the day continues...

 There is a U Bahn stop across the street from my hostel front door, literally (see photos).  I took that across town for an Embassy visit, and then of course ran into other interesting things in the neighborhood.  I gradually made my way back to the center of town and the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamerplatz, from where I followed the brick trail that denotes the location of the Wall-I believe this is the Western line, with the death strip between that and another wall inside it.  I visited an old guard tower along the way. So much of the old stuff was destroyed, either as the city modernized, or in the aftermath of the Wall coming down because people wanted rid of all of the reminders.  Eventually some of it  was protected.

I think it would be hard to be a Berliner, with respect to the rest of the world.  Living here would probably not be any kind of burden, what I have seen is a clean, ordered city (I did see a few homeless people this morning), with fantastic art, cultural life, architecture, infrastructure... but still, just as we Americans bear the burden of how our prior (and current) generations treated Indians, or slavery, or pick your shame, so the German people have some history to live down that may take a few more generations. I am reminded that the Nazis had no corner on cruelty, we see it all over the world.  Then again, I seem to have a guilt complex, so maybe I overapply that to others. 

I went to the Topography of Terrors along the way.  I am going to post only a couple of photos from the exhibition, but be warned that they are photos of death.  I walked away from the building somewhat undone, not by Hitler and his henchmen exactly, although of course they were evil.  It was the looks on the faces of many of the people as they were humiliated, beaten, tortured and killed, for such crimes as being of the wrong race, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs.  Or maybe because someone coveted their property, or had an old grudge to settle.  The police were given such complete power in daily life, and ultimately the choice of life or death; people were taught by public demonstrations of shaming, death or other rebukes; there was no meaningful way to dissent.  And then I thought of so many other circumstances of terror both now and in history, some involving only a small group of people, some a whole race.  It is not new to humans.  I am reading The History of the World, by Frank Welsh, arguably not complete nor even scholarly (sorry, Tyler and Lilly). We have been conquering, killing, kidnapping and other happy things since we came into being.  All very interesting from an academic perspective, but to see those faces, those eyes today.  Holy shit.  I just walked and cried, and put music in my ears and wished it weren't so.

Then on to Checkpoint Charlie, which was the way that Clay drove when he entered the Communist East with his busload of tourists.  Now it is a touristy thing, but I found it moving nonetheless, thinking about my brother's personal history there. 

It has been quite a day.  A very good day to be alive.

I am posting some photos to Picasa now, will try to post a link, or you can use the link from my post a few days ago too.

the day continues...

 There is a U Bahn stop across the street from my hostel front door, literally (see photos).  I took that across town for an Embassy visit, and then of course ran into other interesting things in the neighborhood.  I gradually made my way back to the center of town and the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamerplatz, from where I followed the brick trail that denotes the location of the Wall-I believe this is the Western line, with the death strip between that and another wall inside it.  I visited an old guard tower along the way. So much of the old stuff was destroyed, either as the city modernized, or in the aftermath of the Wall coming down because people wanted rid of all of the reminders.  Eventually some of it  was protected.

I think it would be hard to be a Berliner, with respect to the rest of the world.  Living here would probably not be any kind of burden, what I have seen is a clean, ordered city (I did see a few homeless people this morning), with fantastic art, cultural life, architecture, infrastructure... but still, just as we Americans bear the burden of how our prior (and current) generations treated Indians, or slavery, or pick your shame, so the German people have some history to live down that may take a few more generations. I am reminded that the Nazis had no corner on cruelty, we see it all over the world.  Then again, I seem to have a guilt complex, so maybe I overapply that to others. 

I went to the Topography of Terrors along the way.  I am going to post only a couple of photos from the exhibition, but be warned that they are photos of death.  I walked away from the building somewhat undone, not by Hitler and his henchmen exactly, although of course they were evil.  It was the looks on the faces of many of the people as they were humiliated, beaten, tortured and killed, for such crimes as being of the wrong race, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs.  Or maybe because someone coveted their property, or had an old grudge to settle.  The police were given such complete power in daily life, and ultimately the choice of life or death; people were taught by public demonstrations of shaming, death or other rebukes; there was no meaningful way to dissent.  And then I thought of so many other circumstances of terror both now and in history, some involving only a small group of people, some a whole race.  It is not new to humans.  I am reading The History of the World, by Frank Welsh, arguably not complete nor even scholarly (sorry, Tyler and Lilly). We have been conquering, killing, kidnapping and other happy things since we came into being.  All very interesting from an academic perspective, but to see those faces, those eyes today.  Holy shit.  I just walked and cried, and put music in my ears and wished it weren't so.

Then on to Checkpoint Charlie, which was the way that Clay drove when he entered the Communist East with his busload of tourists.  Now it is a touristy thing, but I found it moving nonetheless, thinking about my brother's personal history there. 

