On New Years Eve in 1990 Don and I went to East and West Berlin for an overnight trip. I was studying at the University of Paris, and history had been made barely a year earlier when The Wall came down. We knew it was a now or never moment. Twenty-eight years later we were about to return to see how it evolved.
Here is a link to a stranger's blog post about how Warnemunde is an awesome day trip. I'm putting it out there in case you are ever in the position of choosing your own Port of Call Adventure. I'm glad we did what we did, but if we were in a similar position in a few years, I would stay in Warnemunde.
Due to its distance from Berlin (billed as a two-and-a-half hour bus ride, really over three hours), we were told by our travel agent we had to book the excursion through the Cruise Ship, or else run the risk of literally missing the boat. The agreement was if we booked through Norwegian Cruise Lines and our return was delayed (for example: a traffic jam or mechanical failure) they would hold the boat for us. If we had a similar issue with a different tour group, they would not. Talk about having a monopoly!
Deep breaths. Okay, we signed up with SPB Tour. What I really wanted was what our friends Kim and John did last September -- have the tour company drop us off in the middle of town with the promise we would meet up with them again at the designated time. Unfortunately (or so I thought at the time) I did not see that option on the approved list.
Instead we had a tour. I detest tours. Tours always move at the pace of the slowest person. Tours always include lots of time to buy souvenirs, but not enough time to sight see. Tours are boring. I could do it better with my Lonely Planet book. Yadda yadda yadda. I was not looking forward to the tour.
Started off we were told the tour would have no more than 24 people. There were more than that on our bus. I was not a happy camper, but <<deep breaths>> we WILL have a good time!
When we arrived in Berlin our tour group of about 36 people was split in half. We only had 18 people who moved at a similar pace as we did. Mind you, I was also taking a lot of pictures and making lots of notes, both of which helped slow me down. Both of which also helped me to keep my sanity.
When we arrived in Berlin our tour group of about 36 people was split in half. We only had 18 people who moved at a similar pace as we did. Mind you, I was also taking a lot of pictures and making lots of notes, both of which helped slow me down. Both of which also helped me to keep my sanity.
Our first stop, with the exception of a bathroom break midway on the drive, was at the Olympic Stadium. The one made famous by Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics. The one currently being used for a huge high school-level sporting event. The same event that made it impossible for us to get to our next stop: The Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church. Follow the link to learn about it on your own. It is a church that was burned out during World War II (which really does not narrow it down much), one we did see 28 years earlier. Having been on the other end of races -- with roads shut down for me and my fellow athletes -- I cut them some slack. In the end, I think it made for a more relaxed pace as we were not rushed.
Our tour guide was Jim from Minnesota. Jim moved to Berlin 13 years ago to be a college student. He fell in love, got married, and had a family. He spoke at the perfect mid-west pace -- slow enough to take notes and repeating just the right amount. He brought pictures of how places looked over the years (pre-World War II, post-World War II, 1989, etc.). I learned so much from him.
Back to the Olympic Stadium and a rare picture of the three of us.
The stadium was built in anticipation of the 1916 Olympic Games. A slight expansion was planned in 1931 (in anticipation of the 1936 games). Two years later the Nazis wanted to send a message and built an even bigger stadium. At one point the stadium held 110,000 people (2002 renovations with new seating have shrunk that number to a mere 74,500 seats. By comparison, Yankee Stadium has 54,521 seats, the Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ has 82,500 seats).
Jim pointed out the bullet holes still in the stadium from when Berlin suffered TWELVE DAYS of hand-to-hand combat near the end of the war. Throughout the tour we were gently reminded about these twelve days. I cannot imagine living in a war zone.
At the moment, though, the highlight was the free (clean) public bathroom. Denmark had many places for clean, free pees, but in Germany we had already encountered one bathroom lady (and had zero Euros on us at the time -- there will be another post about the various foreign currencies), so a free trip to the bathroom is worth taking.
Back in the bus to go inside Berlin.
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