Berlin: A Whole Lotta History

I stepped off a bus at 5 this morning onto the Jaarbeursplein in Utrecht, which was pissing rain. No buses were running until well after 6. But I was content to walk another 2k with my pack, after being on my feet for most of the previous three days. If there's one thing a weekend in Berlin taught me (though there were at least two things) it's that all the planning and walking and hostel-dwelling that goes into a European trip is all worth it.
To save some cash, Barry, Mike and I decided to try out the Eurolines bus service, which runs to most big European cities, and offers great discounts if planned with reasonable notice. Sounds good right? Well the brochure didn't mention the 250+ German guy who'd be sitting next to you and occasionally trying to use your shoulder as a pillow. That being said, I'd take the bus again for the price. I'm a student right?
We arrived at a bus station somewhere in Berlin at 9:00. It was rainy and gloomy, and we were all running on a few hours of bus sleep. The ornery German speaking drivers weren't much help, but we managed to find a train station and purchase some passes for the weekend. Berlin is a big city, 3mil+, and as a result as an amazing public transport system. Train, subway, bus and light rail can get you just about anywhere in the city without too much trouble. We found our lodging for the weekend, Mitte's Backpacker Hostel, and checked into our cheap beds, in a room we shared with 30 other young travellers. After a light lunch, we decided to make a day trip out to Oranienburg, as we had missed the tour we planned on for the day. Oranienburg is about 40 minutes north of Berlin by train, and is the unfortunate host of the former Nazi/Soviet concentration camp, Sachsenhausen. The audio tour we purchased had an enormous amount of information, and I suspect one could spend a full-day wandering the deathplace of thousands of the "undesirables" marked by Hitler and the Red Party. Though I wouldn't recommend it, as two and a half hours there was a rather sobering experience, and I suppose it was fitting that there was no sun in sight and the rain came down in a steady drizzle. By the time we left we were wet and somber, and ready to head in a positive direction.
Back in Berlin, it was dinner time, and the only natural choice was to seek out the "best doner in Berlin" which happened to be at Grill and Schlemmerbuffet Zach, on the corner of Rosenthaller Platz. It was a three euro work of art, washed down with a Berliner brew. Once back at the hostel, we met a few other travellers, took on some Italians in fooseball, then headed out on the town to feel out Berlin's famous night life. We started at a hookah bar not far from our hostel, and we ended up staying a while, enjoying the hookah and the huge mugs of Becks. Next we headed further south, and stopped in at an Irish pub with two guitar wielding guys who never left the eighties. They played a bit of Don Henley, so they weren't all bad. Barry wanted to order an Irish car bomb, and though I reminded him for the second time this week that the Irish don't promote that drink for obvious reasons, he asked the bartender and got us cut off. We stopped at a few more pubs on the way back, and crashed sometime between 3 and 4.
Saturday morning we got up in time to make a "free" city tour, which turned out to be worth much more than the 4 euro I tipped the guide. In the course of about 5 hours, we saw most of Berlin's main attractions, as well as plenty of hidden spots with some amazing historical stories. The architecture in the city is amazing, especially considering it had the shit bombed out of it twice last century, and had the second largest man-made wall running through it for 28 years. Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag were personal favorites of mine, though the most impressive was the Jewish Holocaust memorial, which is hard to explain, so I'll attach a picture. We heard the story of Hitler's suicide, attempted and successful escapes from East Berlin, DDR's secret police, the Statsi, and much more. The most impressive information I heard all weekend was that the Statsi had an agent for every 63 people in Berlin, compared to 1:150 for the Gestapo. Crazy, paranoid commies.
After the tour we sat down for some amazing Chinese, which the Berliners are crazy about. It was easier to find oriental in Berlin than bratwurst. I of course ordered some really damn hot food against my better judgement. We made it back to the hostel in time to change and head out for a Berlin pub crawl. I won't go too much into the gory details, but the crawl started with free beer, ninety people, and a free shot with every drink ordered. And free shots between bars. And euro Jager. Three pubs into it, there was a mass of drunk, yelling internationals taking over streets and street cars. The night ended at a big club in south Berlin, complete with huge Russian bouncers and four DJ's. A bit overwhelming, but an amazing time. We had originally planned on being back at the hostel by one, in order to make the ten o' clock checkout. We left the club at 2:30 and hopped a train back to the Mitte. About five stops from ours, Barry requested we get off at the next stop. Both Mike and I insisted he could make it. Barry disagreed. Before we even got to the next stop, he tilted his head back, for God knows what reason, and made what looked sort of like a Barry Jager fountain. The other train-riders scattered, and we rushed him off at the next stop to get him cleaned up. We finally made it back shortly before four, and the nine am wake-up call was not pretty.
There was not time to waste, as I don't know when next I'll see Berlin. After checking-out, we headed to Museum Island to see the famous Pergamonmuseum. The museum houses some amazing pieces of Mediterranean architecture, most notably the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate, which were set-up in massive rooms in order to re-create the ancient scene. If Hitler did one thing right, it was bringing in these pieces of art. I could've spent the whole day there, but we wanted to make it out to see the newly renovated Olympia Stadion, which is one of three remaining pieces of Nazi architecture. It was a gorgeous day, and train ride out displayed a great panoramic view of the city. The stadium is huge, but as a small feel. The plaque from the '36 games with Jesse Owens' gold medal wins is a cool thing to behold. We made it back into the center to grab a coffee, then headed deep into East Berlin to find the Statsi museum, housed in actual Statsi offices. The place was tucked away, as the Berliners are not proud of this part of their past. It was worth the search. Hidden cameras, poison-tipped umbrellas, exploding watches, the whole schbang. We grabbed one more doner for the road, and thought we were right on time. We did not anticipate the Sunday night slowdown of train routes. We found a taxi driver who knew only how to say he didn't speak English in English. Crossing our fingers and jumping in, we tried to navigate him to the place we started 60 hours previous.
Needless to say, we made the bus, though we were all panting and sweating when we sat down. The trip was great, and helped me build some confidence for further big trips. Starting next week with Jordan and Kristi, followed by the family, the visitors start rolling in and I can tell it's going to move fast. In the meantime, I'm spending this week getting organized and relaxing, until Saturday when I head to Amsterdam to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at the Paradiso (thanks Drews). Should be a damn good time. Oh yeah, I'm also heading to IKEA for the first time in my life tomorrow. The Swedes are showing us how to do IKEA Scandanavian style, complete with dinner and a drink. Enjoy the pics.