Berlin/ Headed Home

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Well, we’re here in Frankfurt now, packing up the room and I thought I’d take the chance to write while Josh is in the shower. Only another 4 hours left before we get on the plane, so we are leaving Europe very soon, and its bitter sweet. We want to be home and we want all those comforts, but exploring the world is really an amazing experience. But amazing experience or not, we’re leaving around 3pm local time (9am back home), and will be arriving around 5pm local time back in the Hoosier State.
So let me recap you on the last few days. On our last full day in Berlin I finally started to feel better, thank God considering I have to fly today. Not sure what bug hit me, but it hit fast and hard then left. We went to the Olympic Stadium for much of the day, spending nearly 7 hours there. This was where the 1936 Olympics were held by the Germans, and the Nazis were in power at the time. It was supposed to be a showing of German/Aryan might, and the Germans did win the majority of the medals, however Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals, showing that race does not dominate the human spirit. The grounds are mostly untouched on the main part. The large stadium where they hosted soccer and some other events has been renovated because that is where they hosted the 2006 World Cup (and the 1972 one I believe). However, the main entry way and the bell tower have been preserved, and renovated to keep their old look.
They have taken down the symbols of the Nazi party, however the presence of the party in the art and architecture is undeniable. The exhibition also did not try to hide the Nazi party, but they instead tried to show not only how the party tried to hide their Anti-Semitism from the world, and the horrors that they committed after. The most moving for Josh and I was simple. A few days before we went, we went walking through the woods down a trail nearby. It was really nice and peaceful, a nature preserve basically. There were mirrors throughout the site that had writing on them, but it was in German, so we only knew a few words. We could make out something about WWII, but couldn’t really tell what it was about. Then we saw a video at the Olympic stadium that explained what was being written on the mirrors. During the end of the war, the Hitler youth were using the grounds for training and the like. When the war was going very poorly, they were basically drafted into the Volkstrom, or the peoples storm, a militia. So the kids fought to protect Berlin and were told how heroic it was to sacrifice one’s self for his country. But not all of the kids (who were age 13 to 17) wanted to go and fight. A group of 200 of these boys were marched down to these stairs that we were on, lined up and shot for desertion while the rest of the Hitler youth watched. We felt like throwing up at that point.
Anyone who hasn’t been to an Olympic stadium grounds though would not understand the true size of these. They are cities unto themselves. It took us over an hour just to walk around the entire thing. The architecture was very nice and the German pride could be felt, even though it was commissioned by the Nazis, the games were given to Germany before they gained power. So much of it was already planned, and the Nazis brought their own style to the plans that were already in motion. They had removed most of the Nazi symbols from the sites, however you will see the bell that they ‘removed’ it from in my photos that I’ll post later. If you can’t tell it’s still a swastika, then you aren’t looking.
After we toured the Olympic stadium for about 7 or so hours, we headed on into the main part of town where our hotel guide told us was a good spot for some food and nightlife. We had to be up early and the trains stopped running rather early as well, but we wanted to check out what Berlin had to offer, so we headed on into the main part of town, which is ironically now in the Eastern part. The western part is almost exclusively businesses at this point, except in the outskirts. Berlin had a ton of choices to offer in terms of food variety, although I don’t remember seeing a traditional German place, strange but true. We ended up going to an Irish restaurant that another American recommended. Berlin is full of Americans and Englishmen and all other kinds of tourists. This was by far the most tourists that we had seen. Before, it was a novelty to hear someone speaking English and we tried to get to know the Germans and the people who spoke out language, but in Berlin, it was a lot closer to being home because everyone was speaking English. Strangely, this wasn’t comforting, but a little disappointing. We wanted to find some Germans for our last day in town, but oh well. We went around to a few local watering holes after dinner, and ran into something quite interesting.
This is a bit graphic? I suppose, so watch out for the kiddies, but prostitution is legal in Berlin. It is also on display. We didn’t put all this together in the order that you think we would have. When we walked from the Brandenburg gate to the victory column the day before, we ran into one of the stranger things that I had ever seen in my life. There were 60 and 70 year old women ‘working the streets’. They did not ask Josh or I if we were interested, partially because of the horrific look on my face I’m imagining, but it was obvious what was going on. What was not obvious was that it was around a state park, where the ladies of the night would take their clients into the park for their business, and this was also a meeting spot for gentlemen who prefer gentlemen. Had I have known any of this ahead of time, I would not have wandered through here in the middle of the night, but I suppose you only see crazy things in Europe once. The next night though, we ran into some more ladies of the night, except these were much younger and much more aggressive. They stopped Josh and I every 100 feet or so and were very insistent, but again I think my look of horror eventually gave them the idea that we weren’t in the market. There are more funny/disturbing stories about the things they said to us, but that is for another time at another place.
We managed to make it home and get to the train to Frankfurt on time the next morning. We didn’t have long in Frankfurt, but we were in the old town, whereas I started my trip on the new, very modern part of town. This side was nothing like that, and was home to their famous apple wine, which is basically apple cider. We had one last traditional German meal, and then went to a place for some apple wine, and they were doing karaoke inside. German’s attempting to do karaoke in English is hilarious, although with most, the accent goes away when they are singing. We did not join in on the singing, just had a few ciders and enjoyed the entertainment. But we had to cash in our chips early because the flight was the next day. That basically brings me to here. I am sitting up at my parents, adjusting to life back on the left side of the Atlantic. Its all rather bittersweet looking back now. I had the time of my life really and my perception of Europe have certainly changed.
I will miss the people that we met and the exciting life that comes with traveling and seeing new things every day. This trip has certainly made me think about my next trip outside the US, which is certainly to include Ireland, but no timetable on that just yet. School starts back in a little under 2 weeks (I can’t believe I typed that). So its about time to move back into Indy and get life going normal again. I may continue some type of blog of my adventures in life, after all, IU football season is coming up, as well as the Cubs 100 year celebration, so there could be some worthy things to write about. I hope that you all have enjoyed reading my ramblings and that it offered a small picture into my travels. I am planning on gathering my pictures as well as others and placing them on here at some point, but I am very slow with pictures. I hope that everyone is doing well, and if anyone wants to say hello, it is now normal charges on the phone to talk to me. Have a good one!
Ryan

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