It has been quite a day.  A very good day to be alive.

I am posting some photos to Picasa now, will try to post a link, or you can use the link from my post a few days ago too.

Tuesday morning

Up early and out in the cold, crisp autumn day to explore.  I was delighted to see the sun hitting the tops of the high buildings, with a promise of a little warmth, or at least no water dripping on my head.  It was surprising how much more I saw of my neighborhood this morning as compared to last night in the rain.  Part of my plan for the day was influenced by my brother Clay, who served in the Army and was stationed in Berlin,  In addition to his Army gig, he also drove tour buses to the East side of Berlin on weekends.  A lot has changed in the years since the Wall came down, and I wanted to see if I could get any sense of what Clay saw, and where possible, follow his steps.

I started at Alexanderplatz, partly because it is a few blocks from my hostel. Clay said that he used to drive the tour bus there. I didn't see any sign of the old hotel he used to get struedel and ice cream at, but I bet it has changed a lot since then.  Everywhere I turned, there was something new to stare at and I was constantly changing directions as I saw an interesting street, or building, or any other thing.  It was too early for anything but coffee shops to be open.  I did not realize until talking with Clay that I was staying in an area that used to be behind the Wall. 

As I wrote this, I was sipping coffee in a café in the sunshine, watching Berliners commute to work, lots of them on their bicycles.  The bicycle lanes are lovely, and they even have their own traffic signals. I tried to order my coffee and pastry in German, but of course the counter person answered in English.

I've heard it said that Berlin has been the world's largest construction zone for years, and I believe it.  Lots of it everywhere.  But it is all very orderly, and everyone seems to proceed in a measured and orderly manner. The metro and bus systems are quite slick, and with bicycles, who needs a car?  S Bahn are sort of express metro/subway lines, and U Bahn are more local- they stop more frequently.  But they are all tied in together, so even I can get around with ease on my first day here and without signs in English,  All I need is a metro map, and then I know the end station of the line, so I  get on the train going the right way.

Back to my room for a bit, and then off to run a couple of errands.

change in the weather

Monday am:  sitting on the floor in the Brussels train station, munching on a chocolate croissant and feeling pleased to be here. Sleep eluded me most of the night and I was worried about schlepping my pack and figuring out where I was going, feeling lousy.  But today is better.

Each day that I leave a place, somehow I repack differently. I suppose by the end of the trip I'll have a perfect system worked out.  Already I want to shed a few things.  As always, the hardest thing is books.  I dread running out of reading material on some bus on the backroads of western China, or some other place where english language bookstores are scarce. So I have too many for this first half of the journey

pm: No surprise, but I slept through the German countryside on the way to Berlin.  It is overcast and cool here, not my favorite weather. My first train took me from Brussels to Cologne, where I had about an hour and a half before my train for Berlin.  I thought I would check in my pack for the hour but when I tried to operate the machine, I got nervous when I couldn't find the 'ok' button.  It is a sort of conveyor system- you put in your money, it opens a sort of vault, and you put your bag in and then you are supposed to hit 'ok', and then the 'close door' button.  I looked everywhere for a button marked OK, but could not find it.  When the door started to close with my bag inside, I decided that I would rather not take the chance.  I am sure I would have gotten it back eventually, but probably after my train had run.

I walked over to the Cathedral, an awe inspiring building due to its size and the incredible spans inside.  The clerestory windows of the Kings date from about 1310, as do other parts of the building.  The outside is dingy and coated with years of grime, but even with that you can see the incredible structure that it is.  Built during the Middle Ages, way before mechanized tools, cranes and various other things that would seem to be necessary for the construction of such a place.

The place I am staying in Berlin is a hostel, as in youth hostel.  I have a single room, with shared bathroom.  Three days, I hope this wasn't a mistake.  I am sitting in the bar now, because there is no internet access in the rooms.  At least these inhabitants are less likely to  be bothered by my constant sniffling, coughing and nose blowing than those in a nicer place.  More about Berlin in the next couple of days, I hope.

I woke this morning to the sound of rain, and empty streets.  But as I came back from an errand later, I heard music, and rounding the corner near my hotel, I saw an all-rhythm band dancing as they played.  They were like pied pipers, drawing the crowd behind them as they marched along. Hard not to smile, it was infectious.

There are a lot of families out on bikes, and most stores are closed, it being Sunday.

The streets in this area are alternately wide and accommodating for cars, and then narrow lanes with shops or tables on each side, that turn for no apparent reason, and change names frequently.  It's easy to get lost.

I wish I knew more about a lot of things, and architecture is one of those things.  The Grand Place has some medieval buildings that stand tall like giant decorated cakes, too fragile to touch, so that they almost do not seem real. To better understand the stories behind these buildings would take another lifetime, I think.

