The Puma Den: Berlin

I am now in the capital of Germany, Berlin! I arrived by train into what can only be described as the craziest train station I have ever seen, not by population, but by layout. It is four stories and has trains arriving on the bottom floor and then trains leaving from the top floor. Sandwiched in the middle are the restaurants, stores and entrance/exit. Escalators are everywhere and if you have been following along, you know how I feel about those.

So, I am in Berlin for four nights, three of which I am couch surfing and one in which I had to stay in a hostel. The first night was the hostel night. Upon arriving, I found a Burger King that had Internet inside. I was able to go online and book one night at a cheap hostel. From there I set off to find the hostel and that took me through a string of public transportation.

Berlin is very much like Munich, it has S-Bahns, U-Bahns and a tram system. All of which have ticket machines but no gate to enter through or dictate if you bought a ticket or not. At the time I thought it was more of an honor code thing. In Munich I bought one ticket and after realizing that nobody else around me did, I stopped doing so. I assumed the same system was in effect all through Germany. As I was later informed there is a person that randomly walks through the public transportation cars and checks your ticket. He or she is dressed in civilian clothes and if you have no ticket, you get a very heavy fine. Not once in Berlin or Munich did I come across one of those people, but the guy who I stayed with in Berlin had an extra pass so I had that in case.

Anyway, as I was waiting for the S-Bahn trying to get my bearings in a new city, a lady glanced over my shoulder and saw the directions I had written for the hostel I was spending the night in. She directed me to the other direction of the train I was waiting for. As I have said before, German people are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. Unfortunately, this over friendly person was a bit confused and directed me to the wrong direction, so I had to switch S-Bahn trains and ride it back the other way. It was a minor delay and I was eventually able to get to my stop. Unfortunately, the directions to the hostel just said it was a five minute walk from the station, not in what direction from the station. So I had a little trouble finding my hostel for the night. Eventually I was forced to stop at a hotel and ask for directions, which after that I realized I was 75 meters from my destination.

So I arrived to the hostel and checked in, put my bags down and it was already around 10 p.m. So I decided to stay in and start planning my next few days. One of the guys in my room was a medical resident in Brazil. He gave me some advice on places to go and things around the city. A very nice guy, he lived in the U.S. for a bit when he was younger, but due to the visa process to come to the U.S., he has not been back in a while.

So I took an early night and woke up about as fresh as you can when sleeping in a hostel. Once you have stayed in one room of over 10 people they are all the same, but this particular hostel included breakfast in the morning, which I must say was a delight. As I was up early, I decided to take my time during breakfast and plan out my trip for the day. I decided to go to Checkpoint Charlie and the Holocaust Museum then meet up with my couch surfing host and see what he was doing for the night.

Checkpoint Charlie is the only remaining checkpoint from when the communists were in control of the east part of Berlin and the allies in control of the west. Once the Berlin wall went up, it was one of the only means for Americans to get in and out of East Berlin. Not too much of left of the actual military checkpoint except the signs saying you are leaving the U.S. or leaving the Soviet Union. There is a wall set up on both streets where the barricade would have been describing the build up and tensions that happened between the Cold War. Further, I did go to the museum that is on the street. It has many interesting authentic things from the Berlin Wall. Devices that kept people from East Berlin from escaping as well as things that were used by Americans to smuggle people from East Berlin over to West Berlin. I feel that it is also noteworthy to add that they have a stand of where people dressed as American “MP” will take pictures in front of a “Guard house.” I am not sure how authentic that is, but the people are not Americans.

My next destination for the day was the National Jewish Museum – a black building with slits for windows placed in random places. It is very interesting looking outside and does not seem to belong anywhere, thus it stands out. I am not Jewish but I must say simply standing in front of this structure is a bit humbling, not only for the fact that a little over 65 years ago it was a crime to be a Jew in this part of the world, the heart of Nazi Germany, but the architecture of this building and what it stands for. Germany and the Jewish community has come a long way.

Upon entering the museum, the halls are narrow and slope up or down. It is extremely disorienting to walk in, in fact I found myself turned around on several occasions. There are two rooms that had the strongest impact on me – the two “void rooms.” The first one is just a small room with nothing all the way to the top of the building with one window slit for light. If you take a step you hear the echo of your footstep for several seconds. The best way I can describe it is a dead zone, a space where there is nothing, no life, no objects, just space, like something was taken away. The second is a similar room, but with metal discs carved into shapes of faces. As you walk across this room and step on the discs, a very cold metal on metal clanking happens. I can only assume this was the desired effect of the two rooms by the designer.

