I got out of the hostel relatively early this morning (11am!), and I've spent most of the day biking around. Berlin is huge and full of places that are worth visiting; I could stay here for a month and probably still miss entire parts of the city.
I mentioned that I left at eleven. By 1:30, I'd ducked into a store to buy a pen so I could write down all of the things I wanted to look up when I got home. (Below is only a sampling.) The guidebooks aren't exactly comprehensive, and I can't read German.
- I passed a Häagen Dazs today. Enticed by the authentic-seeming umlaut and "non-American" name, I bought an ice cream cone, though I was very suspicious. Sure enough, the company isn't German and it isn't even Scandinavian, it's plain old American. Either way, the ice cream is delicious.
- I had schnitzel for lunch. When I ordered it I didn't even know whether to ask for " a" schnitzel or "some" schnitzel or "a couple of" schnitzel, because truthfully I had no idea what I was ordering. I received a deep-fried patty of meat, which I could only identify as "probably pork". Since it was cheap, I was probably correct.
- I've been seeing colorful bears all over the city. The bear is the symbol of Berlin, and apparently fiberglass animals are all the rage these days! I'm not going to lie, these guys will brighten your day.
- My guidebook didn't mention a Holocaust memorial (which I actually found quite strange), so imagine my surprise when I came across this. Here's the scoop.
I'm off to Stockholm tomorrow, but by no means have I scratched the tip of the cultural iceberg of Berlin. The rich history of the city dates back over 750 years...but the fall of the Wall happened less than 20 years ago, and don't forget that the Allied forces bombed the hell out of the city in the 40s. Hopefully I'll have time to write about some of my observations on this constantly-evolving place.
Quick, fun anecdote from today. I was standing at the Holocaust memorial talking to another tourist in English. A relatively young girl came up to me with her mother and sister in tow (clearly she was the English-speaking representative of the family) and asked me directions to the Berlin Wall.
I showed her a couple of nice vantage points on her map. She thanked me, I complimented her English, and I added "good luck!" (referring, obviously, to their imminent attempt to find the mauer.)
She smiled, waved, and repeated "good luck!" This pure-hearted, international expression of benevolence kept me smiling for a few blocks.
2 comments:
Hmmm... I can't tell by your comments whether or not Berlin lived up to your expectations. Hope I didn't waste your time by telling you to go there!
ed -
It definitely did.... Berlin was amazing. I'd love to come back and just watch the city evolve.
I guess I didn't really write about this, but what I found so powerful about Berlin is that so much of the history is so recent. Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, a church which remains in its "jagged" state after being bombed by the Allies in WWII, stands tall in the middle of the city. People drive to work every day and pass this monument and think about how recently the Holocaust happened.
Also, a monument like Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche does not say "look at our oppressors" or "look how strong we were in the face of adversity" (like most monuments you'll see in the world), but rather "we deserved to be bombed because we got out of control". Really makes you think.
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