Berlin

Day 31: Berlin Sightseeing: Time to explore this lively city where East and West once met. A "must see" is "Checkpoint Charlie" and other famous sites. Also a chance to enjoy the

exciting nightlife. (Breakfast included)

Hotel: The GeneratorBreakfast: open Meet for tram: 8:45

At 8:45 we met in the lobby and took the Tram to Alexanderplatz where we met our tour guide, Torbin, for our optional historical tour of Berlin. On the way over, on the tram, Maggy told us

that she had run into some English soccer fans on the tram, they were cheering, "2 World Wars, 1 World Cup," an obvious reference to the fact that the English

have won 2 World Wars and the German's have only won 1 World Cup, classy! Torbin is our guide for the optional, he is a German who was raised on Long Island (YEA!), but was getting his degree in history in Berlin, I must say he really knew his stuff. Or at least he bluffed well. He walked us down Unter Den Linden showing us some of the museums, churches and other stuff: Humboldt University, Bebelplatz, Pariser Platz, Berliner Dom, Neue Wache, Zeughaus and the Altes Museum. He also explained to us about the Ampelmännchen (the walk/don't walk sign.) It's traditional to Eastern Berlin and after the unification when the signs would break they would put up new boring ones. Well the Berliners were not having that! There was a movement to keep Ampelmännchen around, and now they are always replaced with the Ampelmännchen.

At Bebelplatz we made a stop, not to take pictures with the UN Buddy Bears, but to see the memorial to the 21,000 books burned by the Nazi's. It's not the stack of books also in Bebelplatz, rather an underground room with empty book shelves that could hold the 21,000 books that were burned.

Eventually we made it down to Pariser Platz where the Brandenburg Gate is, this is also home to the Adlon Hotel (where Michael Jackson dangled his baby off the balcony.) From there we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I must say I was unimpressed with this memorial. It was

designed to make you feel oppressed, and while it wasn't an enjoyable place to walk through, I wasn't feeling oppressed. Combine that with the fact that if I wasn't told what it was, I wouldn't have had a clue, which explains why they sometimes find kids playing hide and seek or jumping from block to block.

Then we went to Hitler's bunker, which until recently was unmarked. They recently put up a sign marking the location and giving some info about the Bunker. We then saw another section of the Berlin Wall and the Topography of Terror (but did not tour it) and finished at Checkpoint Charlie around 1:00. At the end of this tour we said our first goodbye, Cathy was leaving from Berlin this aftern

oon to start her new life in Amsterdam, Good Luck!

For those who wanted to see the Checkpoint Charlie Museum Maggy collected 5.50 euro each and got us all tickets at the group rate. I liked the museum; however, as I heard previously, it's

not well laid out, but it still has some very interesting stuff. After that Leah and I made a quick stop across the street at Subway for lunch and then proceeded to do some shopping. I was looking for some more souvenirs, as was Leah. We probably went into 50 shops, but I got some World Cup stuff for my sister and her family (soccer and Germany fans) and a couple things for myself. If we had had time we would have gone to the top of the TV tower, but alas, we ran out. We had to get back to the hostel to get ready for this evenings optional dinner and nightlife tour. But I did have time for some really yummy Australian Ice Cream from a shop on Unter den Linden. We got back to the hostel at 5:30 and had till 7:00 to get ready.
At 7:00 we all met and took the metro to our restaurant. The dinner was ok, but the restaurant was in a half basement, meanwhile it was a beautiful night and all the restaurants in the area had sidewalk seating. The dinner experience the night before was much better. After dinner we went on our pub crawl.

