Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland!

Days 57-65 – BERLIN Part 3

Our fourth hostel in Berlin was located directly east of the city centre, on the edge of the Kreuzberg district. The hostel itself was comfy but fairly unremarkable, the location however was perfect. We were within walking distance of Alexanderplatz and a brilliant area for nightlife. Actually there was one remarkable thing about this hostel, it had some of the most precarious beds we have had yet. Our first couple of nights were spent on a (nearly communal) bed deck that was at least ten feet in the air. Try getting into that thing late at night and not waking anyone up. After this we were moved to another room with the safety of conventional bunk beds, or so we thought. One night however a horrible creaking was heard coming from Phil’s bunk and before he knew it, he was lying on top of the Frenchman in the bed below, along with several pieces of wood. This was very embarrassing and when the person working in the hostel was told, they looked at the bunk and said ‘oh that one again, I’ll get some more wood’. By this time it was 2:00 am.

We had been in Berlin over two weeks by this point and felt completely happy in our surroundings. Really the most important thing to mention about Berlin is that it’s a place you feel you feel you could live in, and for a short time we did. For such a large capital city it is relaxed and affordable, while being constantly stimulating at the same time.

During these days we visited more must see sights, including: the holocaust memorial once again and the Reichstag. At the Reichstag, you can take a lift into Sir Norman Foster’s dome, walk out on to the roof of the German parliament and see the entire city (mist permitting of course). You can also look down from the dome into the chamber. It is like looking at the inner organs of the state, then looking out through its eyes and seeing the people who actually control it. During our tour, we met two American women. They were both proudly wearing Obama badges. Having been detached from the World’s media for two months, we enquired about the result of the presidential race. They smiled and informed us of the “the land slide”. One of them was so happy she had tears of joy in her eyes. We all laughed and chatted and then went our separate ways.

Travelled = 1,786 Miles

Day 58 – Potsdam

During our last week in Berlin, we took a day trip to the very regal, UNESCO bastion that is Potsdam. As it is a city in its own right it warrants a little blogging of its own. About a half hour S-Bahn (that’s their over ground metro system) ride away from the centre of Berlin and we arrived in the picturesque city of Potsdam. Famous for being the summer residence of Prussian royalty from the 1700s until 1918. It was actually their permanent residence for a while. It is also the Brandenburg state capital and former centre for Prussia (thank you tourist information).

It was an unusual experience going to see a summer palace on a very grey, cold autumnal day. The vast parklands, which surround the palaces and the buildings themselves were quiet, eerie and yet undeniably still beautiful. When you looked out over the park from the Sanssouci Orangery, you were met with an array of natural rust, as yellow leaves turned copper and those already copper shed their last skin and stood skeletal in the mist. A little over the top admittedly, but these conditions had an affect on the place. It hard to imagine the sensation would have been the same in the bright light of summer with the hum of tourist in the background.

One of the greatest benefits of travelling off season is seeing things (quite literally) in a different light. As we wandered the park, neo-classical statues were maintained by scaffolding and some were clad in black bags to protect their muscular frames from the frost. At times like this you feel strangely privileged being able to see how a place works and survives all year round.

COMMU-MIST?

Tired from the fresh air we retracted to the small and quiet town centre. Here we sought hot liquid refreshment and sat away from the cold. During this time the mist closed in. When we set on our way back to Berlin, it looked like the smoke machine from a Westlife concert had been let loose in the middle of Potsdam.

Actually this moment was the beginning of a recurring joke between us, that we are yet to tire of.

Phil said “wow its got misty out here”
Anthony said “it’s the communists, they invented the mist, they’re back”
Phil said “you can’t say that …”

But we did, in fact we amused ourselves all the way back with the idea. A journey which we were both glad we were going by train, as no one wants to drive in ‘communist brand’ mist.

