German Wings... that was the flight company. I was solo now and thought I was going to die on my flight from Munich to Berlin, seriously. The plane would make sudden drops and quick sharp turns and my stomach would be up in my throat...suddenly I was having visions of Edward Norton in fight club and I wondered if the oxygen masks would make me high enough not to care that my plane was going down. It was all very dramatic for me and I couldn't wait for the flight to be over -- but even the landing was something else. We came in so fast that I thought we were going to overstep the run way. Needless to say, I was quite happy to be on solid ground. Welcome to Berlin.
Berlin was a suggestion of Megans and really, where else would I go if I was in Germany? My impressions of this city was that it was just so run down I couldn't see the beauty of it, as soon as I was there I found myself online looking for another destination to get me out of there. I was still feeling ill and longed for the comfort of the English language. After I had made the appropriate travel arrangements I decided to see what this city had to offer. My priority was to find some dinner.
Dinner... now realizing that I was in a country where sausage, potatoes, pretzels and beer were the main courses this would prove to be tricky. Still feeling ill, I really didn't have the stomach to think about beer or any alcohol for that matter and the sight of "curry wurst" (a sausage drenched in curry sauce) wasn't doing a whole lot for me. I had read about a falafel place that was to die for so this was my desitination.
I had left the hostel after dark in search of this place...didn't look far on the map. After a while I had suddenly felt as though I was back in Zurich on the hunt for the lindt chocolate factory. Eventually, about after an hour of walking I had given up and gave into my hunger. I was dead set on having falafel so I allowed one of the vendors to lure me in and ate perhaps the wurst falafel ever, but I ate it anyway... no wasting food mom says. The irony of it all? As soon as I got up to leave feeling unsatisfied and looking for something more to eat I looked just behind these awful street vendors and there it was, dada falafel the vendor I sought after. Feeling rather spiteful and still hungry I went over and ordered up a proper falafel and boy was it good... mmmm falafel. What a fatty I was.
My efforts to find the falafal place had paid off and I had met a local who had showed me around the city and had taken the edge off of what I had perceived as a cold boring city. He was an artist and he would allow me to see parts of the city that I would have never noticed. The first place he had taken me was this place called Cafe Zapata. Had I not done any reading about the place there would have been no way I'd followed him into there.
The Cafe Zapata, like the rest of Germany had a long history. It was a building that had been abandoned but saved by squatters just after the war. There was a dance bar in the basement along with a funky coffee/dining area -- but there was more. We had walked into the building and began to walk up the stairs, graffiti had lined the walls and it was actually a rather surreal experience. Each level opened up to a new world, one being an art gallary with some unique art, another level being a quiet candle it bar over looking the city, and yet another having an open area where a live band would be performing. The building was frequented by people of all ages and social classes, it was nice to see the unification.
We wandered around the city in and out of art gallaries and trendy cafe's for the rest of the evening. It was amazing to see the city through an artists perspective, it was refreshing. The next morning would however provide me with a perspective that wasn't so cheerful.
I'd been encouraged to go on a free historical tour offered by the hostel and I would not be disappointed. I am not a fan of tours, but with the limited knowledge that I had about Berlin I thought I could broaden my horizons with the help of a tour guide. The tour guide was genuine and the tour itself was moving.
The tour had provided me with a new understanding of Germany, Berlin, and the people that had inhabited this newly rebuilt, newly restructured city. It's difficult to believe that you are standing amoungst a city that was ruins not so long ago and even more so to be standing in a city that had been separated from the rest of the world by a wall. It wasn't just the wall, but it was the stories of escape and death that had accompanied the wall often motivated by love and a sheer determination to live a free life. Standing in the presence of the wall itself was a powerful experience.
I had struggled most with the amount of death that had occured in this one city due in part to almost one person entirely and to be in the presence of where he'd given his famous speeches to his troops (below). I was perplexed as to how people could treat one another so horrendously. The most moving experiences was to be in the Jewish Memorial which had been recently built in the heart of the city purposively to remind the people of Berlin to never forget their history. The memorial was symbolic and represented the rise of the Nazi reign. It had blocks that were at first inlaied into the walking path and slowly they would come to rise above one another. It portray how the underlying hate was there lying dormant and how quickly hate could esclate without much effort. It was frightening to me.
I hadn't taken many picture when I was in Germany as it was an experience that I would not soon forget but I'll leave you with a few of the images that were the most powerful to me.
