There and Back Again: Destination #9-Berlin, Germany

Day 3 of this Topdeck tour started off with me waking up to no voice K. This was legitimately the first time in my life that I had lost my voice. Of course, I also still had a sore throat. I also never mentioned that because the majority of the Topdeck crew was sick, we were given the name “Coughdeck”. So I was pretty much doomed.

Our bus was headed for Berlin but along the way, we stopped in a city called Dresden which is also in Germany. It was here that our fearless Topdeck leader, Chris, showed us some sights and Currywurst (spicy sausage). At this particular vender we went to, you could choose your level of spiciness, rated 1 to 7. I went with 4 and I’m glad I did. As some of you may know, I love spicy food and if I had gone any higher, I would have been crying. Some crazy people tried 7, including Josh. He was in so much pain that he ran to McDonalds to get a milkshake! After Dresden, we made our way to Berlin. When we arrived, Chris gave us a driving tour of Berlin. Unlike Prague, Berlin is a huge city, so trying to see all the sights on foot would be difficult. The vibe for this city was quite different as well as a lot of the sights and historical monuments were related to World War II and the Holocaust. Once we had checked into the hostel and settled into our rooms, we enjoyed a German meal at the hostel that included schnitzels and pretzels. That night, almost the entire crew decided to take it easy and call it a night. However, a few of us decided to go a grab a drink at a local bar.

The next day started with a walking tour of Berlin where we saw the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism, Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, and many other interesting sights. Afterwards, “The Gang” grabbed some coffee and headed over to the Topography of Terror, a museum located on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. Next, we went back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a very interesting memorial as the design is open to interpretation. 2,711 concrete slabs are arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field and I got the feeling of isolation whilst in there. Underneath the memorial is another museum in which we visited. Both this museum and the Topography of Terror were difficult to visit as you can imagine and the gang members were in solemn moods by the end of it. Unfortunately, the day had gone by quickly and it was time to head back to the hostel. Luckily, I had a little bit of time to get pictures of the Berlin Wall which was located just outside our hostel. We decided to have dinner at the hostel that night and we weren't very good at timing. When our food hit the table, we had like 5 minutes to scarf it down and meet the rest of the Topdeck crew for a pub crawl. I won’t give you the gory details of the pub crawl, only that I didn't go to bed until probably 3:30am to have to wake up at 7:00am the next morning.

Berlin was great but I do not feel like I spent as much time as I would have liked in the city. It is definitely on my list to go back.

To be continued….