Day 19

Aug. 27, Day 19 – Checkpoint Charlie

Today we took a double decker bus (there are tons of them) and visited the museum, Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie on the corner of Freidrichstraße and Kochstraße, in what used to be the American Sector in the former West Berlin.

Here’s a view of the checkpoint, looking from what used to be West Berlin to East Berlin:

And from East to West:

What struck us immediately was the amount of new construction happening on the “East” side vs. the “West”. In 1989 the Wall came down; it takes time to rebuild a city and Germany is putting a lot of effort into making Berlin a great city once again.

The museum was started in the ‘60s by Rainer Hildebrandt, in a 2 ½ room apartment right on the border between East and West Berlin, to document the history behind the formation of the wall and the successful and failed attempts at escape from the GDR. Here’s a link to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Neil and I were once again struck by how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum, although we saw a few people taking pictures with their pocket-sized digital cameras or their cell phones. At the end of our visit, Ingrid snuck a picture of a huge circle of passports behind the front desk. We’re not certain what the significance of it is, so if anyone knows, please tell us.

The museum was very interesting and highly informative, and overwhelming in the amount of information and text. We found as we slowly picked our way through the museum, there were quite a few images and text panels duplicated, and sometimes the text didn’t correspond with the images very well. But, if you didn’t know very much about the history of the Berlin Wall before you came, you certainly knew a lot more by the time you left. For example, a family escaped from the GDR over the wall in a home-made hot air balloon, and another man made a kind of scuba gear and swam across, and yet another welded together a special ladder that was self-supporting and wouldn’t touch the barbed wire or electric fence. Then there were the feats of getting through the “death zones”, swaths of space between one side and the other where people seldom got through alive.

There were also rooms dedicated to people who championed human rights, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and rooms that highlighted other human rights’ violations, such as the Ukrainian Famine in the ‘30s. Click on Wikipedia Ukraine famine for more info.

By the time we left the museum, we were hungry, dizzy with information and needed time to process what we had just seen. We went to an Italian restaurant across the street from the museum, and compared notes. We concluded that all in all it was really interesting, but that the museum was trying too hard to impart too much information on too many subjects at once. It felt a little jumbled and confusing at times. If you go, go on a full stomach and give yourself about 2-3 hours to get through it all.

Outside the building there were more text panels, graphics and memorabilia/artifacts, parts of the Wall, lots of Wall souvenirs,

and the famous sign “You are now leaving the American Sector”.

On the former East side, long murals obscuring construction zones had text and graphics highlighting moments during the Wall’s history. Here’s Neil in front of a part of the mural. The kid crouched down behind him is touching a strip of cobbled stones that denotes where the Wall used to stand. This strip runs all through Berlin, a memory of the boundary that separated people that can now be passed over freely.

From the mural, a great picture of Keith Haring painting the Wall in 1986. The caption reads: “The New York artist Keith Haring paints the Wall, 23 October, 1986. The picture on the left comes from the Ullstein picture archive, the one on the right from the files of the East German secret police, the Stasi, photo not dated (23 October, 1986).” I wonder where this section has gone?

Our hosts at the pension suggested we go to a section of the wall that was still standing, where there was a lot of original art. So, we continued our exploration of Berlin with this in mind, but not before bumping into all sorts of other great things along the way.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

Hey there!

We’re home! We arrived in Vancouver late Monday night (Sept. 4) and Neil’s parents picked us up at the airport. By the time we cleared customs, got our luggage, reported the tears in Ingrid’s luggage and got home, it was after midnight. We were tired and wired at the same time. Neil was able to get to sleep a little earlier than Ingrid; Ingrid was wide awake until 3:15 am, so she unpacked, organized things, put things away and finally went to bed. Today is Friday, and we’re almost back on Vancouver time, though we still don’t have our internal clocks synched.

Now, back to our adventures!

