Arriving in East Berlin


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December 8th 2022
Published: December 8th 2022
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Arriving at BER we were stuck at the back of a massive queue with all the other Brits. I’d left a scarf on the plane and returning to retrieve it meant we were one of the last to join the queue too. Salt was rubbed into the Brexshit wounds when a member of staff shouted, “anyone with Resident passes or EU citizens?” as they could go to the fast automated EU line, but we were stuck with the rest of the world in the painfully slow, non automated dickhead queue.
We gazed longingly at the empty auto passport scanners with the info screens rotating videos on how to use them, that meant you didn’t have to talk to officials. There were only three passport desks open as I guess they’re set up for EU citizens in this section of the airport and it isn’t cost effective to install electronic ones for the rest of the world.
After purchasing two 4-day tourist transport tickets that cover just about every form of public transport in Berlin for €41, we boarded the very clean double decker train to the city centre. Naturally we chose the upper deck because that’s where all the cool kidz hang.
It was around 8pm, so dark with no much to see out of the window. Somehow we ended up at the wrong station but found the underground to somewhere a bit nearer to where we wanted to go. We spent a bit of time looking for a M8 tram but decided to get some exercise in the end and walk the last mile and a half of our journey.
Our hotel is in East Germany, in an area called Prenzlauer Berg. It appears to be a nice area, I didn’t spot any ruffians or down-and-outs. There was a bit of litter and graffiti but not as bad as at home.
There suddenly were a lot of police cars with the sirens going nuts, and no, they hadn’t come for me. They surrounded one car whilst all the more kept arriving. There was no sign of an accident so maybe it was some big crime lord? Or one of the extreme right wingers who’d planned to take down the government this weekend? Or maybe the police were bored.



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