Lynda's Hiking Adventures: Berlin

Such a crazy, wonderful day heading to my fatherland!

I almost missed my connection in Dublin as we had gotten in 20 minutes late, leaving me 25 minutes to get to my gate. The airport is huge and I had seen the wrong gate when I looked at the monitor running to the 100 Terminal instead of staying in the 400 Terminal. I was the last one on the bus to the plane after my sprint back. Thankful that I had trained for the Broad Street 10 mile run, because it came in handy while running through the airport with a 30 pound backpack on my back!

Berlin Airport, on the other hand, is minuscule. One small terminal where I couldn't figure out how to get the train. It was all good though as I found the taxi stand outside and a cute German taxi driver got me to the Circus Hostel.

I loved their signs for bathrooms!

This was a beautiful hostel. Contemporary, clean and right in the middle of the Mitte District, it had a bar, a cafe, and it was on a street lined with other cafe's right next to a major bahn with several Metro's also right outside. It was all good though as I tend to walk. This was about a mile and a half from the Brandenburg Gate. Perfect location!

I'm sharing a nice room with a balcony with three 20 somethings (traveling solo). Valentina from Russia, Nick from Toledo, and the other guy is sleepy and never introduced himself. Valentina stayed the length of my trip, but the other two were replaced by Gustav from Sweden and a Korean girl whose name I can't pronounce.

Thoughts about Berlin... Beautiful city that reminds me. Maybe DC combined with NYC. Large and a bit confusing to walk, bisected by the beautiful Spree River, which I kept getting drawn to. Funky, artsy vibe. Big nightlife, lots of gray/blue/pink hair and funky clothes. Wonderful museums, great art scene, very urban. Friendly people, English spoken most places. Very handsome men.

I got there on Thursday and after dropping everything off at my hostel I was able to start walking the city. I headed over to the Brandenburg gate because I had reservations at the Reichstag Building that evening. Beautiful day to walk around and discover the river. I decided then that I would run there the next day :-)

Brandenburg Gate

Beautiful and historic, the Brandenburg Gate. The wall is now down, but there is a cobblestone path.

Cobblestones of Berlin Wall

I walked along the outskirts of the Tiergarten and stopped at a Biergarten for some Currywurst. This is a traditional Berlin meal of Würst with a curry sauce, combined with pomme frites. Delicious!

Currywurst

I had read the best view of Berlin is at the dome of the Reichstag building, so I had made my reservation for that evening. It was beautiful and you could see all of Berlin. It's free and includes a free audiotour as well.

Reichstag Building

Roaming around the Tiergarten after, I came across a memorial garden for the Sinti and Roma (gypsies). I could feel the sadness and started crying. It was beautiful and so sad.

Stopping for some delicious pho on my way back to the hostel, it was time to rest for the night.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews

Day 2
Today was the day for me to visit what I thought would be the most moving part of the trip. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews. Well, I was disappointed. Although the concrete pillars were architecturally cool, they did not move me. Although I thought that the exhibit would be much more, it was only four rooms that also didn't move me. The feeling was much more educational that emotional. Here I was in my Father's birthplace, thinking that I would be sad, and feeling nothing!

My taxi driverhad told me I should go to Augustina for a beer, so I headed over that way. It appeared to be the high rent district, but I went anyway. Ein Bier und kartoffel suppe was delicious! The soup makes me understand why my Oma always told me soup is fattening! I also had the most beautiful view of the Dom.

From there I walked to the new synagogue and toured the dome. It was destroyed not during kristalnacht, but bombed during the war. The police chief of that district had protected the Schul that night of what they call the Pogram. All other schuls and Jewish businesses were destroyed.

I was finally ready for my Berlin run. The River Spree and the Tiergarten was where I was going to do that run. What better way to explore a city?

The Tiergarten is a large park in Berlin. There is a zoo at the end of the day. I did not make it to it though.

That night I found a cute restaurant on the funky street where my hostel was and sat at a sidewalk table enjoying the beautiful evening.

I walked over to the Neue Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse and toured the synagogue. It was beautiful. During Kristalnacht, the police chief from that district stood in front with the fire brigade, attempting to save it from the destruction. He succeeded. It was later bombed by the allies, but it had been saved during the Pogrom (what they call Kristalnact in Germany). If anyone doesn't know, Kristalnacht was November 8th, 1938. It was the night of broken glass when businesses and anything having to do with the Jewish people were destroyed by German Citizens. That was the night my family left Berlin and made their way to Belgium, then Amsterdam, seeking safety. Many German Jews did the same that night.

The last day I was in Berlin at the Judisches Museum. It was a rainy day, so perfect for being inside.
The museum was the opposite of what I felt the day before. The architecture was moving. Standing in the void, I felt the need to say the yiskor prayer in my head. I stood there for quite a while, just feeling the void. In fact, it took me seven hours to go through this museum. I was so captivated by the architecture, history, and artifacts that I couldn't leave.

The rest of the museum is just as wonderful, from the Garden of Exile, to the permanent exhibit. It was both moving and informative. For instance, I had no idea that Jews were first accepted in Köln and that's where the first Synagogue in Germany was! This was significant to me, because my Oma, grandfather and Father only lived in Berlin for a short time and then they moved on. They had move to Berlin from Cologne because they felt that they could be safer in a larger city. Until they weren't ...