Curry Wurst & Communism

After a crazy weekend in amsterdam, I drug my tired ass to the train station and boarded a train heading East. About 5 hours later, I found myself in Berlin! The hostel I had planned to stay at was completely full, so I headed over to the Mitte Backpackers deeper into East Berlin. After getting checked in and all that jazz, I headed out to check out Berlin!

As I walked the streets that were once owned and occupied by Soviet Communism, my thoughts drifted to what I remember of the Berlin Wall and it's ultimate fall. As a 12 year old in america, it was huge. But I thought of the people living and working in Berlin who were my age. What must it have been like to have such a massive change take place.... esp. for a child living in the East. I bought a piece of the wall for Chloe and Rhys, knowing that they will have no idea what it is. It won't have the same weight that it did for me when I was a kid. But, it is important to keep these stories alive. To make certain that it does not happen again. Without knowledge and understanding, responsible action cannot be taken.

Anyway, Berlin is pretty cool. I literally spent the ENTIRE day walking! About 8-9 hours straight. I took a 4+ hour walking tour, then went back to sites that I really wanted to explore. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews was intense and beautiful. Checkpoint Charlie was interesting. I walked all along the last remaining portion of the Berlin wall and the Topography of Terror exhibit which dealt with the rise and fall of the Nazis, including the Nuremburg Trials. It's really interesting to walk around the city. You see all these new buildings with really old and dingy statues perched on top. Apparently, Hitler's obbsessive love of art actually had a positive outcome. Before the start of WW 11, he removed all of the statues from the buildings and buried them away. After the war, they were dug up and put back. I do want to say that Germans want to forget Hitler. I saw the site of his bunker where he supposedly killed himself. They have blown it up and made a car park. The only thing that remains is a temporary placard that they will be removing in the next few months. Interesting....

So, I saw everything that i wanted to see in Berlin in the first 2 days. I even tried Curry Wurst! It was by accident, of course. I had ordered a wurst mit pommes, but I guess the woman misunderstoodme. So, I got curry wurst with fries instead. So, I had a dilemma. I was running short on time and hungry! But, it was a diced sausage drowned in ketchup and curry powder. How bad could it be?? I decided to go for it, and guess what?! It was actually pretty good! It had this sweet and spicy thing going on! So that was fun!

Wednesday I will make my way to Prague! I'm VERY excited! Fairy tale Castles and Marionettes and black light theatre! Rock on! Plus, I'll really be in Eastern europe! How cool is that!