Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Before I left on this trip the only proponent of Berlin was Hilary (who is my college friend Matt’s wife, for those of you that haven’t heard of her). Several of other comments I had received about this place were along the lines of “it’s just another big city”. Man, nothing could be farther from the truth.

First, let me say that I adore the German people. For all their goose stepping, war-starting, and population exterminating past, they have come a long way. Berlin is really a cultural melting pot. Everything is clean and the buildings are in terrific shape. You can tell by walking around this city that these people are literally drowing in money; new construction and remodelling is occuring everywhere. And let me also say that this generalization about the Germans being efficient and orderly is dead-on. This is welcome relief from the confused and hopeless Balkans.

Also, thanks to my two-hour stretch of research and planning in Dresden, I am in a much better hostel. The guests are fun (I’ve already had a good night with some of them), the hosts are knowledgeable and outgoing, and the accommodations are great. And, instead of the ludicrous 35€ I was paying for my room in Dresden I’m now down to a much more reasonable 15€.

Today I bought myself a day pass for the subway system and spent seven hours touring the city. I saw the Reichstag (but didn’t fight the crowds to the top), the Brandenburg gate, the Under den Linden walk, and of course Checkpoint Charlie and the remains of the wall. Walking around that last site I found it almost difficult to believe that only 15 years ago this city was split in two with half the residents living in a police state.

In the next couple of days I’m going to see a few museums and spend a little more time planning for the rest of my solo time. As of today, I don’t know where I’m going to go next.