I’m now officially a European Pioneer. 36 days on a bus being led everywhere has been fantastic but also a bit like being a school student all over again. Now need to make decisions about what I’m going to be doing for a while. But need to finish off these stories. Another massive post because dodgy internet and been struggling with a sore throat. It seems my body starts feeling sick when I go near London. Not great when I’m planning to live here for a bit. Berlin was another incredible city with so much modern history. It’s like living in a documentary where you can point nearly anywhere and say, “And here this important world changing event occurred...”
Old Wall
Our first stop as we arrived in Berlin was the longest still standing section of the wall separating Western and Eastern Berlin. One thing I didn’t know or think about was that Berlin is geographically firmly in East Germany. But the Allies wanted half of Berlin so the whole of West Berlin was surrounded by the communist country of East Germany. It reminded me of kids drawing an imaginary line in their bedrooms splitting up the area. Glad to see that kid-sense is used in world politics.
(part of the repainted wall)
Approximately 5 years ago this wall section was repainted white and artists were chosen to paint sections of the wall with whatever they desired. Walking along it is truly an experience with the variety of work and some of the fantastic messages these artists are able to convey.
Day in Berlin
Our day in Berlin began with a walking tour and we were extremely lucky in getting a fantastic tour guide. She’d be a great history teacher, managing to make everything interesting (but if you struggle getting people interested here you’re not going to have much luck anywhere else...) It’s also an interesting outlook the German youth have on their history – too hard to describe quickly but they’re fully aware of the truth and want to move on.
(Brandenberg Gate)
This fantastic gate mostly survived the bombing that flattened nearly every building in Berlin which is extremely lucky. Don’t know whether that was good planning or luck. Just about everything had to be rebuilt in Berlin so it doesn’t really have the very old buildings that other cities we’ve visited are chock full of.
We were then led to the memorial to the Jewish victims of the holocaust. And while it’s controversial and unique, I’m glad they didn’t do another monument. As the photo doesn’t really do it justice, is just tons of blocks with varying height (most in middle heaps taller than a person) with narrow passages and sloping ground. It was built to make you feel uncomfortable and not knowing what to expect next, whether you’ll run into someone or where you’ll appear. Quite a moving experience.
(Memorial to Jewish Victims)
We wandered past another section of the original wall and where all of Hitler’s ‘governmental’ offices were located. Pretty much none of them are still there, including his bunker which is now ‘the most famous car park in the world.’
(Checkpoint Charlie)
Our final stop on the guided tour was Checkpoint Charlie. Some amazing stories about this spot, the only place American and Russian troops stared at each other during the Cold War. Couple of interesting escape or near-escape stories, including the guy who escaped by driving under barriers with a convertible. And then another person did the same exact trick a week later... Resulted in quite a redesign of the checkpoint to avoid that happening anymore.
The tour finished and the rain came down... went wandering to a museum set up on the place of the SS headquarters which went through all the despicable practices they undertook. Lots of documents recording everything that happened which is pretty fascinating.
The rain stopped so I headed to outside their main university and the square where tons of books were burned in a Nazi purge. Had seen it portrayed in a couple of movies and there’s a creepy memorial, with some empty bookcases placed in a room under the square. Too hard to photograph but still quite a unique idea.
Continued on to Museum Island with a couple of churches. Thought this photo was cool – the old church (probably rebuilt however) in the foreground with the Eastern Germany TV Tower in the back. Went to the TV Tower and was hoping to go to the top but had to wait nearly 2 hours so wasn’t that keen. Also was still a wet day and may have ruined the view.
(Church and TV Tower)
The group went on a pub crawl – which I wasn’t too keen about joining since paying to go to places where I don’t drink seemed a little silly. Another person wasn’t going either and they’d heard about a restaurant you could go to which was set up and run by blind or visually disabled people. You got to eat completely in the dark but once we got there we found it was going to cost 50 euros each. A bit out of our budget – quite a few famous people had been there including Matt Damon. Still an interesting idea.
Amsterdam
Next day we headed to our final stop before London. What should have been a 6-8 hour drive turned into a 14 hour marathon on the autobahn due to a serious traffic accident. Felt sorry for our bus driver – terrible day for him... The hostel we stayed in purposefully goes for a run-down dirty look. Probably one of the worst places we stayed in but great location. Can’t win them all.
First activity on our full day in Amsterdam was an included bike ride. It was great doing something active for a change and felt very local with everyone else riding a bike around. You don’t have to worry about cars in Amsterdam, it’s the bike riders who are the menace!
But my main aim today was to watch State of Origin live. Quickly searched the internet for an Aussie pub and got lucky. Headed there and it was pretty busy at midday with quite a few supporters. Not a great game for the Blues... and was weird hearing Warren commentating from the other side of the world. Unfortunately Gus Gould wasn’t any easier to take this far away...
After that disappointment went for a wander – very crazy city and I’m desperately trying to keep this PG so I am missing quite a lot of what goes on here. By this time on the trip my Japanese photo taking excitement had died down so hardly took any photos anymore.
Our final night on the trip! Went out to a Chinese restaurant floating on one of their canals. Had great food then headed on a cruise with free drinks. Great way to finish the trip. But my one recommendation for Amsterdam from watching people – don’t mix alcohol and weed. Not a good look.
Bruges
Another early start – and some people struggled after the excitement of last night. Our final day on the bus... Headed back to France via Belgium and did a quick stop at this quaint town Bruges. Got to eat some Fritz (double fried fries) and some chocolate. Another healthy meal.
And then, before you knew it we were on the ferry back to the UK and London. Got squashed with another group on the bus – had to wait for them so wasn’t much fun when we were so close to finished. Said farewells (even got tears from our amazing tour leader – going to miss her “Good mornings...” on the bus.)
But all good things come to an end – and now in London wishing I had been more organised. Trying to find work and accommodation with no mobile phone on one of their long weekends isn’t the best approach. Need to relax a little and just enjoy the break and not get stressed. And there’s actually sunny weather here in London! Yay! (Kinda...)
Might do a recap or ‘Best of’ summary of the trip. We’ll see how enthusiastic I can be. Thanks again to all those who read this blog – hope it was slightly entertaining and I was able to share how incredible this journey has been. Have fun!
Gareth