Aug. 26, Day 18

August 26 we traveled to Berlin. We took a train to from Ansbach to Nürnburg, and then Nürnburg to Berlin. On the train to Nürnberg we met a very nice businessman whose name was Peter who explained what the various digital signs above the seats meant, which we were quite confused about. Some signs meant that passengers had booked those seats from and to certain stops, others meant the seats were for disabled people, some were for frequent travelers with a special card, etc. Then he proceeded to point out interesting landmarks along the way. Over here a castle dating from such and such, over there a church dating from such and such. He was very nice. He went on to tell us that we would be winding our way up a mountain path, and during that climb we would be entering the former East Germany, and we would still be able to see a difference. And it was true. The buildings were more run down, there was a lot more “tagging” and graphiti, and gardens and lawns were unkempt. It was also very cool to see the rest of the train from the window as we snaked our way up the mountain path.

After we cleared the mountain pass, the train was able to pick up speed.

As we were waiting for the plane in München, there was a commercial for the Deutsche Bahn, Rail Germany, playing on a tv monitor, and they advertised the train barrelling along at speeds up to 300 km/h! Perhaps we went that fast and missed it… bummer.

When we arrived in Berlin, it was quite late. As we said earlier, the Berlin Hauptbahnhof is huge, but we didn’t have any trouble finding an info centre. They were extremely helpful, and we booked a room in a pension for 3 nights. We found out how to get there by bus, but decided to walk instead. The walk was great! We were a little apprehensive walking in a strange city, not knowing really where we were and what to expect, but the guy at the info centre said it was safe, and it really was. It’s gotta be safe when couples are walking with their baby strollers at night. We heard music some distance from the train station, so we stopped to check it out. There was a concert happening. Neil saw immediately that there were lots of moving lights. We wondered who was playing and lingered for awhile, then decided to continue on our way to the pension.

So we walked and walked, past the Victory column through the Tiergarten. We walked down tree lined allés, along cobbled roads, past roundabouts and then we heard more music in the distance. Cars rushed past us and we walked nearer and nearer to the music. There was an event happening, and a major street had been closed off to traffic and pedestrians were ambling by, walking towards tents and food stands. In the distance something was happening, but we couldn’t really make out what it was. I stopped and asked a police officer who explained that it was a skate board and mountain bike demonstration/festival weekend. So for the whole weekend there was a festival for skaters and bikers in the Tiergarten! Cool! Welcome to Berlin!

And we kept walking. We came across another event outside an expensive hotel. There were Martha Stewart-esque paper bags with sand and candles lining the sidewalk, so I had to stop and try to take some “artsy” pictures! (Neil is a very patient man, by the way…)

And we kept walking. We walked past cafés and lovers kissing. We walked past monuments and old buildings. We walked past new buildings and construction zones. Our wheeled suitcase made a dull rattle across the cobbled stones, and our feet kept time to our own rhythm. Suddenly the sky opened up and it started to rain “cats and dogs”! We ran under the cover of a restaurant’s awning, put on our jackets and kept walking. No sooner had it started raining than it stopped. A common occurrence in Berlin, we were to discover.

After almost 1 ½ hours of walking, we reached the pension. By this time we were quite tired and looking forward to crawling into bed. The room was clean and comfortable, breakfast served until 10am every morning, and so we tucked in for our first night in Berlin, looking forward in anticipation to the next day’s adventures.

Flughafen München (Day 17)

Hi from Flughafen München!

We’re on our way home. We’re flying with AirTransat, and although it’s cheap, it’s a bit of a hassle. Our flight to Germany wasn’t very comfortable: the seats are really close together (Neil’s knees hit the back of the seat in front of him), the food comes in cardboard boxes, and there’s little to no service from the flight attendants. Today we arrived at the airport 5 hours before the flight, and were told at the airport info booth that you cannot check in with AirTransat more than 3 hours before the flight. Okay, say Neil and I, and we go away for an hour and 15 minutes, have a bite to eat and then decide to head back to the check-in counter a bit early to see if their sign has been turned on, at least, so we can be the first in line. When we get to the counter, the line-up is already really long, and we’re clearly not the first in line. So, we wait in line, they open a second checked-luggage X-ray machine, and we get checked-in in about 45 minutes. Not bad. Then we discover we’re overweight by 8 kg, but we can’t repack our luggage because then we’ll have to get back in line to have it x-rayed again. Oh, and last night we spent about 2 hours trying to get through to AirTransat to find out about the new traveling regulations, etc., but all we got from AirTransat was an answering service where you select a number to get to another selection menu which brings you to another menu, and so on. I thought my brain was going to explode! Then the answering service gave a 1-800 number that turned out to be the same number as the first! Arrrggg…

