By the way, the man in black (in Poland) ended up coming into my room really late at night and rolling into the bunk below mine. The problem was, his bed assignment had been moved that day and he ended up getting into bed with some pore gal who was sleeping. That would have been a memorable way to wake up. Either way, after the commotion, he promptly got into his own bed. Yikes
I took a bus to get to get to Berlin because my rail pass did not cover Poland. I had the distinct disdain of sharing the 10 hour ride with a 17 year old, British, know it all, non showering, hippy. She asked me how many fat people I knew “because, you know, most people in America are fat and stupid.” She went on to brag about how she doesn’t have any money and how she got all the way to Serbia by hitching and staying at strangers houses. She said that she hadn’t paid for a single meal in 2 months. Promptly after that, she began to solicit me for food and money, but not directly, just building a guilty case. I asked her why she was on a bus at the moment.
But don’t worry, she knew it all. Accept that Berlin was the capital of Germany, not a country in it’s own right. Oh and that Copenhagen (where she was headed) was in fact on an island. The following conversation came from that little point.
“Ya, it’s an island, like England.”-Me
“England is not an island; its too big for that!”
“Oh really? Please tell me then, what it is?”
“What is Europe?”
“Europe, my dear, is a Continent.”
“Well, that’s what we are. A continent.”
“No, I think you may be a little short.”
“Well, we aren’t an island, thats for sure.”
Any way….. I got to Berlin at night and was pleasantly surprised with how easy the subway system was to use. A few days later, I learned that my Rail Pass actually worked on it too. I had been paying for tickets for no good reason.
The next day I went on a bike ride throughout the city. The city itself bleeds with the signs of how many times it has changed hands in the past century. If you want a perfectly clean city, don’t come here. If you want to see some real character and contemporary history, this is your spot. Berlin was said to be the center of Europe and has been fought over for the past 100 years. The people here all speak English (an ironic point since we could have easily been all speaking German had things gone a little differently.)
The people here are all actually very soft spoken as well. The Austrians were much louder and abrupter. I’ve got thumbs up across the board for the people of Berlin. Maybe it is a sign of how long I have been traveling, but I felt much more safe walking around Berlin at night than I did in Sydney. By the way, it is Illegal to show a swastika in Berlin as well as signal “Heil Hitler”. You can and will end up in prison for 2 years for either offences.
Berlin is actually quite a diverse city with the largest Turkish population outside of Istanbul. It’s one of the cheaper western European capitals as well. But as always, the people make the place, and they are great. The music is amazing as well as I learned at a pub crawl. The techno here is off the chain.
I met a gal on my train ride from Vienna to Prague. She lives here in Berlin and agreed to show me around. This would be the first local on my trip who would show off their city. I heard roomers about the German thought process and in my experience they were all true. Things need to be done in a specific order. You need to stick to the plan. This isn’t a bad thing at all.
She had planned out the day. Everything from which metros to take to which streets to walk down. She planned exactly where we would eat and even showed me a beer in the liquor store that had my last name. It was a truly special day. The funny part was walking back the exact same way (unwinding the day) when it was time to go home. It was actually something that I would have likely done (just because of my lack of directional sense.)
The next day I went to Sachosenhosen, a concentration camp about an hour outside of the city. I have to be honest. I wasn’t really rocked too too hard. I think it was because I over mentally prepared myself. It is a true testament to the power of the mind. I think that this particular concentration camp was laid out in a very dry and informational way. Which is upsetting in it’s own way. It hierarchy and architecture almost took centre stage.
Berlin will definitely be revisited again. Next I am off to Hamburg and then Copenhagen for a few days!