In Bruges, I gave up taking photos, unable to give name to any of the statues or even remember the stages of the cross in the churches. And what was the meaning of the raised dots on the spires above the building?  I feel incredibly ignorant, like I slept through a large section of my proper education. I am told that Bruges - that is the medieval buildings and canals, survived only because it was a backwater town, forgotten and undeveloped, and so it avoided the modernization and/or destruction of progress long enough to be appreciated for its antiquity.  The canals had silted in, but have since been restored, and the town's inhabitants mostly ride bicycles rather than drive cars for which the streets were not built.

I am off to Berlin via Cologne early tomorrow. My stopover in Cologne (Koln) should be long enough for lunch and a visit to the famous cathedral.

a softer landing

Last night was dark and stormy, both inside and out. Easier to manage the rainstorms, especially since it was a warm rain.

I was struggling with my power issues, and couldn't let it go. Without the tablet, I have no email or phone. Were this 5 years ago, I could have gotten by at internet cafes, but those have largely disappeared owing to the ubiquity of wi-fi, even in remote places. It is now expected that you will have your own computer. While I like the idea of traveling off-line, it's not really practical when everyone is so connected.

So I managed to damage my adapter. I was in bed, just dozing off, and I got a bright idea that had me wide awake and rummaging around. Turns out electrical engineering is outside the scope of my skill set and my idea made some crackles and pops, with something black oozing from the adapter. This led me down an unpleasant path wherein I doubted just about all my decisions to date. I even threw in some career decisions, because at 12:30 am, when all seems to be going wrong, why not?

I woke in the same frame of mind, that no doubt colored my perspective on Bruges. It is a quaint town, with picturesque canals, incredible architecture, and very nice people. But this morning's crowds got to me, and this was one of those times when it was good that there was no one on whom to inflict my mood. I'm not very fond of touristy places in general. It's not Bruges' fault that they have such amazing treasures under their feet and over their heads, and I can't fault them for the way they have managed the continual onslaught of voyeurs. Still, it's not what I seek when I travel.

I spent some time in a surprisingly extensive computer store. They were unable to help me. The tech then suggested I contact Dell online. It took all my manners to politely ask how I was to do that without a powered computer. Sven then nicely allowed me to get online on one of their display Mac's. I had just started an online chat session with Dell, and a couple started hovering, inches from me. I was sweating, trying to respond quickly to the tech online, and knowing I was in the way of legitimate sales. The only good part was that while the couple was muttering-no they were outright talking about my hogging the one computer they wanted to try-i couldn't understand them. I was feeling that I was running out of options, so I stood there while they literally breathed down my neck. They must have complainedbecayse soon a salesperson approached. I pulled my Sven card, and he told me to take my time. All to no avail, Dell couldn't help me, at least not for some weeks. I had conceived of several back up options during the night, and so that salesperson ended up selling me their cheapest tablet. This one is configured for 220 volts, and with a converter, I'm back in business. It doesn't solve my power issue for my camera or iPod, but I have an idea for those that may work out.

About this time I realized I was getting a cold, and while none of this is really all that much to worry over, I decided it was time for a change of venue. So I retrieved my pack, and headed for the train station.

I'm back in Brussels and have found a delightfully right in the thick of things (this may mean a noisy night, but I don't mind), close to the metro station that takes me to the train. Today turned out to be some sort of festival, with parades and costumes, twisting narrow lanes packed with all manner of things, and while my cold is no better, I've recovered my equilibrium. Laundry done, euros in hand finally, and I'm staying put tomorrow too, so no need to put on my pack for a day.

People are really helpful at every turn. I was standing in the metro station in Brussels after buying a ticket, trying to figure out which train to take. None of the signs were in English, and I was wandering from one display to another looking for the magic words. An old man spoke to me in Dutch, and I answered in English, but I showed him on the map the stop I wanted. He said 3 or 4, and showed me which turnstile to enter. I saw him watching me out of the corner of his eye to see that I boarded the right train. He got off two stops before me and I hoped to catch his eye to say thank you, but he didn't look back.

A lot of French spoken here, some Dutch, and most know some English too. There are tourists from all over here, judging by the languages I'm hearing. It is impossible to guess anyone's nationality until they open their mouths. I've more than once thought that someone looked American, and then overheard French spoken between themselves. This sometimes creates a false sense of privacy. I stopped for a crepe and coffee earlier, and found that two men who had clearly just met were swappingtravel stories, in American English. But I had not spoken. They talked about the red light district of Amsterdam, and other entertaining stories, and I shamelessly eavesdropped.

And so ends another day, they slide by so fast already.

photos

I uploaded more photos, this time to Picasso. Here is the link, I hope:https://plus.google.com/117262794551578669230. Let me know if it works, thanks.