Tuesday, August 3rd, 1993 -- Berlin, Germany

 I barely made my train to Berlin -- I was late, but luckily so was the train. I met two Norwegian girls on the train -- Ann Christin and Charlotte. They are both 18. I ended up spending two days here in Berlin with them. The first day we got in about noon. The first hostel we tried was full, but we managed to get into another hostel out in the boonies in East Berlin. We went back into the center and went up in the T.V. tower, getting a great view of the city. We then visited the Berlin Rathaus and saw the Brandenburg Gate. 

 We were there just at sunset and it was a very impressive sight. It was strange to think that I was in East Berlin. We went to the area around the Zoo metro station and wandered around for a while. We stopped at a beer garden and had some Lowenbrau. It was much better than the version we get back in the States. They had a live band playing and a large, drunk German woman was dancing out of control. 

 Afterward, while we were walking down the street, I was suddenly grabbed from behind by a guy shouting things at me. I thought I was being attacked by some crazy person, but when I turned around it was Torbjorn and Karin!! I was completely surprised and very, very happy to see my Swedish friends. I think I must have had a big grin on my face for the rest of the night. They had been to Djon, Strausburg, and Marseilles. They had randomly decided to spend a few days in Berlin on their way back to Sweden. What a coincidence that I should run into them. It turned out that it was Torbjorn's 23rd birthday, so we all went out for ice cream to celebrate. They were meeting a friend of Karin's the next day to go see a concentration camp outside of Berlin, so we decided to meet up with them and go as well. 

 The next day, before meeting the Swedes, the Norwegians and I went to see Checkpoint Charlie. The checkpoint itself wasn't very impressive, but the museum they have there is fascinating. We had to leave after seeing only part of it and were still late to meet the others. We found them and went to meet what seemed to be half of the population of Sweden. Karin's friend was with two other guys, and we then went to meet the sister of one of them. Then we hooked up with somebody's cousin, and the another sister, and in the end I wound up in the company of ten Scandanavians. 

The concentration camp was at the end of a train line and it took us a long time to get there. The museum was closed because it was Monday, but we were still able to walk around the camp. It was fascinating in a horrible sort of way. We saw the places where they carried out public hangings, the places where they would drop people into underground bunkers to die, the complex where they shot or gassed people and then cremated them. Particularly disturbing was a Pathology lab where they did unspeakable things. I found it very strange to know that I was standing on the exact site where all of this horror took place. 

Over the course of the day, I remembered how much I liked Torbjorn and Karin. It's amazing how close you can get to people over a short period of time when you are traveling. After returning to the city, we went out to an Italian place for dinner and then it was time for the Swedes to leave. We headed for Haptbahnhoff, the main train station, and I said goodbye to them for a second time. I feel certain that I will see Karin and Torbjorn again, either in Sweden or in California. Later that evening, I saw the Norwegian girls off to their train for Prague. I said goodbye to them and then I was alone again. I went back to the hostel and crashed. 

This morning I missed breakfast because my clock was wrong and I overslept. I managed to snag some bread and cheese and headed off into the city. I went to the Pergamemnon museum, where they have reconstructed much of the ancient greek city of Pergamemnon (a place in Turkey). They also had a reconstruction of one of the entrances to the city of Babylon. Leaving the museum, I stopped by a nearby cathedral where a brass band was playing for money. They seemed to be doing quite well for themselves. The inside of the church was quite impressive, but I've seen quite a few churches so far on this trip and they are getting kind of old. 

This afternoon, on a whim, I went to the Berlin zoo. It was very comprehensive in it's collection, but the conditions in which the animals were living was worse than most other zoos I've seen. Afterward, I went to try to get to a section of the Berlin wall that I'd been seeing a lot as I rode by on the U-Bahn (the Berlin metro). It took me a while to find a way it, but it was worth it. In once place there were three tanks stacked to make an arch. Next to it, there was a part of the wall that used to be a guard post. I went up the steps and out on the top. This was where the guards would have stood while patrolling the wall. Farther down, there was a large section of the wall that had memorials to those that had died trying to cross painted on it. Because the area wasn't very accessible, there was almost nobody else around. 

A memorial to those who tried to cross the wall. 

 Later, I went to Tiergarten, a HUGE park in the middle of the city. It was absolutely beautiful. After strolling around for a while (and noticing that clothing appeared to be optional), I went to Haptbahnhoff to check on the train situation. My plan was to go to Prague next. The woman at the international ticket desk spoke no English, and my German is almost non-existent, so I couldn't manage to convey the details of my needs to her. The problem is that my rail pass isn't valid in the Czech Republic, so I need a ticked from the German/Czech border to Prague. I've decided to deal with it en route, and just hop on the night train for Prague. I'm now in the station waiting for the train. 

Copyright (c) 1995, Mike Oliphant