But, back to the baggage. We can’t repack our luggage, and we’re irritable because of the hassles so far, so we begrudgingly fork over 40€, and chaulk one up to experience. Now we’ve gone through security, they’ve looked at and swabbed the laptop, checked out our cameras, and the sweet smell of perfume is wafting over from the duty free store. Too bad we’re broke!

Now, back to the puddles:

Aug. 25, DAY 17

Würzburg

Regina and Carston, our table mates from the wedding, invited us to Würzburg for the day. Regina met us at the train station, and we walked along the Main river past a cool landmark: the “Alter Kranen” a crane built in 1773 to load goods onto boats.

On the other side of the river on the hill, we could see the Festung Marienburg, an imposing castle overlooking the city which we would later go up and see.

We then stopped for a bite to eat in a cute little restaurant to the left on the end of the bridge seen in the picture above. We had some regional delicacies and of course coffee and tea. After lunch, Regina took us for a walk around the town, until we came to the Wurtzburg Residence…

….a beautiful mansion, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Regina had seen it lots before and didn’t want to see it again, so she left us to our own devices for a couple of hours to check out the inside. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos inside the Residence, so we can’t show you the inside, but take it from us, it’s pretty damned nice. We saw many nice rooms all decked out with beautiful ornamentation made out of plaster, and the famous Mirror Room. Neil’s favorite though was the main staircase, and the ceiling fresco by artist Giovanni Tieopolo and his son, Domenico, above it. The roof structure was built to be a clear span of the room, and the architect’s rivals thought that it was too far a span and could not possibly hold the weight over time. Well, the architect, Balthasar Neumann, was eventually proven right when the roof caught fire during the war and the burning roof beams fell in on the ceiling supports. The ceiling held with a minor amount of damage to the fresco. After our wanderings we reconnected with Regina, who took us to her flat to meet up with her husband Carston, so we could go for a walk up to the Festung Marienburg.

The walk up to the Festung was beautiful, though Ingrid had another fateful encounter with a “tart” ripe apple. (Talk to Neil if you’re interested in seeing the video.) We walked through quiet little neighbourhoods, parks with exotic birds on display and eventually up to the gates of the Festung.

The Festung was beautiful, had a commanding view of the valley and Main river, and the Käppele

and was apparently the inspiration for Starbucks.

We finished our walk through and around the Festung, and then walked back to Regina and Carston’s place where we were treated to Regina’s first solo attempte at traditional Frankonian Onion Cake. Think quiche, only more onions. It was well prepared, and delicious as well. All we were missing was the traditional drink that accompanies this dish. As we understand it they start the wine making process but stop it after a week or two, which produces a very sweet drink that still has some alcohol in it. Unfortunately it is a seasonal autumn drink, and had not yet arrived on the store shelves in Würzburg when we were there. But I thought it went well with water, and Ingrid tells me that it tasted just fine with the local variety of beer she was drinking.

During and after dinner we entertained each other talking and telling stories. Regina told us that when she was cutting the onions for the onion cake, she put on her swimming goggles to keep her from crying. She was so funny, because she wears glasses, and when she had her goggles on, she couldn’t see what she was doing, but she said, triumphantly, “But I didn’t cry!” We laughed so hard when she told us how she prepared the many pounds of onions it takes to make the onion cake, so Carston ran and grabbed her goggles so she could model for us. It was hilarious! (Ingrid has secretly decided to try this technique the next time she cuts onions).

The only problem was we were having so much fun that we forgot to watch the clock, and had to race madly to the train station to catch our train back to Ansbach. Lucky for us the German precision train system was running 5 minutes late, so we managed to make it back to Ansbach with a minimum of hassle. Another great day!