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Boarding a train from Poznan to Berlin we were instantly made to feel our German time had come. The only train was relatively expensive, with only 2nd class reserved seats. We found our carriage as a couple of bulky Germans on a business trip boarded and placed their laptops on the large baggage racks. We politely asked if we could move these small laptop bags to the smaller lower shelf and were abruptly answered ¨They are fine. Not my problem... ¨ - Thanks mate! Don't mind if I drop a 20 kilo backpack on them then..? After realising they would have to suffer backpacks at their feet for the 2 hour journey, they changed their minds and moved them to the smaller shelf. Welcome to Germany and the custom of Rechtharberei (the need to always be in the right).
Our mate Adam had promised we would enjoy our time in Berlin. He has lived there for 4 years and had offered his place for as long as we liked... risky for him, but a great offer for us. We had a very familiar and friendly welcome as he came to the train station to meet us and deliver us to our new home for the week. The weather was still cold, but a little warmer than Poland.
The new central train station that we arrived at (built for the Soccer World Cup) took 10 years of construction. It is a modern, steel and glass model of efficiency with concentrated transit and shopping services. As we arrived at rush hour, we quickly made friends by bumping, swiping and blocking locals in our effort to ride the train system back to our lodgings. It is noticeable how streamlined and intuitive the journey was. Must be that German efficiency we hear about..... or maybe that Eastern European transit hubs are somewhat less designed.
It is strange how familiar a place feels when an old friend is on hand to explain things in Aussie terms. We were taken the scenic way back to his place in Kreuzberg. What a great place they have - a one bedroom apartment, with lounge/study, or, while we were there, second bedroom - with space for a blow-up mattress. Pretty handy for a couple of grateful nomads from Sydney who promptly exploded their backpacks and made good use of his washing machine. Oh yeah, we felt the homely touch instantly.
Sooo we had finally arrived at a key point of our trip. Berlin... So much had been said about this haven for artists, culture, cool, sausages, Nazis, Prussians and modern history... We were pleased to have the chance to take it all in at a leisurely pace.
Our first morning was spent shopping, as we were planning to go to a house party that night and had nothing to wear!! We both bought a pair of jeans so at least we didn´t have to turn up in travelling gear!! Heading to the party by bike was a cool experience, especially after a few beers, some vodka shots and some Jaeger Bombs....but apparently that´s what you do in Berlin.....and bikes are king of the road. We were most impressed with the bike with the little mini generator that when connected to the wheel, generated the energy to charge the front light! The house party was small, held in a funky 2 bedroom apartment. Beers were kept in their crates on the balcony....which despite the cold, in our opinion was not cold enough for beer!!
Sunday
After a rising late, the boys went for a run followed by a big breakfast, before heading out on the Adam and Anna bike tour of Berlin. As they had 3.5 bikes, we were fully catered for... For the 0.5, look for Adam in the photos on his purple clown bike (Old East German standard issue folding bike modified to Adam´s liking). We whizzed around the streets on an overcast Berlin day. We were somewhat apprehensive about the road rules as our friends kept swinging in front of cars that would never have considered breaking in Sydney. But apparently road users in Germany give way to cyclists and don't try to run them off the road... Mands is delighted with this cycling paradise.
We hit many of the major attractions in Berlin, getting a few insights from our mates who could explain the locals´ take on attractions that the previous ruling class erected around the city. We managed to cover the better part of the city in our travels. Not so many photos, but lots of smiles and memories.
Monday
Walking tour of Berlin... Everyone who has ever been to this city has told me how much they enjoyed this experience. There are countless walking tours now on offer, so we were hoping to choose a good one. Meeting at a main train station we joined the flock of travelers drawn to the offer, despite the freezing temperatures. Our group was a united nations of travelers and we weaved our way around the streets, alleys and arches to hear some of the more interesting details of old and new Berlin.
A few of the more interesting elements of the tour were the old Jewish quarter, with stories of activities around WWII, a stroll through an artist commune that arose from a squatter community that was granted a lease at a peppercorn rent, a visit to the old Nazi headquarters and the site of the suicides that ended their rule.
We finished the day by deciding to walk back to Adams, to save money. After discovering ATMs are far more common in Sydney, we arrived back at 8pm (1 hour late) to cook our hosts dinner... Note, supermarkets may not take credit cards.
So from these 2 days we learnt more about Berlin than we know about Old Sydney, and the consensus was that the bike tour was more enjoyable!
Tuesday
Adam is finishing his last year of his Masters degree in Art and Teaching, so our volunteer tour guide was very well qualified to take us to a few of the better art galleries in town. When we arrived to buy an all day ticket however, we found a 3 day pass including 50 galleries/museums was better value....and so began our cultural safari.
We started at the old national gallery and saw a range of German statues and paintings by the most famous German artists. Adam clearly explained the development of styles and periods through the centuries. So finally I understand artistic terms and distinction between the pieces.
Next up we go to the Pergamon Museum. Didn´t sound very German to me. Turns out the old Kaiser of Deutschland had a soft spot for archeology and supported expeditions to sites in Ancient Greece, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. His subjects managed to get their trowels into an old temple with a vast array of marble statues of Greek gods and massive pillars. So these were shipped back to Berlin to be exhibited to all who visit. This could have had a large bearing on the proliferation of neoclassical art in the city. Turns out the site for this major excavation was an ancient Greek city of Pergamon (Old Thrace empire, now in Turkey). So we have found ourselves in the reconstructed temple. A special exhibition of Babylonia art was also on display, so we spent a couples of hours soaking up as much as we could. Very impressed, we actually came back 2 days later to see more. See video of the Pergamon temple.
