Blogs from Berlin, Germany, Europe

This group is very different from those I have joined in the past. There are 16 of us , and seven are older than I! My room mate is a woman from Victoria born on December 25 , 1950, and a retired teacher ...practically a twin !! I tnink we will work out okay . Not to sure about the retired orthosurgeon and KENNY suporter from Calgary . The other Canadians are from Winnipeg , Saskatoon and Ottawa. 4 of the group are from Australia and 3 from New Zealand. Our guide seems to be a very nice young man . 30years old and originally from Turkey . He has been working with G for 6 years and is now one of their trainers . He takes pride in his work . He studied history and ... read more

Berlin Number one surprise. When we booked a three night January trip to Berlin back in October we didn’t expect to discover that friends Ewan and Helen would be joining us on the same plane from Newcastle last night. Great to spend some time together. Number two surprise. We had sussed that our plane was four minutes late in arriving, using our handy Easyjet Tracker facility. But once fully boarded and belted a sinking feeling permeated the mood of the travellers on board, and this despite, or perhaps because, we were still on the ground fifteen minutes after our captain’s welcome and reassurance that we were on our way. (He did mention a change to normal procedure and not to get anxious about unusual sounds......). Twenty minutes in, the captain announced that the replacement starter engine ... read more

Morning Two, Berlin Sleet welcomes us as we leave the hotel to find breakfast in our local Kamps Backstube (Bakeroom ...... it’s like a Greggs). We resolve to buy a underbahn day ticket and keep dry as we explore. So it’s a trip to Kurfürstendamm on the subway (another high street, more like a Champs Élysées boulevard than Freidrichstrße), mostly travelling overground with views of the south of Tiergarten. Our destination is the Käthe Kollwitz Museum on Fasanstraße. The gallery is a substantial townhouse in this well to do district. It’s setting is somewhat at odds with the art works’ subject exhibited within. When KK arrived in 1891 the area was dominated by working class tenements, brothels and a scene of overpopulation. Berlin is said to have had the biggest population explosion of any European city ... read more

Another museum day: the Topography of Terror and the Berlin Wall Memorial Museum. Basically, it made every thing in my body and mind hurt with questions how things happen and why we don't learn from our mistakes. One exhibit within the Topography of Terror examined those who were prosecuted for their war crimes. Less than 6% of those investigated for war crimes were prosecuted. Out of those prosecuted very few were found guilty and almost none served full sentences. Shelby and I spent a good chunk of time discussing whether you would feel better seeing your abuser go through the process and found innocent or released early or not have them prosecuted at all. On the one hand, you were able to face you accuser and the system fails you, but the system fails you twice...the ... read more

Another first day; first days are the hardest. It is new, unknown, and unpredictable. It creates a combination of anxiety and excitement which feel very similar. So today, I was either a belly full of excitement or anxiety. Normally, I would say excitement because why not, but today, it seemed more like anxiety due to knowing absolutely not a lick of German. The three things that kept repeating in my mind were my dad telling Denise he knew German saying “Ich bin ein Berliner, and sprichst du Deutsch?” and the words “fledermaus” and “Rosinenbomber” (two words Denise taught me). These are all worthless now, but made me laugh. Transportation from the airport to hostel went well. The subway ride had no transfers and good directions led to improvement from London Day 1. Along the rails were ... read more