was pretty elaborate, and the guides showed us everything. This included some “secret” entrances and exits that were located in a couple of otherwise unsuspicious city subway stations. It was all quite impressive, and to think that it was fairly recent history that all these preparations were deemed necessary. Cool stuff.
Since then, I´ve been to the Brandenburg Gate, the site of Checkpoint Charlie, which was the only open access point between East and West Berlin. BTW, Berlin (East and West) was ENTIRELY within the boundaries of East Germany the time of the cold war, in case anyone was wondering. There is an incredible amount of construction and restoration going on in the area of the Brandenburg gate (well, the whole city for that matter), including a brand spanking new US Embassy which will be literally right next to the Brandenburg Gate (location, location, location, I guess.)
We also checked out the fairly new Holocaust Monument, next to the Brandenburg Gate. It is an amalgam of uneven and assymetrical polished concrete monoliths (which somewhat resemble graves) spread out over what is essentially one city block. It´s quite a solemn monument when you consider its scale and that of what it represents. I doubt anyone can walk away from it without a truly lasting impression.
Onward to the Potsdamer Platz, which until recently was a run-down part of East Berlin. It´s all newly built up with a quite contemporary district of housing, shops, entertainment complexes, music halls, and much more. The sheer size of the area is truly Vegas-scale. You can also see remnants of the Berlin Wall, which used to go right through this area, onward up to and then onward from the Brandenburg Gate. There is still a brick “line” that goes through the sidewalks, streets and so on marking where the wall actually used to stand. It´s wild to think that all of the changes I witnessed were the culmination of events that only really happened within the last 15-16 years.
We´ve been to several other parts of town, including the East Gallery, which is actually a section of the Berlin Wall that was built back up so it can be host to the creations of artists from all over the world.
I´d also gotten a nice taste of the nightlife and dining scene here in Berlin. Like most European cities, Berlin has no shortage of cafes, bars, and pubs. To have been able to see and feel the way Berliners really live, eat and drink is something special for me. Because it does not appear that many foreigners venture into the wider parts of the city. They tend to stick mostly to the central “tourist-friendly” districts.
Miriam and I met up with a couple of her friends (Sitha for dinner, and Cornelius for drinks afterward) on Friday. We got some dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and then onward to a typical Berlin bar in her neighborhood. Tobi met up with us after he finally got out of a party for Joe Jackson (Michael´s father) who was in Berlin for his birthday, which he had to shoot for Reuters. He was visibly in need of a beer, after what he said was a pointless and insane day.
On Saturday night, Miriam, a friend of hers Sina, a fellow physical therapist, and myself ventured out to get a taste of Berlin by night. Unfortunately, the first club we went to, where Miriam was supposed to meet up with some other friends wouldn´t let us in because we weren´t on the “the list”. We suspected that this was bullshit, because the doorman who gave us this news had no sign of a clipboard, notebook or whatnot on his person when he gave us this news. We later found out that Miriam´s friends had no trouble getting in later on, and there was no list. Geez.
After that debacle, we metro´d over to another nearby district to check out another club. After paying the cover, and going upstairs, the girls decided that it was no fun, and wanted to bail. Miriam went back to the door guy and made him give back the money we paid for the cover charge. I couldn´t believe that he did. She basically told him that it was me who wanted to leave and that I was disappointed in the club and it wasn´t what I was expecting in Berlin. So pin it on the lone American, thanks Miriam.
After that, we headed over to another club that was actually on a boat that was docked on the bank of the Spree River. It was supposedly a cool place, so we metro´d, needing to take something like 2 or 3 different trains to get there. Then there was a bit of a walk involved. It was already pushing something like 1-1:30 AM by this time. But Miriam and Sina pushed on, in search of that perfect nightspot (They were true party troopers!) Well we got to the place, and it was closed for a PRIVATE PARTY, Oy!
After that, we ended up going to another bar/boat close by on the river that was pretty cool. Should have just gone there in the first place. Tobi joined us a little while later, and we went and got some late night munchies at a Turkish restaurant.
Miriam wasn´t feeling too good yesterday, and Tobi had to work, so I ended up meeting up with her friend Sina in town in the late afternoon. She showed me a bit more around town. Sina is a former East German. In talking with her, I got a whole different perspective on life in Germany, namely East Berlin/East Germany during the “iron curtain” days.
This was all new for me, because she´s the first (and only) East German I´d really met. To hear her stories about life behind the wall, and how her relatives escaped East Germany during that regime was really something. She was 12 when the wall came down. And with that event, a whole new world opened up to her that she says she never even knew existed. She went on to tell me how they ventured out to Austria after the wall came down, and saw the vast Alpine mountains of Tyrol for the first time ever, and her mother could not believe what she was seeing. Many other stories in that vein. This was incredible stuff.
Then, after we walked from the park by the Dome Cathedral, she got the idea to head over to a monument that she had never looked at upclose. So we walked up to it. Through the bars at the door, we gazed at a statue of what appeared to a sad woman crutched down in sadness and despair. The statue was placed in the center of a large building that had nothing else in it, with nothing adorning the walls or anything. There was just a portico opening on the roof of it that let natural daylight fall on the statue in the center. The monument was actually for all the civilian dead of all wars, including the Jews, homosexuals, and other groups of people singled out during the Holocaust.
She went on to tell me that when she was a little girl she was never able to go up close to the monument, because at the time it was guarded at all times, and no one was ever allowed close to it. The only thing they were allowed to watch back then was the changing of the guard from a distance, but that was it. Like I said this was the FIRST TIME she ever looked at the monument upclose.
She said she had passed by this place numerous times over the years, but never thought about stopping to look at it. But today she did. You can see on her face the wonder and even relief for actually being there. It was plain to see that it was something she´d wanted to do for some time. It was quite an experience for someone like me who couldn´t possibly fathom going through something like what she did for the whole first half of her life. I was honored to be there for that little moment. Wow.
We later met up with Miriam and Tobi and enjoyed a real German dinner (I had lammbraten and Thuringian dumplings). Then we went to one of Berlin´s artsier districts and checked out a neat little bar that was on top of an art-house cinema theater. It would have been nice to stay longer, but everyone had to work the next day, so we had to go after a drink or so.
I´m still here for probably another day, and then it´s onward to Hamburg. From there, it´s still a little hazy, but hopefully I´ll have a good idea of where I´m going from there before I leave here.
Then, you never know.
Comment from: mietsie [Visitor]
Wow, I’m impressed by your writing,
Berlin seems to be a city with a soul…
love
mietsie
Comment from: Judy [Visitor]
Tony,
You should submit your “findings” for a travel book, or better yet, write some articles. You are a very good storyteller…how come I never knew that about you???
XO
Judy