My Time in Berlin ~ Day 2

I slept well like always. Or "always" that I've been here in Europe. The beds were crreeeeaky though. I slept below Sinzi and honestly, no matter who or where or what.... I really just don't like bunk beds. There's a reason Jen Ralph and my room was like it was, with my head safely out from under her. :S I just don't like it.

Anyway, slept well and I was the first to wake, like always... I have been an early riser for quite some time now. I changed my clothes and brushed my teeth but didn't bother showering. Actually, Sinzi and I both DIDNT shower and both the males did. Haha. Just interesting. I was very proud of myself and how little I packed. A true back-packer. But we all knew we'd be carrying whatever we brought all day both days, so smart packing was a must.

After collecting our things and checking out, we headed for die Mauer (The Wall). We just happened to be immediately next to the East Side Gallery. So the East Side Gallery is a portion of still standing wall, you guessed it! On the East side of Berlin or at least East of all the big hubbub. (and thats "current" Berlin, obviously when it was functioning it split east from west) So the gallery is approximately 100 paintings by artists from all over the world and is a memorial for freedom. Its the largest open air gallery in the world. Its just one big mural after another, and many of them are, or are becoming, really rather famous. Especially throughout Germany. Some are simple, some are celebratory, and some make a loud statement. It was very very cool.

After ESG we got some lunch then headed out in search of another Wall Memorial site. We kept buying all these train tickets that we never used. Eh, it works. We got to the right stop, deboarded, walked to where we thought we wanted to go and found ourselves trapped inside the walls of cemetery. Oops. We regrouped and then found the memorial. Leaving the station we went straight. Turns out, if we would have gone 50 feet left we would have been right where we wanted immediately without spending an hour in a cemetery. Hehe, it woooorks. Thats what people get for following me i guess :P

This site was the main memorial for the wall. I really suggest you read about it here: http://www.berlin.de/mauer/gedenkstaetten/berliner_mauer/index.en.php
The memorial answered a lot of my questions, like, why didn't people run to the other side or jump it, amongst other things. Turns out, people DID. And quite often, failed.
The memorial gave a lot of insight. Some things you could read on the link above or that I found interesting are:
*The pictures of a split family, one side holding a baby high over the wall so the family on the other side can see it from 20 yards away, but that's all the closer the could come.
*The death strip: yes there was a wall, but that wasn't enough for the GDR, they then made another wall set farther back and leaving in between: "The death strip". The death strip consisted of:
1 Concrete slab wall, with or without piping
2 Wire mesh fence
3 Control strip
4 Floodlights
5 Anti-vehicle trench
6 Outermost boundary of manned area
7 Border patrol road
8 Wire guiding dog patrols
9 Signal device
10 Observation tower
11 Electrified signal fence
So all of this was on EAST Berlin's side, trying hard to keep the people in.

After this we had all essentially speed-seen Berlin, or at least all of the crucial things we had picked out in advance. We then went back to Unter den Linden. There, Sinzi, Adrian and I went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum. We got little (actually kind of bulky) telephone things to talk to us as we went through. I tried my best to pay attention, but my hunger was distracting so I grabbed a salad and sat in the cafe to recoup before heading back to my learning. It was tasty but interesting, I guess thats why i'm mentioning it hear. It said it was a salad but was actually shavings of just ham and cheese in a bowl with a sprig on the side. Moving on... The museum started at THE beginning of settlement and went until essentially present day. During our trip to Berlin, we kept seeing this same old car drawn over and over and over again, especially on the Wall or on souvenirs, tshirts or art work relating to the Wall. In the museum, we learned that the East Berlin Trabant (Trabi) was what we had been seeing. The incredibly crappy car that only really rich east Berliners could afford, and we all know there weren't many of rich east Berliners, kind of an oxymoron. But yay for learning something new! So now the Trabbi is one of many symbols for "East Berlin". One of the murals on the East Side is a Trabbi breaking through the wall.

We regrouped at 4:45 and were in the Hauptbahnhof by 5:10. As we sat in a food court, in English, a man in another chair turned and said
"You're from America."
I said yes I am, Kansas, and you?
"North Carolina"
I laugh, and say I hope you don't like basketball
him: "I noticed you're scarf was Carolina Blue"
me: "Shhhh, they (referring to the others with me) don't know what that means so it doesn't mean anything!"
so he was nice enough and a High School teacher here researching German education. Its actually really easy and really fun to pick out American's. Most of the time you do it by sight, then get close and listen to them talk. Its surprising but alot of times theres just enough difference in clothing and mannerisms you can tell from a distance.

We boarded at 5:30 and headed home to Hamburg! We had to change twice but thats what you get for cheap tickets!

And now, my friends, I have been to Berlin. No matter how short, that truth cannot be taken away. I am satisfied with my visit. It is not a beautiful city by any means. But its an important one. It has 3.5 million people (twice the size of Hamburg, even though Hamburg is the second largest in Germany) and has more men than women...

Please, I really do suggest visiting that site and perusing the links on the left on towards the bottom.

And that was my trip! Safe, cheap, entertaining and informing! Yay Berlin

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