Berlin, what a beaut

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Berlin caught me off guard. I didn!t expect what it had to offer. My idea of Berlin was strictly history based and I had heard there was a night life but that was about it. I loved this city. At times I felt like I could be in Toronto and at other times I felt like I was surrounded by the place furthest from it. The history, artistic scene and nightlife were among my favorites but there were also fantastic parks, architecture and food. It is full of international students and young professionals who are trying to get settled. Construction is common on city blocks but it never gets in the way of enjoying the place. You quicklz get the feeling that its a lively citY.

When I arrived in Berlin I had little time to lose. There were three hours before the concert for Arcade Fire started so I had to find the hostel, check in, locate my ticket and then make my way on the metro to the Tempodrom which is where Arcade Fire were playing that night. Success1. The concert was awesome and I was soaking it all in surrounded by Berliners. What a great show. The one thing that threw me off was how many 40 and 50 somethings were there. The music scene looked a little bit different when I saw them in Toronto.

I spent six solid days in Berlin and at the end I felt good about what I had seen and the feel for the city that I developed. IT is a sprawling city but most of the main sights are close to eachother. For the rest of them I rented a bike one day and took a long metro ride on another day. Ther is so much history here that I could barely absorb it all. If I chose to see 2 sites on one day my head was easily spinning at the end of it all. Not to mention that there were at least a half dozen places where my jaw literally dropped learning about its past.

A few highlights for Berlin.....sorry about the typing, on this board the y and z are reversed.

I went to see the StadioOlympion, a soccer stadium built by the Nazis to house the 1936 olympic games, listening to an audiotour and sitting in the empty stands you look over the stadium and hold your gaze to where hitler opened the ceremonies while you listen to him speak on the headset. There is many dark sides to the design, especially knowing that this was prewar and leading up to an expanding germany, but I wont go into it here.

There was the Berlin wall of course at two sites, checkpoint charlie and the other was called the east side gallerz where the wall is decorated by grafiti artists from around the world. The smaller part of it near checkpoint charlie is bare and crumbling but behind it is a place called Topographz of Terror. It took me two hours to get through the photos and explanations of the Nazis rise to power.

The jewish memorial is powerful and underneath the hundreds of rectangles is a museum that shook both me and the friend I was with, heavy, I cant even describe it here.

I wont go into everything but when I come back I can tell you more if youre interested. This keyboard is giving me problems.

I am doing well and meeting more and more people that I like to call 24hr friends but the best of them I will surely keep in touch with. There has been some sun recently which is like an oasis after the wet and cool temperatures. I even took a half day and napped on the grass infront of the building where Hitler liked to give many public addresses.

I am in Prague now and I know I should say something about it now but I§ll leave it until I am in Austria. I am here until Friday and have been getting a history lesson on the communist rule and how it ties in with the Nazis, the Soviets, Americans and ofcourse the BErlin Wall. Until next time...

Miss you all,
DS

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Comments

[April]

Sounds Amazing
Hey there, I thought that I would post a comment on the off chance you will have time to read them. I thoroughly enjoy reading your blogs and will use all of this information in the event that I go to Europe. Berlin sounds amazing and is definitely on my list of must see places now. It sounds like you are having a great trip. Continue to have fun and be safe. We miss ya April