For this part of the optional we had a tour guide, she was very nice and gave us a free shot (probably included in the price) before our first bar. At the first bar we were pretty much the only people in the bar and the bar was REALLY HOT, it was a relief when I went with Renae to the ATM for money. After that we hit another bar, this one was a little better, there were other people there and I

think we got a free drink here. After another 45 minutes or so we went to a third bar, again it was pretty much only us and we got another free shot. I had an interesting conversation with Clinton, I tried to arrest him for tacky underwear, which didn't work out so well for me, but we did review some martial arts moves in the bar. After that bar we went to a club. I wasn't impressed, it was really more like a bar with a dance floor, and well I'm not much of a dancer anyway. I've heard great things about Berlin nightlife, but I was not impressed with what I had seen on this pub crawl. Finally at 1am I left with Kate, Lis and Jilly and took a Taxi back to the hostel. Again I had trouble with my Ipod and didn't get to bed till after 2am.

Warsaw to Berlin

Day 30: Warsaw to Berlin: Our drive today passes through the Polish-German border to the cultural capital of Germany, Berlin. Upon arrival we'll see the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and the Russian Memorial. (Breakfast and Dinner included)

Hotel: The Generator

Breakfast: 7:30 Bags to the bus/depart: 8:00

This morning started with a really yummy breakfast, I love Poland! At 10:50 we had our first bathroom break which was the perfect opportunity to for people to analyze Andy's new t-shirt, it had a bunch of sperm swimming to the middle of the shirt where it said, "Everyone Loves Poland." I thought it was clever, others didn't get it. I was also wearing my new shirt that said "Polska," not entirely fitting for a trip to Germany, but it somehow worked out for me.

At 1:40 we had a lunch stop at McDonalds. Then at 4:35 we hit traffic at the border for Germany, fortunately we weren't a truck, their line was miles long. We were through the border by 5:00 and we even got stamps! That was totally unexpected, we assumed it had to do with the fact that the World Cup was going on in Germany and they had heightened security. By the way, as we were driving to Berlin the Germany Vs Equador game was being played in Berlin.
At 6:00 we got into Berlin, I know this because all of a sudden we started to see German fans walking the street with flags and other interesting German paraphernalia, apparently Germany had won. YEAAAAAA!!!!!! Once in the city we made a quick stop at the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall for pictures then headed to The Generator, where we would be staying. It was quite warm in Berlin, around 30° Celsius (86° Fahrenheit), and the hostel didn't have air conditioning, ugh. The next day we would find out that not much of Berlin had air conditioning, hazard of being a relatively cool city I guess.

The Berlin wall was built overnight and is an icon of the Cold War. After WWII the agreement between the allies was that Germany and Berlin were to be split up, as a temporary measure. But Stalin was in charge in Russia, and Berlin was in the middle of Eastern Germany, which wasn't doing well economically while Berlin was (thanks to foreign aid from the Allies). Berlin was the gateway out of the East, in Berlin you could basically do a one to one exchange for your East German passport for a West German passport and then travel freely.

At 1am on August 13, 1961 East German soldiers built the Berlin Wall around West Berlin, using barbed wire and checkpoints. Some people fell asleep at friends homes in the East side and couldn't get back home in the morning. This happened to one woman who didn't see her sister until the fall of the Berlin Wall. It split up families, screwed up roads and kept people from going to work.

The Wall caused problems with the Metro too. Many train lines covered stops on both sides of the Wall. Those trains were initially stopped, but eventually they made an agreement. The trains would run, but would not stop at the East Berlin stops, they would spend 28 years as empty unused metro stops.

The first wall was built 5-8 feet tall and 2 and a half feet wide, with broken glass on the top to keep you from climbing over. But over time the wall was improved, eventually it was built 8 to 12 feet tall with a cement pipe on top to make it impossible to get over the wall. The Wall also had a "dead zone" which included guard towers, anyone in that area would be shot dead. Some devised ways of crossing, but some died trying. They believe that 90% of attempts were thwarted. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum has a lot of paraphernalia about the many escapes.

In 1963 John F. Kennedy visited Berlin in a demonstration of solidarity. This is when JFK made his famous speech and said: "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'" The phrase "Ich bin ein Berliner" has been often translated into "I am a jelly donut," though after an extensive search of the internet, I am convinced that he really did say "I am a Berliner," and not, "I am a jelly donut." Though I now understand that the translation could easily be mistaken. Either way, it has been the butt of many jokes, and some t-shirts too, though I never found one.

