Berlin sort of reminded me of Vancouver and London meshed together. It is a European city, oh yes, with plenty of Cold War architecture. I'll date myself and say that the wall came down 11 days before I was born. However, I am not such a big fan of Cold War buildings. They are very blah and remind me of prisons and institutions (a surviving reminder of totalitarianism). But although the streets were clean of needles and dog feces, and food delicious, I did not feel a connection to the city. Where are the mountains and quaint rolling hills?? Flatness does nothing for me. I was practically in tears at the Holocaust memorial. All those letters and post cards tossed off of those trains, scribbled reminders in books. But it was so long ago now! I feel bad that Germany and its citizens will always be associated with the Nazi party from nearly 100 years ago. Why can't the rest of the world let them move on? When you think of the USA or Great Britain, you don't think of the concentration camps of the Boer Wars in 1900 (nearly 30,000 died) or the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (nearly 300,000 were extinguished). But the name "Germany" is another word for "six million dead Jews." Again, I am an 8th German, so I have qualms, yo! (Actually they killed nearly 17,000,000 including Soviet POW's, Romani, mixed race children, disabled, gays etc)
Rant over. I loved, loved, loved the hostel. High five, Chelsea! My significant other made smoking friends outside with the Australians. I did enjoy my Happy Hour 4.5 euro Tequila Sunrise and Matt sampled a Moscow Mule. And the restaurant where you could pour your own pint at the table. Also a highlight. Sadly, we did not have time to go clubbing or whatever Berliners do at night. Instead we drank their brews and pigged out on bratwurst and potato noodles. We make an unusual couple, he with his very audible Northwest London voice and me with my pretend TV English accent. It's like mixing Crown Royal with Bombay Sapphire and adding a splash of maple syrup and a dash of Earl Gray. We shall call this concoction "Empire Meets New World." We had fun. He drew a picture of me to sum up his first trip with a vegetarian. Yes, he graciously gave me two nipples.
Finally made it to the Pergamon museum after waiting an hour in line. The reconstructions were as impressive as I thought they would be. But sadly they did not sell any T-Shirts in the gift shop, so I am without a Berliner.
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