We arrived in Berlin at 5:00 am on May 1 and made our way to Alexanderplatz, the center of unified Berlin and home to the TV Tower, the tallest structure in Germany. It turns out that May 1 is a public holiday in Germany. Being good capitalists we didn't really consider this possibility and were a little surprised by the lack of people on the streets during our first day in Germany. We started the day at the East Side Gallery, the largest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. Today, it is hard to distinguish between the former East and West Berlin. The enclave in the center of East Germany that was West Berlin is pretty thoroughly integrated with the former East Berlin now. Occasionally throughout the city you see historical markers reminding you were the wall once ran.
Next we saw the government district: the Federal Chancellory, the Bundestag Building and the Reichstag. Just a few hundred meters away is the Brandenburg Gate, site of many famous Cold War events: Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Regan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, and the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It is hard to believe now since the area has been redeveloped and bears little resemblance to those famous scenes. We checked out Potsdamer Platz, Berlin's answer to Times Square and wandered down Unter den Linden, the tree-lined avenue running down the middle of the old German imperial capital. Eventually we passed the Berliner Dom, the most important cathedral (protestant) in the city.
We finished off the day with dinner at "White Trash", an American restaurant and a favorite of our American friends in Berlin. Speaking of those friends, they generously hosted us during our stay in Berlin. The three of us guys stayed in a Christian community house that in previous years has been used as a Catholic orphanage for Jewish children and a Nazi S.S. headquarters. While the building's history was fascinating for me, it was a little disconcerting for my friends who slept in a dark, dingy basement storage room.
Day 2 in Berlin took me to morning coffee and the German History Museum. I learned about my people then headed to Kreuzberg with my friends. This neighborhood is home to many of the Turks who make up 10% of Berlin's population. Doner kebap and Turkish tea were plentiful in the shops and restaurants. We ate dinner in Scheunenviertel.
Early on Day 3 we boarded the Deutsche Bahn for Prague. The ride through the countryside was refreshing. Throughout our trip we saw fields full of plants blooming in bright yellow flowers. Its was beautiful, but a little mystifying. A little research revealed that it was rapeseed, the source of canola oil and now some biodiesel.
We toured the New and Old Towns of Prague on our first afternoon there. Prague's claim to fame is that, unlike most other European cities, very little of Prague was destroyed in World War II. It is thus an architectural treasure with styles ranging from Gothic to Baroque to Art Nouveau. Block after block in the city is filled with extraordinary looking ordinary buildings. The classic site of the old town is the clock tower with its astronomical clock -- I wasn't that impressed. Again, we relied on the generosity of friends (and later a hostel) for housing in Prague.
Day 4 took us to Prague Castle. Less a castle and more a small town on a hill, it is nonetheless impressive. The main site is St. Vitus Cathedral. This gothic cathedral is the largest in the Czech Republic and its tower offers an awesome view of Prague. However, the slow and claustrophobic 297 steps made us debate whether it was worth it. Below the castle on the Vltava River is the Charles Bridge built in 1400. While we originally planned to spend our last two days in the Czech Republic with a rented car in southwest of the country, this plan fell through and we decided to take an unusually slow pace (for us) and have a pretty relaxing final two days.
We took off to find our hostel at 10:00 pm that night with seemingly detailed directions in hand. Coming up from the metro we began searching for the tram stop we needed only to find that, due to construction on the tram lines, the line we needed was not running! We found another line we thought would work, and well, it didn't. When it was obvious we were headed in the wrong direction we got off. There we were, three foreigners, backpacks slung on our shoulders, alone on a dark street void of people and cars at 11:30 pm. At one point we asked a lady who got off a passing tram for help. She spoke a little bit of English and was somewhat helpful. It turned out however, that she was a tram inspector who had gotten off to write tickets for people whose transportation passes were expired. By this point in our "adventure" one of us was also using an expired pass. Luckily she didn't ask to see our passes, we probably looked to desperate to bother. After some more searching and careful map and sign reading we made it to the hostel and collapsed exhausted.