Days 66-67 – Dresden

The day we eventually left Berlin was a sad day. Neither of us were particularly eager to leave a city that we felt so at home in. Having said that we had heard good things about Dresden and being back on the road had a good feeling about it. We were making progress again. Only a couple of hours drive south of Berlin we were in a grey dirty back street parked up outside the hostel we had booked. Everyone had told us that Dresden had a beautiful historic centre and a great nightlife. We were quickly informed by the hostel receptionist that the nightlife was five minutes north by foot and the centre was ten minutes south. This information was well received but for the time being, we couldn’t think beyond our stomachs. So the first thing we saw of Dresden was a Lidl and the excellent facilities of the hostel kitchen.

Priority number one taken care of, we were now ready to face what ever the gods of sightseeing could throw at us. It is fair to say that they pulled out quite a few stops as well, because Dresden is an incredibly attractive and monumental city. As you cross over the bridge from the new to the old town, the historic centre reveals itself coyly, flashing one spire at a time, until the promenade, the walls, the churches, all show themselves. This magnificent unified body of architecture has been painstakingly reconstructed after it was destroyed at the end of WWII.

This old town has a peaceful atmosphere. It allows you to wander its cobbled streets and squares feeling small, but quite contented. Here narrow alley ways open into vast market squares. The earliest rumblings of Christmas preparations added to the gentle surprises Dresden has to offer, as the odd tree was erected and market stalls opened for business.

Dresden definitely lived up to what people had said and we headed back to our hostel pretty satisfied. It is worth pointing out another unusual feature about travelling off season. The people you meet in hostels can sometimes be far removed from ordinary backpackers. At the Kangaroo Stop Backpackers Hostel this was the case.

During our stay there, the hostel had been possessed by a small army of hyperactive children, who were in town for the Junior Chess Championships. Now you’re probably thinking “little chess champions can’t be that much trouble”. Well apparently too much time at the board and not enough time outside makes for little a*$e holes (not help by the indoor rope swing in the hostel living room).

At times like this there is really only one thing to do and it’s to go out for a drink. Filled with high hopes from our successful day in town, we went to sample Dresden by night. Dresden’s nightlife is a rare and wonderful thing. In an area completely separate from the old town centre (so there are no rip off restaurants) you will find more then 100 bars and clubs in an area of one square mile. There is a laid back, good fun, community atmosphere. It is pretty much impossible not to have fun here. After our first night we had a collection of bars we wanted to go back to, and another set we wanted to explore.

On our second night exploring this labyrinth of debauchery, we were given some of that excellent German hospitality we had become accustomed to. Propping up the bar in the Big Lebowski themed bar (there are loads in Germany, for some reason the film is insanely popular, and from our experience you are usually guaranteed to get a pretty good white Russian) we sampled a few white Russians and Toj demolished his body weight in Pretzel bar snacks. In the bar we also met a couple of German men, who were hilarious and soon became our guides for the night. They seemed endeared to us because of our charitable cause (Genesis not just a great cause but always a way to make friends also). If you want to go to the best bars in a town, always hang on the coattails of a local. On this occasion we ended up with our new German friends in a Punk bar. It was the kind of place where everyone stares when you walk in and then instantly forgets you exist. Truly the right kind of place to end a great night out.

The final point of interest to mention is that Dresden is home to the German Hygiene Museum. That is right people, this is an interactive museum dedicated to the cultural significance of the healthy human body or unhealthy for that matter. Now there’s no prizes for guessing which one of us got excited when we the advert for the museum about human health. Having said that we both had an amazing time and literally spent a full day there. After looking around the fantastic multisensory exhibition, 2o about the cultural effects of climate change, where we learned that in times of warfare the communists, among other nations, researched the use of artificially manipulating weather as a weapon, namely … MIST! The huge permanent collection was a bizarre and entertaining journey through all aspects of human health, including work with the Frankfurt based breast cancer organisation - Komen.

Dresden was a beautiful, relaxed and incredibly entertaining place to end our German odyssey. After spending over a month in Germany, we were excited about our new change of country and culture. At the same time, we felt privileged to feel so comfortable with the country we were leaving behind.

Travelled = 1,934 Miles