History lesson and wake up call in Berlin

---

Our little travelling party of 3 arrived in Berlin late Monday afternoon to the closest campsite…..30 minutes from the centre. It was ridiculously cold and we finally came to the realization that in the last 2 weeks temperatures had dropped so rapidly that although our “one summer” adventure continued, the summer part was definitely over.

We blasted the heater and not an hour had passed when it suddenly stopped (this was not the first time though, as we had experienced this in short bursts previously!). We all panicked thinking we were going to freeze to death if the heater had broken. Luckily for us, that day the van was warm so we were ok for the time being, but come tomorrow we all prayed that heater would be on again. As usual that evening we had our nightly “shithead” now named “fairyfloss” game (due to my temper rising at the incessant swearing at each other), and of course a few drinks to top it off.

Unfortunately Tuesday morning we awoke to a drizzly, misty day. It cleared slightly by late morning, so we all decided to head into town and go on the 1pm Berlin Tour. This was the same kind of tour as what we had done in Prague and Budapest, no cost upfront just tips at the end. And, it was definitely a fantastic informative tour.

The sites included:
The Bradenberg Gate, Hitler’s Bunker, Holocaust Memorial (very moving tribute to the 6+ million jews killed Europe wide), Ex -Soviet Aviation Building and the Book burning memorial to name a few. We also saw some major propaganda paintings, one of particular interest was at the site where innocent non violent protesters were murdered in cold blood by the soviets when the protest embarrassed their strong hold of the city. The East Germans learnt from that day never to protest again, until 50 years later the next generation took hold. We heard of the accidental collapse of the Berlin Wall, and the chaos that rose from the miscommunications, Checkpoint Charlie and many stories of attempted escapes through the Checkpoint and a variety of other mind boggling events. The tour was extremely informative and a great introduction to the history and life of Berlin. By 6pm the tour was over and we all headed home out of the cold!!

Wednesday saw us staying in the van the entire day - talk about cabin fever. Due to this we decided it was best to plug into the electricity (for a few extra euro) so we could have a more comfortable day. And hoorah hoorah the heater was back on - our little brains must have frozen in the cold as the reason the heater stopped the previous day was because the battery was drained and needed re-charging. Oops didn’t think of that - especially when the other battery operated lights were still working - tricky tricky! So due to the extremely horrible wet and icy cold weather we stayed home, playing endless games of cards and doing other silly things you do when locked up in a van all day!

Thursday the weather was still pretty shocking, but we decided we couldn’t stay in again and had to brave it out in the open. As we were right into the tours of the city, we decided to go on the ‘Red Berlin’ tour that afternoon. And no, its not like the “red light district”, its about the Cold War being fought behind the scenes in Berlin. It uncovered the people, places, and secrets that kept two worlds on the brink of World War III. This tour was pretty full on and as we didn’t have the best in depth knowledge of the Cold War a lot of it was so involved that it went straight over our heads. But basically it was a 4 hour tour that explored Berlin’s former Soviet Sector. This was essentially a Cold War battle ground and the foundation of Communist East Berlin.

We also saw the Berlin Wall Memorial, Karl Marx Allee, The Church of Reconciliation and the Death Strip up close. The Death Strip is the part between the inner and outer walls - complete with not only two concrete barriers to stop you but trip sensors, spears in the ground to stab people in the feet as they drop over the wall and barb wire to cut people up on the way. Sadly, 156 people died trying to escape and of that 88 people were killed by guards following the shoot to kill methodology. The order to all guards was “anyone trying to escape is to be shot dead on the spot”.

We also gained an insight into the Russian Embassy and life behind the Iron Curtain. We heard amazing stories of how the Stasi (the largest spy network the world has ever seen) - kept an entire population under observation. In conjunction with this we traced the CIA and KGB spy stories at the US, North Korean, and massive Soviet embassies. As you can imagine by the end of this tour our brains were full to the brim with information, and as I mentioned earlier we heard even more but unfortunately without prior knowledge it was difficult to follow.

Friday was a catch up and shop day. Vince headed to a nearby internet café in an attempt to get our blogs up to date and catch up on banking, emails etc. So with only one being able to use the computer, Furby and I hit the shops. Furby lasted all but two stores and then he decided to go to the pub! Thankfully it was a semi successful shop for me (getting some new boots and jeans to cope with the cold weather).

Saturday we headed to the Generator hostel. We decided that if we were going to go out and party in berlin, there was no way we were catching a million dollar cab all the way out to the campsite - nor did we want to spend the time catching a cab that far. Luckily for us we scored a private room with 3 bunks and a private bathroom, woohoo. So on the way driving to the Generator streets were being closed and it seemed like there was something big lurking in the shadows of Berlin’s streets. After we settled in to the hostel we ducked downstairs to a little restaurant for some lunch. During the lunch we noticed riot police outside and all the commotion seemed to be getting louder and louder. After we ate we decided to go outside across the nearby bridge and see what was going on.

Well boy did we get more than we bargained for, the “something big” was something “very big”. It was in face a Neo-Nazi march. And stupidly our curiosity landed us right in the middle of it. We ended up stuck between riot police, police dogs, Neo-Nazi’s, and the anti-Nazi group. Not a safe place to be! We were so naïve to think that this didn’t happen anymore. And obviously because everything was spoken in German we only realised it was a Neo-Nazi march when they got up close and we saw the swastikas on their arms. The group were roaring out what sounded like dreadful blood chilling chants. And it gets worse, the Neo-Nazi’s were wearing all black, and what do you think our outfits were that day? Yep pretty much all black. So when we tried to get out of there the riot police separated us thinking we were a part of it. Being a bit street smart (finally!) we took our jackets off and thankfully I had all of our passports on us, so we went around the corner to other police where they checked our details and let us pass. Obviously we flew back to the hostel and decided to watch from the comfort of our room window!!

So Saturday and Sunday night we went on the Berlin pub crawl. Yes that’s right, we did it twice! Saturday ended up as a bit of a fizzer for Vince and I, with me being sick after too many apple sour shots, so we gave it another go Sunday night. It was just the usual crawl with a few bars and then a club at the end. Sunday afternoon, Vince and I went to the alternative Berlin markets. It was really interesting with a great mix of new and old things. Very quirky, you could definitely can find anyone a gift there.

So after a late night Sunday night (or should I say Monday morning) 10am Monday we were woken by a stupid cleaner - clearly she didn’t pay attention to the extra money we paid for a late checkout. She burst into our dark room (curtains closed), and slammed the lights on brighter than Christmas Day. I seriously thought we were under attack. Finally through the communication barrier she realised we paid for late checkout and left! We managed to get back to sleep and rest up for our last drive, final destination Amsterdam.

Overall, we loved Berlin. It was a fascinating city and we learnt so so much from our tours and experiences. It is a city for everyone and has so much to do - really it is kind of similar to London. There is always something happening and so many places to go and things to do. If you get to Berlin I would strongly recommend the tours - it will make it very worthwhile!

---

Photos

Infamous hotel
This is the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony - of great historical importance he he

Pictures of workers building the Berlin wall
Note the guard watching them so they don't run over to the west side to freedom

Shot of the nice Berlin weather
You can just see the radio tower

The British Embassey
Very extravagant complete with guards and trucks - slightly unnecessary

The Russian Embassey
With the hammer and sickle symbols still reigning today

Hitler's bunker
The site where Hitler's bunker used to be - used now as a parking lot with no fuss as fear Neo Nazi's may use this as a shrine if it was developed with historical memories