Our final art gallery that day contained many paintings from the renaissance period. Adam was an excellent guide and we can now explain the evolution of art and many interesting insights to the styles. Very cultural, even for connoisseurs like ourselves.
As Adam was heading to work for a couple of hours, we headed to the topography of terror exhibition at the site of the old SS headquarters, under the remaining section of the Berlin wall. This site was used as holding cells by the Himmler SS crew when the Nazi executive decided to place someone in protective custody - newspeak for torture and scare tactics, and possible shipment to concentration camp processing. The exhibition had a chronicle of events from the imprisonment of Hitler after his failed attempted to overthrow the Govt in the 1920s to the end of WWII. A very chilling train wreck in slow motion that walks you through 200 metres of archive photos and stories that leave you with the terrible insight into how a series of compounding events destroyed almost all of those involved and most of Europe... Why? Hard to guess, but I sure am grateful that none with great ideas assumes ultimate power and rises above the checks and balances installed in the places and times that I have lived. Well worth a visit!
We then decided to hit the Berlin night scene. A dinner at a suggested suburb started a series of events that included at least on beer at every turn... We skipped a couple of establishments on the way to dinner, including one with a sign stating Kaffee Burger that looked suspiciously like a strip club.
We returned to the iconic squatter-turned-artist commune called Tackelles for a couple of drinks at the top floor bar. Pretty cool place, if you don't mind walking through the graffitied stairwells, drug dealers, art displays and stoned junkies.
We then head past all the barbie doll, bum-bag wearing prostitutes, to return to a bar that is mentioned in a book Adam was reading. The bar was called Russian Doll ....and ironically, it turned out to be the suspicious stripper place we´d seen earlier. Oh well, we were there, so we thought we´ check it out. The bouncer was happy enough to let us in for free and we found the place to be practically empty, bar a couple of dodgy looking characters at the bar. We had a couple of drinks before heading off to another funky club for a couple of beers, and as they seemed to be setting up for something, we enquired what happened later and were told it kicked off at 1am.
Still a little uncertain by what to expect, we returned at the reported time and found the place to be pumping. The dance floor was packed with swing-style dancers (Anita´s thing). We were drunk enough to bounce around for a while, but were more interested in one girl in a far worse state than us. We were fairly confident she was the stripper, but she was too far gone to keep her shit together, let alone take it off. Nonetheless, she had a series of moves that would have impressed any of our friends. Our favourites include the push everyone from the dance floor to clear a big circle to demonstrate her swing dance moves... on her own. But the winner must be the ´pick up the chair and swing it around your head' move... into the backs of the other punters. That one got a few short words from a few fans struck by her creative flair. Not sure she cared.
Anyway, turns out it wasn´t a strip joint afterall, just somewhere to have a boogie....so after about 2 or 3 drinks too many we jumped in a taxi and headed home. Bing thirsty as all hell, Adam picked up a bottle of water off the sink and skulled half the bottle... Only to taste is was soaking with detergent... He claims that is why he was sick the next day... The consequences of a couple of old mates from Oz hitting town.
Wednesday
The next day we slept till midday and only managed to visit 2 museums and the palace gardens. The Picasso exhibition was a highlight with a series of pieces throughout his career. Very interesting to see and hear all the background and it´s impact on his work.
Adam was blowing bubbles and feeling sorry for himself most the day. Luckily Anna was on hand to nurse him back to his normal self.
Thursday
Off to a few museums:
Nature museum – Nice range of skeletons, stuffed animals and universe creation exhibitions.
Burger Bahnhoff – Supposedly the best modern art museum in Berlin... but mainly closed for refit.
Pergamon – To revisit some sections when it was far less crowded.
Old Museum – A diverse selection of Ancient Greek and Egyptian art and historical pieces, including the head wear of Nefertiti and the book of the dead. I was interested to hear that much of this old text is very similar to the Christian stories, including the birth of the Pharaohs and Jesus. I guess good stories are popular.
Friday
WWII Bunker tour at 11am after tearing across the city on our bikes. Our intense tour guide did a good impersonation of a slightly crazy historian that is struggling to come to terms with the closure of bunker systems in the rebuilding of Berlin. The stories were interesting and she appeared to hate everyone in history equally, so I guess that is fair.
We then cycled around the outer city through much of old East Berlin, stopping for a coffee and an occasional beer in the park, free toilet, then a one-hour boat cruise along the River Spree (Don´t try to pronounce this near a German speaker). A bike riding video is below.
Saturday
We took Adam & Anna out for a ´thanks for having us´ dinner on our last night in town, followed by a trip across town to meet Florian and a couple of mates we had met through him in Sydney. They chose a very cool bar that has not yet been detected by the LP gatecrashers. It was cool to catch up with these old friends and hear stories for Berlin locals. We surprised to find smoking in this small and crowded air tight bar still allowed and can happlily say we fully support the no-smoking laws in Oz after a hazy experience that left us craving fresh air. Leaving around 1am, we boarded the frequent fast train home... Gee, their transport shows Sydney how it can be done.
Sunday
Leaving day was a pretty casual affair. We headed out for an all you can eat buffet brunch... Shame we were a little off form from the previous night. We did pass the Berlin Marathon runners at their half way mark... There is something very primal in me that makes we want to run with the herd when I see them flying past... Must be a mammal thing. Adam and I were pretty frustrated that we missed the chance to run. Next year is very tempting.
4pm Bus to Prague... Adam was right, Berlin was great.
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