Weekend Travels in Berlin
7/20-7/23
Thursday after work, I rode over to the Maastricht train station to set off on my Journey to Berlin. I packed my jacket, rain shell, toiletries, computer, padlock (a good thing to always have), chargers, three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a jar of peanut butter (a good choice), and my next two meals. The trip took 6.5 hours, 3.5 hours of which was spent on high speed rail. I got to Berlin’s Central Station around 12:15 am and began looking for a place to sleep, as I decided to only book a hostel for two nights to avoid as much cost as possible. I looked for around 45 minutes and finally settled on a set of chairs along a darker, less busy section of the main platform (chairs pictured below). I figured out a way to lay down in a somewhat comfortable manner, put my earplugs in (a must have at all times), and slid my rain shell over my head to block light. I got four hours of relatively uninterrupted sleep, but then more and more trains started to come. Even though I woke up a few times, I managed to sleep until 7:15 am. I was surprised that no one told me to move and I am tempted to use this cost-saving tactic with greater frequency in the future.
I walked a few miles to my hostel, enjoying the new sights and sounds…a lot of construction going on. Berlin's city center is somewhat similar to the US in its architecture--big, boxy buildings with wide roadways. Unlike the US, however, some of the buildings looked to be hundreds of years old. I passed the Reichstag building (pictured below) and markings denoting the former location of the Berlin Wall (pictured below).
I got to my hostel, checked in, and learned that they wanted to change me to leave my stuff in a locked until I could move into my room at 3:00 pm. I decided to continue hauling my backpack around and ventured off to the East Side Gallery where I met up with Viv and some of her friends from her study abroad program. The Gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall that has been painted by local artists, with most of the art depicting critiques of the formally divided society (pictures of the Wall below).
We then caught a tram to the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republick) Museum, an interactive museum that depicts life in Soviet-controlled Germany from 1949-1990. I found the museum to be fascinating, as I have not thoroughly studied life in socialist regimes. I found the facts about gardening, sport, coops, and collectivism. Gardening seems to have been a primary way for the average East German to grow the food they wanted and spend time with family and friends--East Germans spent an average of 5 hours gardening per week. The obsession with sport was a bit frightening to learn about, as the government believed it was a great way for East Germans to show their superiority to other nations, which resulted in high rates of performance enhancing drugs use and children who spent little time on anything other than sport. The desire for a collectivist society is one that seems so rational in theory, but no large scale examples have succeeded. This seems unfortunate to me because I believe collectivism could aid societies, especially in the US, in reducing the plethora of issues, from racism to resource exploitation, that stem from an ethic of individualism.
After DDR, we walked to Berliner Dom (pictured below), Checkpoint Charlie (pictured below), and a few other interesting sights (pictured below).
I am a bit torn about spending time and money seeing these historical attractions because dwelling in the past seems somewhat frivolous. Of course, valuable lessons can be learned from the past, and everyone would benefit if we were able to absorb these lessons. Unfortunately, it seems like most people do not absorb these lessons, in large part because the average person going to a historical museum, myself included, has no connection to the past events, making it difficult to understand how these lessons may relate to us. Some may argue that people simply like going to historical museums because most people find learning about past societies, individuals, and art interesting. In this way, historical museums are just another form of entertainment that may be less impactful one’s life than Netflix or video games because historical museums do not provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-improvement. I would love to go to a historical museum where the exhibits discuss both the historical and contemporary relevance, as this would seemingly make the museums interesting and beneficial.
After seeing the sights, some of us went to a beer garden (pictured below). I had a red lager, which I found quite tasty. Then, Viv’s group went to get dinner and I went to a grocery story and purchased food for the rest of the weekend for under 4 euros. I ate in lush park, full of people chatting, eating, drinking, playing games, and smoking (a bizarre cultural tendency on many levels). I explored the area for a few hours, dropped my stuff off at the hostel, and met up with Viv’s group to go clubbing. This was my first clubbing experience and I found it super fun—great deep house, dancing, and location. The only drawback was the amount of cigarette smoke in the building. I find the frequency of tobacco consumption in Europe to be a disheartening and troubling experience. That said, it is mindboggling that anyone aware of the repulsive effects of this action voluntarily chooses to trash their body, the bodies of others, the earth, and healthcare systems, while bolstering a trillion dollar industry that knowingly manufactures products that kill 6 mil people year (leading cause of preventable death).After dancing for three hours, we left and I made the thirty minute walk back to my hostel. I hit the hay at 3:15 am.
I woke up around 11:15 the next morning, which was a mistake because I thought I set my alarm for 9:30. I did my morning routine, ate some food, and decided that I did not want to do a lot of museum and sight seeing. I walked three miles to a famers market in Boxhagener Park and, along the way, I passed the most vegan restaurants and stores (some stores pictured below) I have ever seen, an art area in an reclaimed industrial complex, and a bunch of interesting stores.
