1990
We entered Berlin in the evening, via the Karl-Marx-Allee, and observed 2 police officers next to the street. Again, I had to persuade one of them to show me the way. He drove in front, but suddenly stopped and said he could go no further, since he was not allowed to cross the sector line. This time, however, I thought it best not to offer him compensation.
While driving through the streets I found a taxi stand, and thought that the drivers could show me the way to a Toyota garage. I pulled the car over to the curb and, of course managed to stop the engine. It was no use to ask a taxi driver, so instead Espen and I went to a "Bierstube" to borrow the phone and call ADAC for help.
The phone system in Berlin a 1/2 year after the fall of the Wall was chaotic. They worked on connecting the east and west sides of the city together, resulting in line breakdowns. It took more than 1 hour to get through to the ADAC, and after explaining my situation, and demanding a towing truck, it was estimated another 2 hours before I could get any assistance.
Espen and I waited in the "Bierstube" for the mechanic to arrive, having a few beers. As it was impossible to start the car, I got surprised when a mechanic in a Ford Fiesta arrived. He insisted on looking at the car before calling the dispatch, something which made me angry and I told him what I thought about the ADAC's level of service . So, when he finally called for a towing truck, Espen and I went back to the "Bierstube" to wait. Finally there came a truck that towed us to a garage, and we spent the rest of the night in the car.
From Bellevue we took a bus to the Tiergarten, where we rested and had dinner, and from there we used the U-Bahn again to take us back to the garage. We got the car at 6 PM sharp, and headed towards Denmark. We arrived Kiel in the early morning, and Asked at a pub to use the bath-room. We had to watch our steps, as the floor was more or less covered with broken glass and spilt beer.
We got to Hirtshals in Denmark in the evening and boarded the ferry for Kristiansand, Norway. We spent a few days with my brother and his family in Kristiansand, before we drove back to Trondheim.