On June 12, 1987 Ronald Regan visited the Berlin Wall and spoke his famous speech where he says, "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

After this speech there is much turmoil in the Hungary, as there had been all across the Eastern Block. On November 9, 1989 it is announced that travel rules were lifted and those with the proper paper work (exit visa's) will be allowed out of Eastern Berlin, he said it was immediate - no one expected the response they got. Thousands went to the wall for exit visas, the guards are overwhelmed and had no instructions as to what to do with these people. So they took the wall down themselves... and so the Berlin Wall finally fell after 28 years. It took a full year to physically take the whole wall down, except a few remaining sections for posterity. And who was the first person to sing there? The Hoff! Yes, on New Years Eve the honor of singing on the Berlin Wall went to David Hasselhoff! Gotta love the Germans and their Hoff!

I was in room 302 (which at least had it's own bathroom - though it was smaller then the bathrooms I've had on cruise ships - with Tanya, Leah and Cathy, but we had 6 beds in it. Due to some roommate conflicts Bridget was going to be using one of our extra beds. After a few minutes to freshen up we were supposed to meet downstairs. Maggy showed us a little video she had made for us with our day song and pictures from the tour, how sweet. And then it was time to hit the town!

Ash drove us as close to the Reichstag as he could and along the way you could tell it was going to be a good night. People were all over the place drinking and partying. Once there I went with Cathy, Leah and Bridget to find an ATM, taking pictures and soaking in the atmosphere when we went by the fan mile to the area where the Brandenburg Gate is. We finally found one and then went to scope out a place to eat, we found a little sidewalk cafe about 2 blocks from the Brandenburg Gate that was able to seat all 12 of us, we had picked up Andy, Kate, Lis, Jilly, Cara, Renae, Caroline and AJ. During dinner Tom called, apparently he had fallen asleep and just woken up, Lis told him where we were and he met up with us. We all had really nice dinners and reasonably priced considering it was the middle of World Cup - 13.00 euros for a steak dinner.

After dinner we all walked over to the fan mile, apparently the England Vs Sweden game had just finished, which was why it was really hard to get in (most people were leaving). But some of us wanted to get in so Leah, Renae, Cathy, AJ, Caronline, Cara and I pushed our way in. At first we just soaked in the atmosphere and took pictures, and there was a lot of atmosphere to soak in, those Germans (and whoever else) can party!

Eventually we decided to walk around a bit and we found a dance floor with music and people dancing (go figure), and for one of the rare occasions of my life I actually danced! Renae even commented at one point that I looked so happy, and honestly this was one, if not THE, best night I had on tour. Here we ran into Skye, Tom and Bridget too. We also met some strange men that were looking for attention, they even had a little dance off for us. I think one of them was Polish because he seemed to like me and asked something about my shirt (which said Polska on it). At one point the song, "Footballs Coming Home," came on, apparently everyone but us had heard the song and loved it. So we loved it and sang along like everyone else, the song will always remind me of that night.

Eventually we were so hot and tired and decided to duck off the dance floor to get drinks. I got some souvenirs, a World Cup pin. I tried calling home (having a cell phone was handy, even at $1.50 a minute) to talk to my sister and see if my brother-in-law would want something. We were just in time since they were starting to close up for the night, they were also running low on pins. Then we went back to the dance floor again, but I didn't stay long, I went with Tom, Bridget and someone else to see what was even further down the fan mile, it was another giant screen showing recaps from the World Cup games. This crowd was more subdued (they were only screaming, not dancing too.) There were a ton of police there too. Then we all met up again and decided it was time to head back.

