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AUGUST 15, 2003
We just got in our bunks as quickly as possible and went to sleep. I love sleeping on trains, so it was a very pleasant night, although it was a little stuffy in the compartment. We had set our watch alarms for 5AM, but the train man came around and woke us up at 5AM anyhow. Our first night train -a very interesting experience. The sleeper compartment cost 12 euros, about what we will be spending in Berlin for our hostel room.
We arrived in Berlin right on time and we waited at the station for the train office to open at 6AM so we could buy a Berlin Welcome Card. It was 19 euros and let's us ride the S-bahn (the above-ground metro) and the U-bahn (the underground metro), and the buses for 72 hours and also gives discounts on lots of events, museums, tours, etc. in Berlin and Potsdam. We are staying at the Circus Hostel in Berlin and it is great. It is so easy to get to the hostel from the main train station in Berlin. We just take the S-bahn 5 stops and then the
U-bahn 2 stops and the hostel is right across the street from the underground stop. It's very clean and well run, and Shari and I are in a 4-bed dorm with 2 other people. One is a guy but we haven't met the other person yet.
We got to the hostel about 7AM and we were able to leave our big packs in lockers until check-in time at 2PM. We then went back to the city center and signed up for a 1.75-hour sightseeing bus tour, which started at 10:30AM. The tour gave us a great overview of the city. There is so much to see and do in Berlin that I'm sure our time here will fly by. After the tour we went back to the hostel to check in and take a nap. Boy, was I tired. After we got up we talked to the man at reception about our other plans in Germany, and where we were planning to stay. He gave us some really good advice, and suggested a different place for us to stay in Leipzig. Thry are so knowledgeable and helpful here. Reception called to make reservations for us in Leipzig and in Munich. I also got some good informaion on The Black Forest.
We sat in the hostel cafe to review our plans for Germany and I had a beer (which is much more reasonably priced here than in Scandanavia). The hostel doesn't have a self catering kitchen or living room but the cafe serves breakfast, dinner and drinks, and a lot of people sit in there reading and talking. We took the underground a couple of stops to use the internet at a place that the fellow in reception had recommended and then we came back and sat outside the hostel for about an hour. The hostel puts out tables and chairs during the day and in the evenings, and it was a beuatiful evening to sit outside. I had a couple of beers and we read and talked to a fellow from Australia who is studying in Spain for a year. Best of all across the street is a small take away place that serves wonderful kebob sandwiches so that's what I had for dinner at 10PM. The place is open 24 hours a day and I spoke to one fellow who said he woke up at 4AM and thought about the kebobs at that place so he went and bought a sandwich then. I think I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We also talked to a fellow, Boris, who leads Berlin waling tours for a company called Brewer's Best of Berlin. We had planned to do a 4-hour walking tour with Insiders Tours, but Boris sounded so interesting we decided to go with him instead. His is not for everyone because it is an all day tour, and he goes into a lot of historical details about Berlin, but we like to walk and he seemed so knowledgeable that I'm sure we will enjoy the tour.
8/06: It was quite hot in the room last night and pretty noisy out in the street, but I still really like this hostel. One of the guys in our room checked out today, so I moved down to a bottom bunk and I'm hoping it will be a little cooler tonight. I took a shower and then bought coffee and pastry across the street and read my book in my room until it was time for the tour.
Boris arrived at the hostel just after 10 and there was no one on the tour at that point but Shari and me. He told us we would meet up with some other people outside the New Synagogue a little after 10:30. We walked over to meet the group and he showed us some memorials in the pre-World War II Jewish neighborhoods.
The whole tour took place in East Berlin and he covered mulitple historic periods of Berlin including Jewish Berlin, Imperial Berlin, Weiman Berlin, Nazi Berlin, Cold War Berlin, and New Berlin. We basically walked from 10:15 until 5:45 with two 20-minute food stops. Boris was the most knowledgeable, well spoken and entertaining tour guide I've ever met. We made stops at many famous buildings and spots in Berlin and Boris gave an in-depth talk of the history of many of the places. He really made the history of Germany come alive for us and it was very moving to hear stories of the persecution of the Jews in Berlin. He also talked a lot about the history of the Berlin Wall, and it was also very moving to see pieces of the wall, and to listen to stories of the many people who tried to escape from East Berlin while the wall was in place.
Some of the stops on the stour were the Berlin Wall, the Palace of Tears, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the site of Hitler's Bunker, the site of the Nazi book burning, Checkpoint Charlie, the Soviet War Memorial, Humbolt University, the Jewish Girls' School, Potsdamer Platz and the Nazi Air Force Ministry. There were 8 of us on the tour, it was 10 euros (about $11.20) and it was the best walking tour I've ever taken. I would highly recommend Berlin to everyone, but especially the history buffs.
After the tour, Shari and I went back to the hostel to make some calls, write notes, and sit and read for awhile. We wanted to go back and see Berlin at night, so we went out again about 7:30PM. We first went to visit the Reichstag (the German Parliament Building) and we were able to go up in the elevator to walk in the outside area overlooking Berlin. We mostly went there to walk up the winding staircase in the metal and glass dome at the top, but unfortunately it was closed. We then walked up the street beside the huge city park, Tiergarten, to the Victory Monumnet which is topped by a guilded statue of the Roman victory goddess, Victoria. It was a lovely evening, but after our 7.5 hours of walking during the day, I was ready to get on the underground and go back to the hostel. We got back about 10:30 and I got another kebob sandwich and ate, and went to sleep.
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