ENGLAND

   NETHERLANDS

   GERMANY

   FRANCE

Germany

 Story


 

Berlin
W spent three days in Berlin, the new capital of a recently reunited Germany and former crossroads of the Cold War. Fresh off the plane and finally free to be a tourist as he had never been there before, W took to the water. Cruised up and down the river Spree on a tour boat soaking up the sites of central Berlin. It is a giant construction site, particularly in the historical Mitte (middle) where government buildings are being relocated from Bonn and reconstructed. Herman Goering's W.W.II Air Force ministry building became a Communist party office after the war and is now home to the Bundesrepublik Finance ministry—how times change. W even checked out CheckPoint Charlie but like the Berlin Wall there was not much left to see. Not a beautiful city but a fascinating one.

W visited the world famous, and justly so, Pergammon Museum to see some of the most outstanding (and large) architectural masterpieces from ancient Greece, Persia and the Middle East. [W has been to many, many museums in his life but has rarely has been as impressed as he was then.] An evening at the 1748 baroque operahouse: front row seat for $30, the ballet 'Sleeping Beauty', ethereal music, superb dancing, beautiful architecture, fresh cherries with a cherry liqueur mixed with champagne at intermission, beautiful evening—to die for. Visited the Berlin Biennale. Surprisingly the best art was from America by artists whose work he had seen in NYC two months prior. Art gallery personnel were most unfriendly…you'd think they'd want to sell their wares?

W spent a day at Potsdam, which is the site of a large park full of 17th century royal castles and small pavilions - did someone say baroque…how about rococo? It was even sunny for a change. He rented a bike at the train station and spent the rest of the day lapping up as much gold gilt and the like as he could stomach. The masterpieces were San Souci and several pleasure domes such as the Chinese Tea House and the Dragon Pavilion. Despite the bounty of architectural treasures, the true highlight of the day was riding around the park with its landscaped and wild bits, with a botanical garden full of flowers and exotic plants to boot, one of W's true loves.

The Heartland: Nuremberg and Area
W also spent two days in Nuremberg and the surrounding countryside with an old e-mail penpal, Wolfgang, who lives outside Nuremberg in Erlangen. They met through a chance email correspondence seven years ago when W was looking into job opportunities in Europe and wrote a certain ad agency in Germany but never got any responses. Wolfgang was the company's webmaster at the time and nicely replied to W's unanswered emails saying that his employers were a bunch of provincial yahoos, who were still not email savvy, let alone open to correspondence from a foreigner! So we started a written conversation which is still going on to this day. After five years of email correspondence and one phone call, Wolfgang and his girlfriend graced H & W with a brief visit in Berkeley and met for the first time! W's first trip to Germany was their second meeting.

They spent one day touring the old walled city of Nuremberg in the rain with its storybook moat, drawbridges, fortified walls, and castle on the outside and old churches and houses inside. On the outskirts of Nuremberg they visited the huge 1930s buildings and courseways where the Nazis had their mammoth torchlight night rallies with swastika banners flapping in the cold wind and the rabid shouts of a madman. It was eerie. One could feel the powerlust. The next day we intermittently drove topless in Wolfgang's convertible through the countryside, which is known as 'the Frankische Suisse' (Germany's Switzerland). We drove past steep limestone gorges and cliffs, rolling hills and forests, small villages each with its own brewery or two, and culminating in the holy city of Bamberg, full of old churches and buildings. Bratwurst and beer for lunch!

Observations
There W was in the city of Cabaret, old chum for the first time. Boy do those German men love suede! Tough, unwashable liederhosen and heavy suede jackets. But honesty rules–their honor system on the subway would never work in the US, would it? Discussion please. Yup, there are all those socks with sandals, even when it's warm! Lara would say "dorky" wouldn't she? Lunchtime…W learns that a cheese sandwich with "schmaltz" spread means cheese and lard (yuk!). German food is just like the Dutch, same bread, cheese and cold cuts and beer, sausages and potatoes...just add sauerkraut and more beer. Don't try to eat your lunch on the grass though, there are park attendants with German Shepherds to keep you off! You vill obey! You vill stay of the grass! And yet, and yet, hookers and police were completely oblivious of each other. (More discussion please.) But people, were generally friendly, well, except for people working at art galleries. Ich bin ein Berliner…Berliners very much see themselves as Berliners first and perhaps, just perhaps as German.
Return to Top