For some reason we decided to walk back to the tram, which seemed like a decent walk until you realized it was 12:30 and it really was a long walk, around 2K. While waiting to cross some street a guy said something about me being Polish, apparently he was a fan, I didn't argue the point. Then along the way we saw the UN Buddy Bears and took lots of pictures there too. After losing people and then getting back together we finally arrived at the tram stop, only to have missed the tram by 1 minute. If we had realized the tram was running every 30 minutes we could have run to it, owell. So we waited and waited and it finally came (all public transport was running 24 hours a day because of the World Cup). We finally got back to the hostel at 2:15 and was in my unairconditioned bed at 2:30am. FYI: Taxi's are pretty cheap in Berlin, or so I would hear the next day, but if we took a Taxi we wouldn't have had the adventure.

European Discovery Day 6

Day 6 (May 13): Munich to Austrian Tyrol

A scenic drive through the Bavarian Alps takes us into the heart of the Austrian Tyrol. En route, perhaps a chance to try White Water Rafting. Later relax in this picture postcard paradise.

This morning we were lucky enough to get an extra hour of sleep so I didn't have to get up till 7am, yea! Today's first stop will be Dachau Concentration Camp, since their was not enough interest in White Water Rafting. Actually, most people decided they would rather go to Dachau over rafting. The Concentration Camp was a very good experience, interesting to see. Apparently, in Germany students must go to a Concentration Camp by the age of 12, I think one of those school trips were there, as their was a group of kids, two of which thought it was a jungle gym. I would have killed them if they were my children.

Around 2:00 we got to Innsbruck, a quiet little city surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and home to the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. We first saw the Golden Roof, then headed to Swarovski where I bought some gifts for Mom, Heidi and Kelly. I grabbed lunch at a little bakery across the way with Cindy, Christine, Caitlyn and Jenny, it was a nice lunch and cheap too. At this point I decided that I wanted to move to Austria.

At 4:15 we were off to meet the bus and drive to the hotel we were staying at in Itter. Itter is a quaint little town where the neighbor milks his cows and walks them up the street to a grassy field, I was NOT in NY anymore! In Itter there is a castle and great views of the mountains, since we were part way up the mountain. Our room had a balcony, but it was hard to get the doors here to stay closed, the latches worked funny. We had a chance to take a walk or hang out for a while before dinner. Then after dinner we had more time to hang out and walk again. I took a walk down to the castle, but didn't get further then the sign warning of a dog. On our way back we saw Laurie and Garry walking down to the castle, they came back a little while later, but now they were engaged. Garry proposed to Laurie by the castle, it was very sweet and a great setting. They are just the two nicest people, and a perfect couple, everyone was very happy for them. After that everyone hung around outside drinking until Hans sent everyone in so we didn't keep the neighbors up. But he was nice enough to let Michael and I stay outside for a while since we were having a nice quiet chat. After a while we went in with the rest of the group. Mike carried me to the dance floor at some point, I danced with him till I got an opportunity to run away. Sorry Mike, I hadn't had enough to drink. I also finally got to talk to Lynette and Steven, they're very cool! Just before midnight Nicola and I headed up to bed, the bar must have closed at midnight because a few minutes later we heard people going to their rooms and trying to close their doors, remember they didn't close right. The next morning I found out some never did get their doors shut.

European Discovery Day 5

Day 5 (May 12): Rhine Valley to Munich:

We follow the Rhine on our way to Bavaria and its capital, Munich (Hansie Heaven). Our orientation tour includes the Marienplatz, with the famous Glockenspiel. Tonight, experience a typical Bavarian beer hall.


This morning I got up at 6:15, after 7 heavenly hours of sleep. So far this hotel has been pretty good. It reminds me a bit of the bed and breakfasts in New England, just bigger. My feelings would soon change... The shower was cold, not just not warm, but COLD, and the shower head had a life of its own. It may have been the worst shower I've ever had in my life. The breakfast was ok, bland cereal and good tea.

