Nights 21 & 22: Berlin

Berlin: Capital of Germany and with 3.4 million people, Germany's largest city and second largest city in the EU after London. Divided in half by a concrete wall guarded by armed soldiers for almost 30 years, during which time over a hundred people were killed while trying to escape. Today one of Europe's hottest tourist destinations.

My host in Berlin was a woman in her mid-50s who lived on the east side and owned a thrift store. The had to babysit her grandkids the evening I arrived, but told me that her renter would let me in the apartment and loan me a key and that I should make myself at home, which is just what happened. I must admit, I was pretty shocked by this generous and trusting gesture. After arriving around 8pm and finally finding my way there in a dark, somewhat sketch area of town, the renter let me into the apartment and brought me to the beautiful guest bedroom, gave me a key, and wished me a good night. This woman had never even laid eyes on me and she had already given me a key to her apartment with all her worldly goods! I love Servas.

I was pretty tired after wandering around Meißen all morning, the two hours of train, and wandering around big scary Berlin at night without knowing exactly where I was going, so I settled down for the night and started planning my day in the city. My hostess arrived back around 9pm and we chatted for a little bit before she had to get other work done. I saw her briefly the next morning and then not again until the morning I left. It was difficult to figure out if she'd remembered anything about my project from my email and when all she talked about was how busy and stressed she was, I decided not to ask her to answer my questions, then didn't have time to anyway. This was very disappointing because I think she would have had a lot of really interesting things to say about Berlin and what it was like to live in a divided city. Bummer. Also, she loaned me a key and place to sleep and tea, but not once did she offer me food. That was fine because I was in Berlin and all where the food possibilities are endless; just interesting. I was still completely grateful.

So! I woke up to bright sunshine and headed out into the morning with a loose agenda. Basically I wanted to explore places I hadn't gotten around to exploring when I was there in October. Some of those things included the Jewish Museum, German History Museum, checking out the view from the TV tower, and having a look at the Brandenburger Tor, which I had only seen from the back last time. After buying a two-day Berlin Welcome Card at a train station for overall public transportation and museum and attractions discounts and finding some breakfast at a little supermarket, I headed to the Jewish Museum.

It was great. Really, really great, both due to content and architecture and how the two work together. Part of the museum is Jewish history through the years in Germany which is very well exhibited and interesting, and the other part is a giant zig-zagging building representing the evil of WWII. This section is filled with emptiness - only long hallways at strange angles. The walls are filled with personal possessions of Jewish people that had been murdered with a short description of their life relating to the artifact, and then their fate. Suitcases, sewing machines, family photos. It was shocking. One could also go inside the "Holocaust Tower" which is a giant unheated cement tower, again at with strange angles that throw one off balance. There is no lighting inside except for a tiny slit open at the top, through which you can hear the muffled sounds of the city. The air is cold and still.


I had a hard time getting through that part of the museum and reading all the stories it had to tell. After many hours inside, I went out in the bright sunshine once more and decided I couldn't handle another museum right away, so made my way to the observation deck in the TV tower. The thought that it might be crowded and I might have to wait for a long time never occurred to me until that's what happened. I got a 25% discount with my Berlin Card, but it was still way more expensive than it was worth. I waited in a room crowded with impatient people and then tried to get a good view through an observation deck crowded with impatient people. Berlin was pretty from above, sure, but it was so not worth the time and money. Oh, well. At least I could check that off my list.

From there I was craving more outdoor time, so I made my way to the Brandenburger Tor. There were lots of people there, too, of course. However, we weren't all crammed into an elevator together, so no problem. In further investigating the grounds, I found a room just to the right of the gate that had the sole purpose of sitting in silence. It was like they knew I was coming. The room was a project that was (I believe) put together by an interreligious organization with the aim of bringing together people from all different backgrounds to be in a peaceful environment together. They wanted it in the Brandenburg Gate especially because of it's been used so many times as a symbol of peace. Sitting there in silence with a few other people and then alone made all my Quaker bones sing. I was grateful for that time.

Once I'd regained composure, I went out into the loudness of the city in the direction of Potsdamer Platz, walking through the memorial for Holocaust victims on the way. I'd really appreciated this memorial in October and did just as much this time around.

Let's play "Name that ceiling"! (Katie B.?)

There wasn't too much going on at Potsdamer Platz, so I eventually strolled on back towards the Brandenburg Gate in the evening sun.

They'd turned the lights on by the time I got back. Oooooohhh.

The Reichstag (governing center - where all the Politik goes down) is right next to the Gate, so I went and sat on the lawn in front of it for a while eating yogurt-covered strawberries and watching the little people go around the dome in the ceiling until it was dark enough to take pictures.

Eventually I wandered back through the gate once more. This round of photos was my favorite. The atmosphere was so lovely - someone was playing guitar beautifully on the square, the moon was framing the gate perfectly, and then a man came and danced with fire to the street musician's guitar. It was still warm. The people were happy.


When the amazing fire dancing was over, I slowly walked back towards the metro that could help get me back to my host's apartment. I say slowly, because I ended up spending a long time taking photos of the cathedral, city hall, TV tower, and basically all things pretty at night.








I still hadn't eaten by the time I finally made it back to the metro stop I needed way on the other side of the city. It was almost 9pm. Then. I found the vegetarian burger joint. It was the most wonderful thing ever. EVER. Delicious delicious fake-meat concoctions, all bio, all glorious. The cute fellow working there even made me the most beautiful (and gloriously tasty) masala chai to take with me on my walk back. Yummm.

It was about 9.15 when I arrived back. I'd been planning on getting home and hour or two earlier to talk with my hostess, but that clearly hadn't happened. Her light was on when I came in, though her door was closed and all the other lights were off. I quietly came in and brought my computer out to the living room for a while in case she wanted to be social, but she didn't and I eventually went to bed feeling like a terrible guest and thought she was mad at me.

I woke up early the next morning to spend as much time with her as possible and to try to make up my absence to her. However, she didn't seem peeved at all by my late evening arrival home and just mentioned again how busy and stressed she was, almost like an excuse for herself. She said she hadn't been able to take many Servas guests recently because she had so little time for them. She wished she had time to get to know them all, but really all she could do was to share her space, which is exactly what had happened. Then I stopped feeling as bad, as she hadn't been expecting to get to know me anyway.

I wanted to visit the German History Museum and my host's thrift store before my early afternoon train, but I ended up getting somewhat lost on my way to the store and then didn't have time to museum it up as well. Crossing through a park on my way there, I was very impressed by this image of happy children and creatures playing on the remains of the old Berlin Wall. It was very striking.

After poking around the shop for a bit once I'd finally located it, I ate some yummy falafel while watching the trains go across this pretty bridge. If you're familiar with Berlin, it's the one right by the East Side Gallery, which is a long portion of the wall that is still standing and has been painted by artists. I recognized it from my last visit and felt accomplished.



When the time was right, I retrieved my things from the thrift store and said goodbye to my hostess before heading to the central station. I got there early enough to enjoy some amazing fig-marscapone ice cream before hopping on a train to the northeast coast, which would be my final destination on this nearly month-long adventure. It was a big disappointment not to have gotten to know my host or to hear her stories, but I'd still had a wonderful time in the big city.