It was then off to the Holocaust monument. This monument was designed by an American Jewish architect. He has never really said much about the memorial, like why the stones are placed as they are or why they or the ground vary in height. He has left it up for interpretation, so that each person really has their own experience within the memorial. Our guide gave us a few ideas, suggesting it may be reminiscent of the Prague Jewish Cemetery or the stones representing lines of people or gravestones of those who lost their lives. As I walked through the memorial, and the stones grew up around me as the ground sloped down, I felt as though I were sinking deeper and deeper, almost as if being suffocated or trapped. To me, this feeling must have been similar to that of which the victims of the Holocaust experienced. As the ground rose back up, this disappeared, similar to how the Jewish people must have felt when finally liberated. Overall, I thought the memorial was rather interesting.
We then walked to a car park. Or as us American refer to it, a parking lot. At first, I was a bit confused. Our guide first explained that the buildings to our left were built when East Germany was under Communist rule. They housed those soldiers or spies who had done something wonderful for the Communist party and had the honor of living in these apartments. They built them so tall so those on the other side of the wall would see just how wonderful people in East Germany were living. But this was not the real reason we came to this site. Under our feet lied the remains of Hitler's bunker where he spent most of the months leading up to his death. Creepily enough, we actually stood above his bunker on the day he killed his dog, his wife, and then himself in that very bunker. It was actually kind of spooky. Our guide lightened the mood a bit, letting us know that this car park is a popular place for Berliners to take their dogs to go to the bathroom.
We then headed to one of the few buildings remaining from Nazi rule that survived the bombings. On this building, you could see bullet marks and bomb shell marks. Also, the plaque that used to declare what the Nazis used the building for had been scratched out by the Communists when it was overtaken. It was quite interesting to see.
We then walked to the Ministry of Ministries (real name, I promise). There we saw a monument for those workers who were killed for standing up to the Communists rule, along with a painting hung by the Communists depicting the glory of living under their rule. We then headed to see a piece of the Berlin wall, which was not amazingly interesting, but its a concrete wall, so what can you expect. There, we also learned about Albert the Bear, another symbol of Berlin. Supposedly the bear helped fight to create the city and is now featured on the flag of the city.
On our walk over to Checkpoint Charlie, we learned about the traditional car of East Berlin, as it was the only car you could get, known as a Trabi. We then found ourselves at Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous checkpoint between east and west Berlin. At this point, the Cold War almost turned into one that could have destroyed the entire world. Both the Soviets and Americans had tanks pointed at each other and if one had fired, both sides had enough nuclear weapons to potentially destroy the entire planet. Luckily, President Kennedy called the leader of the Soviets in Berlin at the time and made a deal that each would pull their tanks to avoid such a disaster.
We then visited a lovely square which held three beautiful buildings. Unfortunately all of them were reconstructed after the war, since all were severely damaged in the bombings. Two were large churches, while the other was a classical musical performance hall.
We then travelled to another square. In one corner was the first Catholic church of Berlin, which sits next to a an opera house. Across from the opera house is a large library, belonging to Humboldt University, which sits across the street. During Nazi rule, thousands of books were banned. Those students agreeing with the ideas of the Nazis marched into the library, took out all the copies that were on this list of banned books from the shelves, threw them into a pile in the middle of the plaza, and proceeded to burn them all. On the spot where the burning took place is not a memorial, made up of enough bookshelf space for the thousands of books that were burned.
We next went to a memorial for those affected by war. Inside held a statue by one of Germany's most famous sculptors depicting a woman who has lost a child to war. At the top was a hole so that, as the seasons change, so does the memorial. We then walked to Museum Island. First, we saw Berlin's Cathedral. Outside the Cathedral is a large green space where people come to sit and relax. We then learned about the Altes Museum and the TV tower. The TV tower was built during the Communist rule, but they actually had to bring in some Swedes to complete it.
Afterwards, we headed to grab some drinks that our guide suggested with a few people we had met on the tour. I tried the local beer, Berliner red (there's red and green), which was really sweet and didn't really taste like beer, so I rather liked it. Afterwards, we went back to the hostel to figure out some stuff, then headed off to dinner to meet up with our friend Neil. We splurged a bit and went to a restaurant serving more authentic German food, where I got my Weiner Schnitzel. It was rather delicious. We then wondered a bit, eventually finding a bar where we could sit, have a beer, and catch up on our adventures over the past month. Finally, we headed back to the hostel.
The next morning we started off by going to Berlin's flea market. It was probably one of the coolest places I have ever been. I probably could have spent the whole day, just looking at all the random people had on sale. I got a few gifts for friends, along with a cool vintage purse for myself. I also tried a newer local tradition of currywurst, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was actually pretty good.
Afterwards, we headed to the Mayday festivities. Mayday is basically an international labor day. It was awesome. There were stages set up all over the streets where bands playing all sorts of music were jamming out. There was even a break dancing competition in one. By far, my favorite had to be a group of drummers playing on the street. They had so much energy, it was awesome. On top of the awesome music, there were loads of street venders selling all sorts of food, though most of it was doner or kebab. I had a delicious pita thing. Even better, was it all was super cheap. We had to leave Neil early, as we had to get back to grab our stuff and catch our bus, so we didn't see any of the protests that Mayday is also infamous for. However, on our way out, we did see the most police officers I have ever laid eyes on in my life. They were standing in giant mobs all around the metro station, probably trying to scare people from going too crazy.
We finally made our way back to our hostel, grabbed our stuff, and hopped back on the metro to go all the way across town to catch our bus. By the time we got on our last transfer, we had 10 minutes. At this point I started to panic, worried that we were going to miss our bus and be trapped in Berlin. We got off the subway and literally sprinted (well, attempted to with all our stuff) to the bus station. We made it at exactly 7, jumped on our bus, and passed out. We arrived in Brussels at 5:30 am with some problems. All the buses to London were booked. At this point, I just wanted to go home. With some research, we found a flight leaving at 10. We caught the train to the airport, bought a ticket, and were back in Leeds by 2 pm. It felt oddly good to be back. Yet incredibly sad the journey was over. We had spent so much time planning and had experienced so much during that month, and now it was all over. It was bittersweet. One part of me didn't want the adventuring, learning, exploring, and discovering to be over, but another part of me was happy to know I'd be in one place for a while again, to have a routine again. I do know that I wouldn't have changed anything about my trip. It was absolutely spectacular.
The Mayday Celebrater,
Jessica
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