Off we went to a presentation on steins; interesting and brief, just the way I like these demonstrations. I went across the street and bought teddy bears for Max and Luke, my nephews. While waiting to get on the bus I found out what happened to all the hot water, Simon took a shower at 5am and used all the hot water! grrrrrrrr. So that's how I met Simon, but he's so lovable that I got over it. Ok, I might never get over it, but I can forgive him. After finally getting on the bus, I had to run off so I could see the worlds largest coo coo clock come to life, I think it made some noise and little dancers went around in a circle a couple times. Thank god I didn't miss that!

At 8:30 we headed out for Munich. Our first stop was around 11:30 for lunch it was a bit nerve racking as I had to try and order German food in Germany. I think I ended up getting Chicken, but I'm not positive. Then I had to pay to use the bathroom, but at least this one cleaned itself, the toilet seat spun around and had a cleaning thing in the back, pretty cool. At least I got a clean toilet for 50 euro cents.

We finally got to the Holiday Inn in Munich around 3:30 and had 45 minutes to get ready to head into the city. I got to see Munich's Olympic Stadium, it had a cool web design. The Holiday Inn was sooooo nice, I wanted to stay there all night, but in the end I did decide to go out. The hotel was clean, we had a balcony, and a menu for what type of pillow we wanted, I opted to stick with the one on the bed. The funny thing was that other people mentioned that when they walked into their rooms, they felt the same way, lets just stay here tonight. But everyone went out.

Off we went on the Metro to Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel, or Glock Rock as Hans called it. Lets just say this was a step up from the worlds largest coo coo clock, but not a big step. After that the group was off to the Hofbrauhaus. After getting seats I went off with Nicola, Laurie, Monica, and Mel for a little shopping. I bought myself some sandals and some of the other girls got shirts. Then a couple of us broke off to head back for dinner and beer. I had some yummy goulash and a Rodun (half beer and half lemonade). I chatted a bit with Ryan for the first time, and got a good laugh at everyone getting drunk. Most people seemed to have between 2 and 4 liters of beer. I think it was sheer luck that got some people home that night.

At 10:00 Hans and Reuben rounded us up to go back to the hotel. Thankfully Reuben took us to the metro, a couple of us got on the wrong train and he had to save us. Who knows where we would have ended up. We got to be the loud obnoxious group in the train station. Some guy looked so mad at us, his face was bright red and he was holding his ears. On the train there was some poor guy surrounded by us who looked very unhappy. Kamala started talking to him in German, eventually he moved over and made a seat for her. Then he told her that he could speak English, he he.

Back at the hotel I had a nice little chat with Reuben about skiing and snowboarding. At his home in Austria he can sometimes ski or board from the mountain right to his door. How nice is that! After finding out he's a bit nutty on skies and boards I got to check my email. Who wouldn't want to get an email from Munich??? While emailing I found Michael's (Canada) camera on the table and rescued it. I got to bed at 12:30.

European Discovery Day 4

Day 4 (May 11): Amsterdam to the Rhine Valley

An orientation tour and a visit to a diamond cutting exhibition. Then to St. Goar on the banks of the Rhine.

I woke up at 2:30am and thought someone was stabbing me in the head, turned out to just be a hangover. I didn't sleep much the rest of the night and finally got out of bed to take a shower. This I thought would be interesting as the shower did not have a shower curtain, but I actually didn't flood the bathroom. After my shower I would give Nicola a report on the shower, a tradition I would continue throughout the trip. Then it was off to breakfast where I had some bread with a butter like substance and Jelly with bad tea, mmmmm.


Our first stop was demonstrations on cheese making and clog making. They were both fairly interesting and brief. At clog making we were told how men were supposed to make special clogs for the woman they wanted to marry, sorry guys but I would rather get a ring. Cheese making isn't the best activity to do when you're hung over, in case you were considering it. Then we headed off to Amsterdam. I went off with Roshni, Kreena, Anne, Alberto, Maya, Nicola to Anne Franks Haus and waited on line. It was a very nice and well setup. By the time we left my hunger had kicked in and I had to threaten Alberto who wanted to go to some museum, all I wanted was lunch. We ended up at Burger King, so much for "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." We did some shopping after that, I got my red Amsterdam sweatshirt I had been eying since the night before.

