Scott: Let me handle this, I speak better German. Hello!
Truck Driver: Hello!
Scott: [in German] My German is ill, but I can understand on you if the speaking is slowly.
Truck Driver: [in German] German! I have been driving for 14 hours straight and I haven’t slept in three days and I am wired on schnapps, benzedrine, and those little chocolate covered peanuts.
Cooper: What did he say?
Scott: He said he’s driving, something…
Scott: [in German] Do you know where is Berlin?
Truck Driver: [in German] Berlin? Yes, I know it well. I stabbed a woman in a bar in Berlin. But I am going nowhere near Berlin.
Scott: Berlin!
Truck Driver: [in German] Berlin! I also sexually assaulted a horse in Berlin.
Scott: He’s going to Berlin.
Jamie: Awesome.
Truck Driver: [in German] Nowhere near Berlin.
Scott: All right, come on, let’s go.
[the group get in the back of the truck]
Truck Driver: [to self, in German] I’ll drive this truck off a cliff before I ever go back to Berlin.
(Quote from Eurotrip)
————————-
October 31st
And that’s sort of what we experienced as we disembarked from the train from Prague. For half of the train ride, we all sat in one cabin, but our tickets were split among 2. At one of the stops, an elderly couple knocked on the door and tried to explain that we were in their seats. Since they did not speak any English, there was no way for us to ask if they minded trading seats. So Mickie and I sat in the other compartment and started talking to a nice young mother for suggestions on the must-sees in Berlin. I felt bad because she spent 30 minutes racking her brain for museums, tourist attractions, places to eat, etc, but she was extremely helpful and even gave us the name of her favorite restaurant in Berlin at which we ate on our last night there.
So we heard over the loudspeaker that we’d be stopping at “Berlin Südkreuz,” which sounded convincing enough to be Berlin Central Station to 6 Americans who spoke 0 German. The elderly couple and a few others standing about in the hallway on the train confirmed that this was Berlin station and that we should get off. We collected all of our bags and sweatshirts and started making our way to the exit. I was the 3rd in line, and saw Michael at the door literally chuck his bag off the train and hop off. I thought he was just being lazy and started laughing, but as I approached the exit, I noticed that the train had begun moving, and he was really just trying to get off in time. I’m not sure why, but I followed suit and jumped off as the train started gaining speed and tugged on my suitcase as it rolled out of the door and onto the platform. Bending over to catch my breath, I hear Michael scream to Joanna “JUMP JUMP JUMP!” and so she did, but the door closed on her suitcase. She started running with the suitcase but eventually let go. We all stood and watched the bag get sandwiched between the train and the edge of the platform, before falling and tumbling at the end of the station. Ian and Van were still on the train and none of us had any minutes on our phones, so we just assumed that we’d all meet up at the hostel. It was then that we realized that we weren’t even at the right Berlin station..this place was deserted, and for a central station, it just didn’t add up. So we bought tickets for the metro, and 15 stops later, arrived at the hostel. 10 minutes after we got settled into the room we heard Ian and Van from the window, and shared some laughs. Nobody was hurt, but Joanna ended up buying a new suitcase.
We grabbed some cajun style American food at the adjacent restaurant, and hit the city. Since we arrived in the early afternoon, spent a good hour and a half getting to the hostel, and eating, it was already getting late to do any serious touristy activities, so we decided to walk around the museum island. The first thing we saw was the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).
Next, we walked by the Alte Nationalgalerie built in 1861 that showcases early impressionist and modernist art. Seeing as it was pretty late already, we didn’t enter any of the museums.
We were really hoping to see the Gates of Babylon (Ishtar Gate) in the Pergamon, but it just didn’t work out..so this is as close as we got:
The Cathedral once more with the The Fernsehturm (Television Tower) in the background.
The lady on the train recommended that we go up the TV tower, so we headed over to buy tickets. There are only 2 elevators in the spire, so they take people up on time schedules..we had about 40 minutes to burn so we grabbed “dinner” at Dunkin Donuts. I wish we went up the tower during the day, because there were way too many reflections and glares to take any decent shots. Also, the handrails prevented us from getting up close to the window so there really weren’t any nice pictures from up there…shame.
The next day, we planned to start off with Rem Koolhaas of OMA’s The Royal Netherlands Embassy. The building has won several awards and is essentially a cube with a giant hallway that was “carved” out of the cube block.
I studied Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in my 2nd semester of 1st year. The concept began by unraveling the Star of David into a zig-zag shape. The facade features cutouts and slits which resemble the small glimpses of light from the boxcar trains during the Holocaust. The circulation paths take you directly through some of the galleries, which showcase the history of Jewry in Berlin over the past 2,000 years, including World War II. It was a very powerful visit, and the architecture complimented the exhibits very naturally.
All 3 underground tunnels represent the connection of the 3 realities of Jewish life in Germany: Continuity with German history, Emigration from Germany, and the Holocaust.
The Garden of Exile is on a slanted slope, and has 49 pilars. It’s meant to create a dizzy feeling of confusion and displacement.
The Holocaust Tower is a tall, empty, dark room with one crack in the ceiling. A quiet place for reflection.
On our way over to the next item on our list, we passed by the (remainder of the) Berlin Wall.
Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was also very powerful. 2,711 concrete slabs sit on a 19,000 square meter site, 1 for each page of the Talmud. Each slab is a little under 8 feet long, a little over 3 feet wide, but vary in height along the uneven ground, ranging from 8 inches to just under 16 feet. The concrete slabs are designed to give an uneasy feeling, leaving visitors confused, representing an system that has lost touch with reality and reason. This explanation of the memorial can be likened to the experience of unsuspecting victims of the Holocaust. It seemed that many onlookers were unfamiliar with the significance of the project and considered it to be a public park. People were jumping from slab to slab and running through the project as if it were a play-ground. Maybe a more visible sign or forced entry onto the site would alleviate the issue.
The Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is maybe a block or two further East. It used to serve as one of the main entries into the city of Berlin and is now a famous landmark.
Famous German crosswalk symbol:
Lastly, we went to the Reichstag to see Norman Foster’s renovations. The Reichstag was built in 1894 and housed the Reichstag, or parliament, until 1933. The building caught fire in 1933 and was further destroyed by Allied forces at the end of World War II. In 1964 it was reconstructed. Norman Foster was hired to gut the building and renovate its interior in 1999, creating a space for the new modern parliament, the Bundestag. He added a glass dome on the rooftop to symbolize the reunification of Germany. The dome is pretty complex, featuring a water collection system, spiraling ramps around the inside, and a mirrored cone that reflects light into the chamber below.
The field in front of the Reichstag is where thousands gathered to listen to speeches by Hitler as well as various protests.
This is the first time you’re meeting Sparky (Toy Story), but we got this little guy in Utrecht after buying enough snacks from the supermarket. We took a few photos with him in front of famous landmarks in Amsterdam, Prague, and Berlin, but on multiple cameras.
As we headed over to the recommended restaurant in East Berlin, Schneeweiß, we stopped to see the Brandenburg Gate lit at night.
The nearest metro stop was a good 15 minutes walk from the restaurant, and we weren’t really sure if we were headed in the right direction, but we finally found it. It turned out to be a pretty elegant place, and required reservations. They agreed to sit us in the back room for 40 minutes until a table freed up. Probably their way to get us to order a drink. Guess it worked out well for them.
Beet soup:
Trout with beets and potatoes:
Massive food coma on the way back to the hostel…
And that was the end of our little (big) Eurotrip. It was an excellent break from the Barcelona routine and work, but after 20 days we were ready to get back, do some laundry, and start cooking again.
barcelona 