The rest of the museum has artifacts from families, letters and stories of people that were lost in the Holocaust, a very large part of history and something that has forever shaped the world, and more so, Germany. It is hard to say, but, as it feels to me the German people still live with the shadow of what happened in World War II over top of them. Many had nothing to do with the war, were not even in the country, and some not even alive yet. It makes me wonder as an American with the U.S. involved in so many wars and issues abroad. We are not really taught to question the morality of what we do, more so the right or wrong concept. It’s like we feel no shame in what we do and the effects it has on the world. Traveling abroad, you get a different picture of how people feel about war and the effects it has on people in a country.

Enough of that tangent, my next stop was a bit of a last second decision, but the Brazilian in the hostel had told me of parts of the Berlin Wall still standing in the original spots that were now used for painting. As I had some time, I took the subway and checked it out. You would not even believe that this was the Berlin Wall judging from all the incredible murals on each slab of concrete. It stretches a few blocks and every section has some art on it. Something that stood for such evil and oppression now looks so very bright and cheerful. If you like off the wall art, I highly recommend it.

So it was getting close to the time where I was supposed to meet my Couch Surf host, so I made my way back into the city center for the meeting place at The International Clock. Here is where things get a little entertaining, I mistook The International Clock for a different monument, in fact the two things are only 20 yards apart but regardless, I was in the wrong spot. I of course did not know this, so I thought I was getting stood up. After about 45 minutes of waiting I found a Dunkin Donuts (irony) and was able to get online with the Internet cafe upstairs. I sent Gilles an email and looked for new places to stay as well as did some Facebook chatting. Alas, as I was getting nervous and about to book a hostel, Gilles responded to my email wondering where I was. I, the silly tourist who could not find The International Clock, the only international clock in Berlin, stood up my host. We were able to coordinate a new meeting spot at the train station near his apartment. We meet, this time at the right spot ,and I was very relieved.

Gilles is from Strasbourg, France and is studying history in Berlin. He is fluent in German, English and French, and was an awesome host. He made an air mattress for me in his room and it was very much like living in college again. The entire apartment was international students, so we had a very college meal that I can only describe as the European version of Ramen Noodles. It was good none the less. We discussed politics, T.V. shows (“How I Met Your Mother” is huge here) and of course my plans for the rest of my trip. Gilles was even able to give me a list of things to do that I would like. It was also the big celebration of Berlin being reunited from the fall of the Berlin Wall, so there was a huge concert celebration in the streets of downtown Berlin the next day. So my plan was to go do my tourist sightseeing and then the next day go to the festival with Gilles.

The next day I had breakfast with Gilles and his roommates and then went on my journey. I was able to see some great architecture and the difference between East Germany and West Germany in architecture and design. The East seems like it is still trying to catch up. I was able to tour the Berliner Dom and see the amazing cathedral and its organ as well as the cemetery underneath that holds several members of the Hohenzollern family. As far as cathedrals go, this one is probably the most beautiful one I have seen thus far. If in Berlin, you MUST go see this building. I then went and laid in the grass in front of the museum island. There was a fountain and green grass, and it just felt nice to lay down and take in the scenery, and a quick nap. After an hour I got up and walked on taking in several other sites that Gilles told me to see.

The next day I went to a museum that Gilles told me was very good called the Pergamon Museum. It dates back to the ancient Roman times and the city of Pergamum. It has a wall with steps from a Roman building. The artifacts in the museum are not just old but huge in size. If you like history and old artifacts, you will really enjoy this museum. It has ancient mosaics as well as an entire gallery dedicated to Islamic artifacts and Islamic artwork.

After the museum, I made my way to my favorite park for another relaxing sit on the grass. Two girls happened to sit near me and kept looking over at me. Due to my lack of German speaking skills it didn’t go very far. One came over and asked me to take a picture of her and her friend. Once they realized I spoke no German and they didn’t speak any English, it was a bitter battle that did not end well for my attempt of picking up a German girl. I was not that upset as I had plenty to do and see, plus, I don’t know how bringing her back to the air mattress in Gilles room would go over for my international relations with my host. I am not sure if the tie on the door knob is a universal sign or if it was just between my college roommates and I.

So after my time in the park, I went to meet Gilles for the festival. It was a bit confusing; streets were closed, barricades made and people could not walk certain ways. It seemed that as I walked they would close streets in front or behind me. Once I got in it was packed with beer tents, a huge stage with a band in the middle of a city intersection and tons of food stands. It was televised and you could see the cameras everywhere. I will say whoever was doing the sound for the first band I watched was not having his best day but, regardless of the sound tech, the band was pretty good and it was a good show.

I tried to meet up with Gilles as he was there also but in an attempt to meet up we walked out of the show, were on opposite sides of the party and were separated by about three blocks. To make matters a bit more difficult his phone ran out of minutes so his friend was texting me. Eventually we decided the best thing to do was meet back at the apartment. It so happened that we ended up taking the same S-Bahn back but were on different cars and ran into each other at the tram stop. So we were able to ride back together and make a new plan for the evening that didn’t require us to call each other or meet up because for some reason we were not very good at it.

