Berlin

Berlin was our second major city in Germany and the last city James would be joining us in. It was a rainy day again and we got off the train and took the metro to our hostel. We liked Wombats so much in Munich that we booked its sister hostel in Berlin. It was brand new and it was another extremely nice hostel. We had a 4 man room with one other roommate from Israel.

We were getting a little hungry but wanted to wait a little until we had some food so we decided to hit up the 7th floor bar. The bar was awesome with euro beers, a pool table, and an outdoor patio looking over the city. We all grabbed something to drink and decided to play a few games of pool. After about an hour it was time or dinner and we went to the hostel recommended German restaurant called The Marcus Brau. They brewed their own beers and served up classic local food. The food was pretty good but by no means the best German food we had the whole trip. After dinner was over we deliberated for quite some time trying to figure out what to do with our Friday night. We went back to the hostel for another recommendation and this time is was for a very local Berlin bar called CCCP. It wasn’t too far from the hostel so we decided to walk there. Inside there was a 2 euro cover and a tiny bar packed with people. We grabbed a drink and tried to blend in. There were no seats available so we stood. I was scolded for requesting Absolute because it wasn’t Russian vodka the bartender preferred so I ordered the suggested drink. He was right, it was very good vodka. A few seats finally opened up and we sat down. Like many other establishments in Europe, this place allowed smoking and it was very apparent while there. By apparent I mean it felt like you were inhaling cigarettes even if you weren’t smoking. It wasn’t the most amazing bar and we were all tired so we had a few drinks and called it a night.

The next day we planned to go on a walking tour of the city that started at 10:15 so we had a very quick breakfast and headed out on the walking tour. We had about 27 people in our group and Paulo our guide from the UK was awesome and very informative. He started the tour out right by giving a little background on the wars that Germany had fought and made mention of the relationship they had with France. The statue on the Brandenburg Gate looks directly at the French embassy and Paulo asked if there were any French people in the group and without any hands raised he said “GOOD”. With that exchange I knew that I would like Paulo! Throughout the tour we saw the Reichstag parliament building, Holocaust museum, Hitler’s suicide place, the Berlin wall, Check Point Charlie. We had some coffee halfway through the tour and after went to the Opera house and walked down the Unter Den Linden street to end in Museum Island. It was a great walking tour and we saw a lot of historic Berlin.

The tour ended around 3 so Wang, James and myself were very hungry. We headed to the river and stopped at a café with coffee, sandwiches and desserts and sat down for all three. They made a very good Club sandwich so I was a happy guy. After lunch we decided we should buy some chocolate from the famous Fassbender and Rauch. They had huge chocolate models of different buildings in the city and other objects on display like the titanic made entirely of chocolate. It was getting later in the day so we decided to just wander around the streets of Berlin admiring the blend between classic architecture and modern architecture coexisting together throughout the whole city. We walked past the TV tower (the largest freestanding building in Europe) and back to the hostel.

Dinner was at a widely recommended Vietnamese place called Monsieur Vuong. The service was great, the food was better and the price was right. It also came as a nice change from the heavy, fatty German food we had been eating for more than a week. Everyone talks about the nightlife in Berlin so we knew that we had to go out drinking on a Saturday night. The same company that organizes our tours also does a pub crawl every night so we decided to join in. It was 11 euro and we got an hour of all we could drink beer, entrance to 5 different bars/clubs and free (read: nasty) screwdriver shots between each bar. This turned out to be a great idea because we met some very fun girls and the 5 bars we went to were all great and as the night wore on got progressively more clubby. A little after three we were sufficiently liquored up and partied out and it was time to go back. The metro back was interesting. Riders can choose to buy a ticket or risk getting caught and facing the expensive fine. Many people opt to take the risk but we didn’t. Once on the train we were surprised to see a bunch of kids lighting up a big blunt and at that moment we realized there was absolutely no reason to buy a ticket next time.

We decided to spend the next day visiting an old concentration camp called Sachsenhausen. Oranien was the stop 45 minutes down the metro where Sachsenhausen concentration camp is located. Visiting a concentration camp while in Germany is a necessity. When we got to our stop there was a 15 minute walk north east. It was an eerie, grey, windy day. We headed out through the little town where the camp was located and immediately noticed an excessive amount of armed police standing around in groups. We also quickly noticed the addition of riot masks and full jumpsuits most were wearing. At first we didn’t think much of it but as we continued to walk 5 and 10 more minutes we saw more and more police. Sidewalk blockades, checkpoints, police cars with flashing lights blocking intersections, etc. we actually were feeling quite uncomfortable as we had no idea what all of this was about. It was also strange that the area seemed to be quite empty otherwise and the hovering helicopter overhead didn’t help the cause. I finally couldn’t take it any more and took my chances on a police officer speaking English to see if there was any cause for concern. He informed us that it was ‘standard’ security for a demonstration later that afternoon. It seemed a little more than that to me but I felt a hell of a lot better after talking to him. So we marched onto the camp. My words would never be able to live up to the feeling you have when entering the gates of this former place of torture and killing. The site is entirely grey and very quiet with most buildings having been torn down and only a few remaining for purposes of remembrance. We spent a few hour touring the housing, prison, line-up site, etc. It was an emotionally draining experience. I was more than ready to go back to Berlin.

Once back to the city it was dinner time and we had to figure out what to eat. James looked over the Fromers book and found an East Prussian restaurant on the west side of the city. We all agreed to go there because we hadn’t had Prussian food yet. We rode the metro to the west side and walked the 5 minutes to Marjellchen. We entered the restaurant to find what would be considered a very nice restaurant 30 years ago. Nothing had been updated and the dining room was manned by 2 people. The woman who seemed to be the owner and another older man, both in their 60s. We were seated at a very nice table in the small dining room in the front of the restaurant with 5 tables. We were offered English menus and graciously accepted. From the moment we entered the restaurant the wait staff was nothing less than utterly charming, taking pride in every second of their work. It was a wonderful place with great food. We were very satisfied after the meal and headed back to the hostel. Poor James had to wake up extremely early the next morning to catch his flight so we called it an early night.