Berlin

Last weekend, the whole family went to Berlin. This was Owen's first time in a train, as well as Jo's first time in an ICE (Intercity Express) train. The trains here are fantastic - it took us 1.5 hours each way to travel around 150km, and there was no need to change trains. Better still we got a super saver ticket so it only cost us 45 euro return for all three of us!

Why did we go to Berlin? Well, apart from that neither Jo nor Owen had been there before, the closest Australian Embassy is there, and we had to apply in person for Owen's passport. We got there really early to beat the crowds, and lucky we did - there was no one there! I guess there aren't really that many Australians anxious to get new passports, etc. The whole process was rather painless, and we were out of there within half an hour.

There were a few more firsts. Owen stayed his first night in a hotel, and experienced his first buffet. We had a great view of the city - we were right on Alexander Platz - the centre of the eastern part of Berlin.

So what do you do when you're in Berlin for a weekend? Berlin has a relatively short history by German standards. Founded in 1237, it was an important but minor city until it became the capital of the Prussian empire in the 1700s. From the late 1800s, it became the capital of Germany, and is well known as the divided city during the cold war. We visited one of the few remaining parts of the old Berlin Wall. As it turns out, this part of the wall ran along Niederkirchner Strasse, the same address as we have in Leipzig!

Someone didn't edit the sign very well. Can you spot the Denglish (Deutsch-English)? Nathan's brain has been so Germanified that he didn't notice it until Jo pointed it out!

We also visited the famous "Checkpoint Charlie", an official crossing point of the wall, and often part of various spy stories from the cold war era. Nearby the checkpoint is the Wall Museum, which we spent a few hours in. It's quite big, and we didn't have time to look at everything. Unfortunately no pics (not allowed), but it included some different pictures of the wall over time (the GDR gradually improved it until it became nearly impenetrable), and some stories of how people escaped across it. What struck us was how much pain this divided city caused the locals. One particular picture showed a father who was working on one side of Berlin while his family lived on the other. When the wall went up - starting with just barbed wire and soldiers - he was refused passage across. The photo was of him farewelling his family across the barbed wire while a soldier looked on.

Brandenberg Gate is another must see. During the time of the wall, this historic structure was walled off, and therefore became a symbol of the divided city. It's now an impressive landmark in the middle of the united city. Despite not experiencing any of the division first hand, it's hard not to feel a bit of emotion seeing this monument free again.

We visited another museum - the German Historical Museum. Their regular display was closed because it's winter, but they had a few special exhibits. One was on the "Huguenot Migration" to Germany. We thought this would be really boring, but actually it was quite educational. The Huguenots were french protestants who fled France because of persecution by the french kings (who favoured Catholicism because it gave them more power - apologies to any historians out there for this vastly simplified analysis). The exhibit talked about the refugees' background, and what happened when they went to other countries, including Germany. The other exhibit was about migration in general. Recently Germany has been struggling over the issue of immigration (sound familiar?), and the creators of the exhibit wanted to show that actually it wasn't a new thing. Each display explained one of the many migrations into Germany over the centuries. There was a third exhibit, but we didn't have time to see it. Oh, and it all only cost 2 euros per adult for admission! Bargain!

We saw a few more historical buildings, etc - but only from the outside. We won't bore you with pictures - if you weren't there, they aren't that exciting. One really cool thing we saw (of no historical value) was a lifesized "fussball" table with giant "Berlin Bears" as the players. It was strictly one person per bar, as those bears were heavy!

German delicacies #1.
Scene 1.
Nathan: Hey! I just saw someone spread what looked like raw mince meat on a piece of bread and eat it! She gave some to her son as well!
Jo: Yuck!
Nathan: It must be some kind of smoked meat.

Scene 2. Supermarket.
Nathan: Hey, they're giving out free samples of sausages. I'm going to try it!
Nathan (later): Hmmm. It looks like raw mincemeat. Must be the same stuff that mum ate the other day. Tastes OK, though.
Jo: Yuck!

Scene 3. Nathan at work.
Nathan to German colleagues: Hey, do you guys know of some sausage that looks like raw mincemeat inside?
Colleague: It IS raw mince meat!
Nathan: Oh...
Colleague: You can make it yourself. Just buy some minced meat from the supermarket, add some salt and herbs, spread it on bread, and eat it! Delicious!