Aug 2008

In all actuality, I left Lille twice. The first time was to head out on my own with a railpass and backpack. I stayed in David's room with a few others until about 4 in the morning, trying as hard as possible to stretch time out. Unfortunately, I had an 8 am train and had to leave behind a number of people… Kati, Renee, David, Sarah… difficult is an understatement. But I had a train to catch, one that would take me all the way to Berlin, and so I made it back up to my room, kind of sort of slept briefly and then was off.

Doing my best not to break down whilst on the train, I made it to Berlin and established a pattern that would repeat in just about every city that I went to. I'd arrive, without a map, and would stubbornly refuse to take the public transportation. I would usually maneuver my way around for a bit, taking things in, moving in the direction where I assumed my place of residence was for that evening. I'd spend the night, waking up early the next morning, go out walking all day into late evening, go back and collapse into a sleep that would prepare me for a train ride early the next morning to the next destination. Berlin established that pattern.

My hostel was two buses away, in the middle of the woods with a few wild boars hanging around.

I was exhausted, having slept next to nothing the night before and walking around semi-lost all day long and settled into a bean bag, cup of tea in hand, and watching Horton Hears a Who… in English! Then SLEEP. One free breakfast later and I was ready for my New Berlin walking tour. I highly suggest this tour for everyone. My guide was fantastic and takes you all around Berlin, telling you the stories and the history of the city, all in 3 hours.

Since all the sights in Berlin are not exactly conspicuous, it was very helpful to have someone showing you: here is where this happened. I saw where Hitler marched with his army and then where he died. Intense, but good.

Brandenburg Gates

monument built for the victims of the Holocaust, in the middle of the city

The guide also gave us a good idea of the east and west Berlin. The differences between east and west Germany were definitely visible if only through the architecture that remains. There is a debate as to whether or not many of the communist buildings, or buildings with questionable histories, should be maintained or demolished. You have people who wish to erase everything from that period and others who fight for it as part of their history. An ugly history, maybe, but their history all the same. Fascinating.

I have a habit of going to new cities, finding the tallest object in said city and climbing to the top of it, a trend that you will see in my pictures. In Berlin this object was the Reichstag. SO COOL. They essentially put a glass dome at the top of their state house and you can visit this dome for free. The whole idea is that the government has to have a certain amount of transparency so you can actually look down and see the representatives hard at work. I waited in line for a while in the afternoon, decided that I would much prefer to go up at sunset, and so left the line. A few hours later, after walking through a beautiful park (Berlin is a very green city) I was back in line for nearly two hours. But the view was worth it. Stunning, really. Then, a bit of nightlife, mainly as I headed back to the hostel.

Free internet provided me with train times—as did the lovely Irishman sitting next to me, handing me a book with all the European train lines. He was finishing his trip I was starting, so he gave the book to me, wishing me luck on my journey.

I was to end up in Prague the next day, by way of Leipzig. You see, Matthias goes to school in Leipzig (remember him? If not, go check out the Harry Potter entry.) He had a friend, a french speaking friend who came to visit him in Lille. This friend, here on out referred to as Andre, was also a chef of sorts and cooked us some amazingly good fish. The point is, however, that Andre welcomed me to Leipzig in place of Matthias, who was still in France. So I got a personalized tour that involved a lot of sights, a lot of stories, French, and very little thinking or organizing on my part. I just showed up with a few hours to spare.

The guide

the Völkerschlachtdenkmal... a monument to the victory against Napoleonic troops.

Yeah, what he said

By far the coolest part was when we were waiting on a tram to go see the big monument and I hear someone say, "Rachelle?" I turn and see Katja. Sadly, this is not the Katja that I was closest to (and was originally supposed to meet up with in Berlin), but another German Katja with whom I spent New Years. She had recognized me, didn’t believe it, but then heard me speaking French.

Only a first semester gal, she had left shortly after our New Year shindig and I hadn't heard from her since. Didn't even know she lived in Leipzig—keeping in mind that this city is home to nearly 37,000 students. We chatted on the tram still in shock of actually recognizing someone in another country (or in one's home country, I guess) It gave a fantastic feeling of interconnectedness, as well as giving way to the thought that maybe there is hope for us silly internationally dispersed kids to meet up again. Maybe.

The few short hours passed and I was back on a train to Prague, and for the first time, found myself venturing into a country where I knew NOTHING of the language.

Oh dear.