At 12:30 we met the bus for the drive to St. Goar, Germany. After driving through the extremely flat country of Holland, Germany would bring us beautiful hills lined in grapes for wine production. On this drive Hans announced our Day song, Times Like These by the Foo Fighters the words go like this:


I'm a one way motorway
I'm the one that drives away then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
I'm a wild light blinding bright burning off alone

It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again

I'm a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky to hang your stars upon tonight
I'm a little divided
do I stay or run away and leave it all behind

It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again


I would like to thank Jen (the not always sober one) for looking up the words, THANKS! After we listened to our song we all got a chance to introduce ourselves, announce our favorite superhero and help Hans with a study he was doing on what people do more often, fold or scrunch their toilet paper. I believe the results were inconclusive.

We arrived in St. Goar at 6:00 and found the weather to be improving. St. Goar was the first warmish place we had been to, and it was 6 at night. St. Goar is a sleepy little town on the Rhine River. Not much going on here, but it was quaint. I got to check my email at the hotel, which was nice. Then I headed out for a little walk around, took some pictures and tried to call home on my Contiki E-Kit card. I ended up spending a euro or two and only checked my voicemail. Sorry Mom and Dad.

At 7:30 we had dinner at the hotel; pork, spetzel, peas, and carrots. It was ok, nothing to write home about. At 8:45 we went to wine tasting. Earlier in the day I had sworn off alcohol, but since I promised Mike, my brother in law, to get him wine from Germany, I had to go. The wines were pretty good, but the company was great. I sat with Monica, Mel, Narelle, Alberto and had frequent visits by Mike (with the camera), and Michael (from Australia). I got some wine for my Mom, Mike and me. Back at the hotel was "Family Night." I had a nice chat with Sophie (who I renamed Pam, since Sophie and Pam both have P's in them), and Jess. I also had a nice chat with Hansie. I headed up to bed a little before 11, I picked the right night to get to bed early as this was the best bed the whole trip!!!!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

The Berlin Wall...

I heard something recently that I thought was quite ironic, they're fixing the Berlin Wall. I wonder what Ronald Reagan would think? The restoration is scheduled to finish before the 20th anniversary in November. Has it really been that long? I vaguely remember it happening, I was barely a teenager at the time, I certainly didn't understand it. But I do now, or at least I like to think that I do.

In 2006 I had an opportunity to visit the Berlin Wall, I must admit that our stop there was overshadowed a bit by the World Cup which was in Berlin. About the same time we arrived at the East Side Gallery fans were getting out of the Germany vs somebody game and Germany won, the city was celebrating, the city was electric that day. We only had a few minutes to visit the Eastside Gallery of The Wall and if not for the fact that we were told the history of the wall before arriving, it might have just been a photo op. As a group I think we all looked at it as a symbol of the Cold War, and the evils of Communism.
 The following morning we took a tour of the city and visited the Checkpoint Charlie museum which brought it home. A saw a poster there which I think epitomizes the Berlin Wall, I've included a picture, but it has the Berlin Wall in the middle. On one side is green grass, a tree, happy people, people playing ball, flowers. On the other side there is no grass and dead people. Whether it was drawn by a child from the East or West does not matter, the sentiment is there, the wall was bad and it divided people and countries. The world and Germany is better for its fall. I think the world is also better for having kept part of the wall as a reminder of what it symbolized.

The Checkpoint Charlie Museum was very good. The layout of the museum isn't the best, but it's filled with so much good stuff that it makes up for it. It tells the story of the wall and the story of those who tried to cross it, these were people who were thinking outside the box.

While doing research for this post I ran across an interesting article, and something totally up my alley. An apt was just opened that had been abandoned just a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and has been left as it was left almost 20 years. Do I smell a museum opening? Or maybe just some things that can be taken to a museum.