After arriving home, we decided to go out to the Berlin Oktoberfest, which is scaled down about 85% but none the less, good beer. Since neither of us had dinner, we decided to grab some food in Berlin. We grabbed a few beers from Gilles’s room for the train ride. As I have said before, you can pretty much drink anywhere at anytime in Germany and it’s legal and not frowned upon. In fact, I think the German people don’t function right unless they have at least one beer before noon. Alas, we took some beer and drank on the S-Bahn.

After arriving in the center of Berlin, Gilles took me to a restaurant that served Donar, basically a giant leg of meet that is heated by a lamp as it spins. They cut slices of it off once you order it and make it into a wrap for you, similar to a Chipotle or Moe’s back in the States I guess. You can add spicy sauce, lettuce, veggies, etc. and it tastes great! Gilles informed me that it is a traditional dish from the middle east but they are very popular in Europe, and I can see why. It ranks right up there with any street vendor or fast-food restaurant in the States, and it’s better than several. In fact, I’d take this over Burger King any day.

On the note of food, I also had Curry Wurst and traditional Brat Wurst. The Curry Wurst is basically a Brat with a spicy curry sauce smothered on top and served with a roll. It is not as thick as the ones they sell in grocery stores back home but it is much longer, so in terms of size I would say it’s about even. The curry sauce though is rather tasty and I recommend it to anyone who likes a little spice.

So after a dinner and two beers, we went to the Berlin Oktoberfest which, as I said is like a mini version of the real thing. We stood in a small line and ordered a round of beer, not as big as the liters I had in Munich, but a bit cheaper. We went and had a seat at the end of a table to chat when we ran into a bit of an interesting situation. Two, very drunk Germans were not very happy about our presence at there table. Apparently Gilles and I had sat down where two girls had previously been sitting. As they were gone it should be no problem, but to these drunk Germans it was. In defense of one of them who was just drunk, he slid over to Gilles and hit his head on his own mug. He was fun. Once he found out we were not German but Gilles could speak German perfectly, they started chatting it up. Gilles would translate for me and every so often the drunk German would ask me a question and Gilles would translate for me.

His friend on the other hand, was not so friendly. He was very upset that he lost the two girls and we replaced them. Even further, it seemed that he was enraged that his friend liked us. He proceeded to play the intimidation game, but I was not afraid of a drunk that could hardly stand and one that almost took himself out with his own mug. I let it go and just enjoyed the beer. The angry German decided to slam two mugs together and shatter them, which I was told doesn’t  happen, but regardless, we were showered in glass. He realized he looked more like an idiot then a badass and decided to stand at the end of the table, fists clenched, towering over Gilles and I. I tried to start some small talk but he was not having it.

As soon as our beers were done, we decided to head out. The drunk German asked us to stay; the angry asked us to leave, so we left. On a high note, we did get two Euro back for turning our glasses in undamaged, which I must say is a cool treat after a beer. We got back and I made my plan for my last day in Berlin. I really wanted to goto the Olympic Stadium, the site that Jesse Owens took gold on the track during the Nazi regime. It seemed like a good mix of history and sports so that was my plan.

The next day I made my way to the stadium. It was on the other end of the city but easily accessible by public transportation, the stadium is brilliant, it has many of the old statues from the 1936 games as well as a wall with the winners listed. I was able to walk around the stadium and they have many things from the Olympics in glass cases, including Owens’s shoes and shirt from the Olympics. The nazi swastika has since been removed obviously, but the design of the stadium looks very old and it is easy to imagine where it hung. The Olympic torch is still in its place and you can tour the entire grounds, see the track and field area, swimming area, as well as some of the practice fields. It is hard to believe that stadium was standing prior to World War II and the history behind it not only from a world stance, but as an American. The stadium as I said is still very similar in design and yet the football pitch in the middle of the stadium is brilliant and still used in matches.

Berlin is a great city, surrounded by history that anyone can truly appreciate. The devastation that the Iron Curtain caused socially and economically can physically be seen throughout the city. Once again, the German people have amazed me with their willingness to help as well as their friendly personalities. Once again, I must give a shout out to Couch Surfing and my host Gilles. Without him, this trip would not have been as great as it was. It was nice to not have a schedule and to be able to do as I pleased. The beauty of traveling alone is, I can see what I want when I want to and whatever is left, ha, well I guess there will be another series for that!

My next stop is Amsterdam. I’ve heard all the stories, and I am pretty excitted to see what the hype is all about. So the next time we catch up I will be in The Netherlands. Always remember: enjoy life, keep reading and have adventures.

-Puma