Because I had to get to the market, I decided that I would stop at these places on the way back. The famers market was not huge, but it was full of vendors selling, fruits, vegetables, meat, breads, pastries, food, drinks, and alcohol (pictured below). I got some samples and one stood out to me in particular as something I want to try to make: a hibiscus liqueur. I also bought a local apple and a cup of kombucha from the market, and two small slices of vegan cake from a restaurant (sooo tasty and pictured below).
On the walk back to my hostel, I got caught in a torrential rain. I took shelter in a few shops, the last of which happened to be a shop called KWD (shop pictured below). The shop, which is quite possibly the coolest shop I have witnessed, was full of upcycled bags, purses, and backpacks made from old inner tubes, tire treads, seatbelt, and conveyor belts. I am huge fan of items that do not increase demand for natural resources and actively reduce waste in landfills, so I bought a stylish courier bag that is amazingly comfortable. I also had a great conversation with the shop owner, who is also the product designer and creator. (shop pictured below and here's a link to the shop: https://www.kwd.berlin/de/).
Then, I came back to the art complex, which is one of the coolest areas that I have seen (complex pictured below). Adaptive reuse at its finest. The area was scattered with clubs, bars, restaurants, a gym, a rock gym, a skatepark, and some antique shops. The exteriors of the buildings were covered with art and posters advertising upcoming events, and the interiors had a great creative flare. I walked around a bit more and then headed back to my hostel to eat.
I was going to meet up with Viv’s group, so I began the 4 mile walk to the restaurant where they were going to eat. On the way there, I stumbled across three events: an open-air opera taking place at an amazing old building; the Memorial of Dead Jews, which I found to be powerful and beautiful (Memorial pictured below); and the afterparty for the Pride parade, which was full of music, dancing drunk people, and broken bottles and other litter (party and aftermath pictured below). Crazy that people do not find pride in keeping their city clean and safe.
Quick aside—the amount of broken bee bottles and bottles laying on the streets waiting to be broken is monumental. I found this to be a frustrating reality and I think legal public drinking and poor recycling infrastructure and policy is to blame. After getting caught up at these events and sights, I finally made it to the restaurant, where I connected to wifi, only to find out that Viv’s group had left. After resting for a bit, I decided that I should just head back to the hostel and get a good nights sleep. I went to bed feeling content with how much of the city I saw in one day…I guess that is what happens after walking nearly 16 miles.
I woke up the next morning, did my routine, packed lunch and my stuff, and then I was off to the station.
I thought this trip was a great first taste of Berlin, a city that has so much to offer.
Thursday after work, I rode over to the Maastricht train station to set off on my Journey to Berlin. I packed my jacket, rain shell, toiletries, computer, padlock (a good thing to always have), chargers, three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a jar of peanut butter (a good choice), and my next two meals. The trip took 6.5 hours, 3.5 hours of which was spent on high speed rail. I got to Berlin’s Central Station around 12:15 am and began looking for a place to sleep, as I decided to only book a hostel for two nights to avoid as much cost as possible. I looked for around 45 minutes and finally settled on a set of chairs along a darker, less busy section of the main platform (chairs pictured below). I figured out a way to lay down in a somewhat comfortable manner, put my earplugs in (a must have at all times), and slid my rain shell over my head to block light. I got four hours of relatively uninterrupted sleep, but then more and more trains started to come. Even though I woke up a few times, I managed to sleep until 7:15 am. I was surprised that no one told me to move and I am tempted to use this cost-saving tactic with greater frequency in the future.
I walked a few miles to my hostel, enjoying the new sights and sounds…a lot of construction going on. Berlin's city center is somewhat similar to the US in its architecture--big, boxy buildings with wide roadways. Unlike the US, however, some of the buildings looked to be hundreds of years old. I passed the Reichstag building (pictured below) and markings denoting the former location of the Berlin Wall (pictured below).
I got to my hostel, checked in, and learned that they wanted to change me to leave my stuff in a locked until I could move into my room at 3:00 pm. I decided to continue hauling my backpack around and ventured off to the East Side Gallery where I met up with Viv and some of her friends from her study abroad program. The Gallery is a section of the Berlin Wall that has been painted by local artists, with most of the art depicting critiques of the formally divided society (pictures of the Wall below).
We then caught a tram to the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republick) Museum, an interactive museum that depicts life in Soviet-controlled Germany from 1949-1990. I found the museum to be fascinating, as I have not thoroughly studied life in socialist regimes. I found the facts about gardening, sport, coops, and collectivism. Gardening seems to have been a primary way for the average East German to grow the food they wanted and spend time with family and friends--East Germans spent an average of 5 hours gardening per week. The obsession with sport was a bit frightening to learn about, as the government believed it was a great way for East Germans to show their superiority to other nations, which resulted in high rates of performance enhancing drugs use and children who spent little time on anything other than sport. The desire for a collectivist society is one that seems so rational in theory, but no large scale examples have succeeded. This seems unfortunate to me because I believe collectivism could aid societies, especially in the US, in reducing the plethora of issues, from racism to resource exploitation, that stem from an ethic of individualism.