Remaining bit of the Berlin Wall
Berlin was a suggestion of Megans and really, where else would I go if I was in Germany? My impressions of this city was that it was just so run down I couldn't see the beauty of it, as soon as I was there I found myself online looking for another destination to get me out of there. I was still feeling ill and longed for the comfort of the English language. After I had made the appropriate travel arrangements I decided to see what this city had to offer. My priority was to find some dinner.
Dinner... now realizing that I was in a country where sausage, potatoes, pretzels and beer were the main courses this would prove to be tricky. Still feeling ill, I really didn't have the stomach to think about beer or any alcohol for that matter and the sight of "curry wurst" (a sausage drenched in curry sauce) wasn't doing a whole lot for me. I had read about a falafel place that was to die for so this was my desitination.
I had left the hostel after dark in search of this place...didn't look far on the map. After a while I had suddenly felt as though I was back in Zurich on the hunt for the lindt chocolate factory. Eventually, about after an hour of walking I had given up and gave into my hunger. I was dead set on having falafel so I allowed one of the vendors to lure me in and ate perhaps the wurst falafel ever, but I ate it anyway... no wasting food mom says. The irony of it all? As soon as I got up to leave feeling unsatisfied and looking for something more to eat I looked just behind these awful street vendors and there it was, dada falafel the vendor I sought after. Feeling rather spiteful and still hungry I went over and ordered up a proper falafel and boy was it good... mmmm falafel. What a fatty I was.
My efforts to find the falafal place had paid off and I had met a local who had showed me around the city and had taken the edge off of what I had perceived as a cold boring city. He was an artist and he would allow me to see parts of the city that I would have never noticed. The first place he had taken me was this place called Cafe Zapata. Had I not done any reading about the place there would have been no way I'd followed him into there.
The Cafe Zapata, like the rest of Germany had a long history. It was a building that had been abandoned but saved by squatters just after the war. There was a dance bar in the basement along with a funky coffee/dining area -- but there was more. We had walked into the building and began to walk up the stairs, graffiti had lined the walls and it was actually a rather surreal experience. Each level opened up to a new world, one being an art gallary with some unique art, another level being a quiet candle it bar over looking the city, and yet another having an open area where a live band would be performing. The building was frequented by people of all ages and social classes, it was nice to see the unification.
We wandered around the city in and out of art gallaries and trendy cafe's for the rest of the evening. It was amazing to see the city through an artists perspective, it was refreshing. The next morning would however provide me with a perspective that wasn't so cheerful.
I'd been encouraged to go on a free historical tour offered by the hostel and I would not be disappointed. I am not a fan of tours, but with the limited knowledge that I had about Berlin I thought I could broaden my horizons with the help of a tour guide. The tour guide was genuine and the tour itself was moving.
The tour had provided me with a new understanding of Germany, Berlin, and the people that had inhabited this newly rebuilt, newly restructured city. It's difficult to believe that you are standing amoungst a city that was ruins not so long ago and even more so to be standing in a city that had been separated from the rest of the world by a wall. It wasn't just the wall, but it was the stories of escape and death that had accompanied the wall often motivated by love and a sheer determination to live a free life. Standing in the presence of the wall itself was a powerful experience.
Below are the contrasting photo's of both the German's happy view of communism verses the reality of it for the people it had directly affected. Most of the people in the black and white photo's were shot to death for protesting against the communist regime.
I had struggled most with the amount of death that had occured in this one city due in part to almost one person entirely and to be in the presence of where he'd given his famous speeches to his troops (below). I was perplexed as to how people could treat one another so horrendously. The most moving experiences was to be in the Jewish Memorial which had been recently built in the heart of the city purposively to remind the people of Berlin to never forget their history. The memorial was symbolic and represented the rise of the Nazi reign. It had blocks that were at first inlaied into the walking path and slowly they would come to rise above one another. It portray how the underlying hate was there lying dormant and how quickly hate could esclate without much effort. It was frightening to me.
I hadn't taken many picture when I was in Germany as it was an experience that I would not soon forget but I'll leave you with a few of the images that were the most powerful to me.
A man sitting on the Jewish People's Memorial
Remaining bit of the Berlin Wall
1 comment:
I thought we talked about taking unnecessary flights, young lady. Especially cheap flights with questionable airlines.
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