The fifth day of the trip was perhaps the best. I took off by myself in the morning to explore the neighborhood we were staying in. After a stroll, a tram ride, and a coffee in a cafe I ran across a sight few tourist probably ever experience - a combination butcher shop and lunch counter. Always one to seek "the real experience" I headed in for lunch. Without a word of English to be seen I had to rely upon my skills of cultural observation to figure out "the system". I jumped in line and soon noticed that as each person received their food over the cafeteria-style counter the lady was writing on a piece of paper. A quick survey of the room revealed that the papers were in a stack at the cash register. Having retrieved mine, I re-entered the line and prepared to make my selection ( i.e. to point). I pointed towards the steam tray filled with a dark soup and shouldered my way into a position at the high tables lining the room. The tasty soup contained a couple kinds of sausage (like kielbasa), potatoes, and lentils. As I stood hunkered over my soup I did my best to look like a blue-collar Czech, but I don't think anyone was fooled. Finished with my soup and bread and satisfied with my cultural experience I took my slip of paper, marked illegibly with red marker, handed it to the lady at the cash register with what seemed like it should be more than enough Czech crowns, received my change and walked out feeling like I had been with "the people".
That afternoon we rented paddle boats and spent on hour cruising the Vltava River within sight of the Charles Bridge. It was a great way to have fun in an otherwise serious city. We headed off to a unexplored neighborhood, ate a great dinner at a little local restaurant and at dusk climbed to the citadel overlooking the river and the city. The city was amazingly quiet and beautiful at night.
Day 6 took us 45 minutes outside of Prague to the castle at Karlstejn. Probably the best part of the day was being inside the castle during a thunderstorm. It felt like we were in a vampire movie. On our day outside of Prague a few of us went on a bit of a hike into the countryside to catch some nature before returning to city life.
On our last day we returned to Berlin by train, spent a few more hours in in the city and left on a flight that evening finally arriving back to our apartments around 4:00 am.
Berlin met my expectations. It definitely lived up to its reputation as home of the "Bohemian" lifestyle. There are tons of young single people, there is a thriving cafe/bar/restaurant culture that spills outdoors onto the sidewalks of the city making a stroll through most neighborhoods an inviting experience. Berlin is also a city of bikes. Every street has a bike lane and there are two-wheeled machines locked to everything and anything throughout the city. I was also very impressed by, of all things, the street musicians. One morning on the train I was treated to a great version of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" on a straight-muted trumpet and acoustic guitar. I'm usually a musical purist, but I enjoyed their unusual instrumentation and skilled performance. Another interesting group was made up of a tuba, 4 baritones, and a saxophone. Their rousing performance in Alexandersplatz was part classical , part polka band, and part circus music.
This trip was also my first experience in former communist countries. The remnants of the past were especially noticeable in the Czech Republic where there hasn't been reunification to speed development. Outside of the tourist core of Prague there are a lot of abandoned buildings and graffiti giving the suburbs a worn-out feel. I don't know if you can blame this on communism, but Czech people definitely have a cool, distant demeanor even compared to most Germans. Bland concrete Communist-style apartment blocks are still to be found in Prague in great contrast to much of the city's architecture. While these physical symptoms are quickly being remedied by Czech's booming economy, the spiritual damage of communism remains. About 60% of the population claims to be atheist and most people scoff at even the idea of God.
Of course, any trip that I am on involves food and this one was no different. In Germany I enjoyed many German classics: bratwurst, currywurst, pretzels, sauerbraten, and Berlin style pork knuckle. Food is the Czech Republic can safely be summarized as red meat, dumplings, and gravy. While not exactly inspiring, the hearty Czech food hit the spot for me as a nice change to Turkish food. Throughout Germany and the Czech Republic I was also, of course, able to experience many fine pilseners and dunkels (dark lagers).
Thanks for making it to the end. Hopefully you've gotten a bit of a taste of the places I was able to experience.
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