After DDR, we walked to Berliner Dom (pictured below), Checkpoint Charlie (pictured below), and a few other interesting sights (pictured below).
I am a bit torn about spending time and money seeing these historical attractions because dwelling in the past seems somewhat frivolous. Of course, valuable lessons can be learned from the past, and everyone would benefit if we were able to absorb these lessons. Unfortunately, it seems like most people do not absorb these lessons, in large part because the average person going to a historical museum, myself included, has no connection to the past events, making it difficult to understand how these lessons may relate to us. Some may argue that people simply like going to historical museums because most people find learning about past societies, individuals, and art interesting. In this way, historical museums are just another form of entertainment that may be less impactful one’s life than Netflix or video games because historical museums do not provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-improvement. I would love to go to a historical museum where the exhibits discuss both the historical and contemporary relevance, as this would seemingly make the museums interesting and beneficial.
After seeing the sights, some of us went to a beer garden (pictured below). I had a red lager, which I found quite tasty. Then, Viv’s group went to get dinner and I went to a grocery story and purchased food for the rest of the weekend for under 4 euros. I ate in lush park, full of people chatting, eating, drinking, playing games, and smoking (a bizarre cultural tendency on many levels). I explored the area for a few hours, dropped my stuff off at the hostel, and met up with Viv’s group to go clubbing. This was my first clubbing experience and I found it super fun—great deep house, dancing, and location. The only drawback was the amount of cigarette smoke in the building. I find the frequency of tobacco consumption in Europe to be a disheartening and troubling experience. That said, it is mindboggling that anyone aware of the repulsive effects of this action voluntarily chooses to trash their body, the bodies of others, the earth, and healthcare systems, while bolstering a trillion dollar industry that knowingly manufactures products that kill 6 mil people year (leading cause of preventable death).After dancing for three hours, we left and I made the thirty minute walk back to my hostel. I hit the hay at 3:15 am.
I woke up around 11:15 the next morning, which was a mistake because I thought I set my alarm for 9:30. I did my morning routine, ate some food, and decided that I did not want to do a lot of museum and sight seeing. I walked three miles to a famers market in Boxhagener Park and, along the way, I passed the most vegan restaurants and stores (some stores pictured below) I have ever seen, an art area in an reclaimed industrial complex, and a bunch of interesting stores.
Because I had to get to the market, I decided that I would stop at these places on the way back. The famers market was not huge, but it was full of vendors selling, fruits, vegetables, meat, breads, pastries, food, drinks, and alcohol (pictured below). I got some samples and one stood out to me in particular as something I want to try to make: a hibiscus liqueur. I also bought a local apple and a cup of kombucha from the market, and two small slices of vegan cake from a restaurant (sooo tasty and pictured below).
On the walk back to my hostel, I got caught in a torrential rain. I took shelter in a few shops, the last of which happened to be a shop called KWD (shop pictured below). The shop, which is quite possibly the coolest shop I have witnessed, was full of upcycled bags, purses, and backpacks made from old inner tubes, tire treads, seatbelt, and conveyor belts. I am huge fan of items that do not increase demand for natural resources and actively reduce waste in landfills, so I bought a stylish courier bag that is amazingly comfortable. I also had a great conversation with the shop owner, who is also the product designer and creator. (shop pictured below and here's a link to the shop: https://www.kwd.berlin/de/).
Then, I came back to the art complex, which is one of the coolest areas that I have seen (complex pictured below). Adaptive reuse at its finest. The area was scattered with clubs, bars, restaurants, a gym, a rock gym, a skatepark, and some antique shops. The exteriors of the buildings were covered with art and posters advertising upcoming events, and the interiors had a great creative flare. I walked around a bit more and then headed back to my hostel to eat.
I was going to meet up with Viv’s group, so I began the 4 mile walk to the restaurant where they were going to eat. On the way there, I stumbled across three events: an open-air opera taking place at an amazing old building; the Memorial of Dead Jews, which I found to be powerful and beautiful (Memorial pictured below); and the afterparty for the Pride parade, which was full of music, dancing drunk people, and broken bottles and other litter (party and aftermath pictured below). Crazy that people do not find pride in keeping their city clean and safe.
Quick aside—the amount of broken bee bottles and bottles laying on the streets waiting to be broken is monumental. I found this to be a frustrating reality and I think legal public drinking and poor recycling infrastructure and policy is to blame. After getting caught up at these events and sights, I finally made it to the restaurant, where I connected to wifi, only to find out that Viv’s group had left. After resting for a bit, I decided that I should just head back to the hostel and get a good nights sleep. I went to bed feeling content with how much of the city I saw in one day…I guess that is what happens after walking nearly 16 miles.
I woke up the next morning, did my routine, packed lunch and my stuff, and then I was off to the station.
I thought this trip was a great first taste of Berlin, a city that has so much to offer.
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