Our trip by train from Schipol (Amsterdam’s airport) to Berlin was uneventful but our arrival offered us another travel lesson. Always write down where you are staying and the telephone number. My cousin Eric, who lives in Berlin, was kind enough to offer us his apartment while we were staying in Berlin. Moreover he said he would meet us at Platform C when we arrived. Unfortunately, I tried to rely on my memory (yes, that was my first mistake) and I forgot that he would be on Platform C. I also failed to write down his phone number or address. After attempting to access my email at an Internet machine in the train station (since there was no free Wi-Fi connections to use my computer) which if not for the help of two Norwegian students would have been impossible, I found my cousin’s contact information. By this time he had returned home, so we caught the metro to his apartment. It was stressful but worked out fine.
Eric was the consummate host. With our late arrival, we went to a café, but thereafter Eric prepared lovely dinners throughout our visit and was a fabulous tour guide. It was fun to catch up with Eric. He lives in the Westend of Berlin, near the Charlottenburg castle. Day 2, Eric suggested we take a boat tour around the city. Although the tour was conducted in German, we received an English guidebook that enabled us to follow along. Seeing a town from the river is both relaxing and informative. We enjoyed meeting Jutta and appreciated using her internet connection.
Mark and I are particularly fond of gardens and while in Berlin, we took as many opportunities as possible to walk the gardens of Charlottenburg castle. (Jeanne and Linda, I highly recommend a European garden tour for our next MIWC garden function!)
The following day we went to see my cousin Laurens who I haven’t seen in more than thirty years. It was wonderful to see him. Lauri, I send you my love!
We also visited the Brandenburg Gate, remnants of the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust memorial near by and then the Stazi Prison Museum. The history of the Stazi Prison will be indelibly itched in my memory. Initially, East Germany’s Stazi Prison housed Nazis, but over time, it was where political dissonants were imprisoned. Our tour guide was a former political prisoner. His crime was declaring he wanted to leave East Germany when he was 18 years old. He was held there for 10 months before the West German government bought his freedom for $250,000. His stories of the torture and psychological stress put on the Stazi prisoners were horrific. Growing up in the sixties and seventies, I learned little about the Soviet bloc countries. The stories reinforce my great fortune to have been born and live in the United States.
On our third day we looked for the home where my mother spent her early years. She was 6 years old when her father died and my mom, her brother and her mother moved to Bavaria. We think we found her home and the park where my grandfather was found dead. We also visited the Allied War Museum. The museum was well done and filled with artifacts from the Berlin airlift and Berlin life following the war. Lastly, we visited a very moving memorial to the Holocaust. Located just behind the Grunwald train station are the tracks used by the Nazis to transport Jews from Berlin to concentration camps. The bronze plaques placed aside the train tracks show the date of transport, number of Jews, and destination of the cars. There were days when a train would carry 1000 Jews at a time. Thinking about the occupants of the trains gives me chills.
On a more upbeat note, we ended our stay with another fabulous evening with Eric. It was great fun to take our dinner on the street by moving his kitchen table and goodies out on the sidewalk.
