Berlin! You crazy historic touristy party town...

August 20th- August 28th 2012

WE ARRIVED IN BERLIN! WE DID IT! WE BIKE TOURED THROUGH NORTHERN GERMANY WITH A GERMAN MAP WE COULDN¨T READ!!!
With only 20km to the edge of Berlin, it still took us a while to get to the house of the CouchSurfing person we were going to stay with (did we mention we were 5 days later than when we were supposed to stay with him?) Going through the closer bigger cities took more time as there was less signage and more people and buildings to distract us. We finally arrived to the NorthWest corner of Templehof park- an old airport where necessary provisions were dropped to support the inhabitants of West Berlin during a land and water blockade by Soviets. We were met by Martin, our host- and seriously, what a guy! This being our first experience being hosted, we couldn't have had better luck.

Hanako, Martin (lions mane) and Xray

He was a most gracious host, helping us get to the house, shower, relax, and even making us dinner! We ended hanging out with Martin a bunch, at home watching American shows dubbed in German (still didn't understand them), streaming the Expendables 2 (Van Damme, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Norris!), making dinner, and even hitting up a club called Havana. Though we don't normally club it up ourselves, clubbing in Germany was perfect. There were 4 dance floors playing mostly latin and hip hop and pop music, and most of the pop stuff they were playing was from several years ago- so everything I liked when I still listened to radio. There were even a few 80s and 90s hits from Chaka Khan, Mark Morrison,  Salt n' Pepa and Kriss Kross to name a few. Martin is a big fan of hip hop, less so of electro, so we were glad to have the change of pace.
Martin also walked with us around his neighborhood that is home to several parks. Besides Tempelhof, there   were green little paths cutting through blocks and another park just North, complete with a large monument at the top and a small waterfall. Berlin is said to be one of the greenest cities in the world and it showed.

view from the top of the monument

waterfall, monument in the distance

sky view from the monument

We learned being in Berlin that it is packed full of history (lots of happenings in that place in more recent centuries). One of our first endeavors as tourists was to find the wall, which we seemed to ride right past due to the many distracting tourist signs and eateries close to it. Martin had told us that Checkpoint Charlie (3rd checkpoint of the wall where US and Soviet tanks had a standoff almost starting WWIII) was not too far away from his place, and we ended up stumbling upon part of the wall nearby. It is right along side a museum called topography of terror, because it is where the SS and Gustapo headquarters used to be. It is a bleak building with gravel surrounding so as to take a sobering moment and recall the tough history from the Nazis to the Berlin wall. We learned that it was not just one wall splitting up Berlin, but two parallel walls with guards patrolling the center, making it VERY difficult for anyone to pass through. On what we think was part of the inner wall (so later exposed by the falling of the wall) someone had written both of Alex's names and took the opportunity to take a picture.

section of the wall preserved at topography of terror museum

viva la revolucion

While at the museum, we happened to encounter a tour in English, so just tagged along since the tour guide stated that they were to end at Checkpoint Charlie (oh hey! we're going there too!) Turns out the checkpoint is home to... yup you guessed it, lots of souvenier shops, currywurst, and frystands. The area is privately owned, and thus with the amount of tourists headed there, it is now a tourist destination. Being from LA we know all about the international language of tourism and the $$$$ that it brings.

In the following days, Alex and I tried to take note of the more popular tourist destinations, without getting too sucked into the crowd. For that reason, it helped to have bikes. We spent almost the whole afternoon in the German History Museum which had an extensive collection dating back from the perspective of Germans from the Roman point of view, and detailing the ever connected history of Germany and its neighboring countries. It was a highlight for a history buff like Alex. 

We ended up staying in Berlin for over a week because we could only get a train to Prague that had space for our bikes (only one train a day has space for 10-15 bikes, whats up with that?) But it allowed us more time to connect with people in the city and those we met through CouchSurfing. One aquaintence, Greg, took us farther east into the city to a chill outdoor bar area just off of the river. He is from Vancouver and has been a Berlin resident for almost 2 years and was still very passionate about the city. It being so large and diverse, it seems like the space has a lot to offer for the next generations. 

I think at another point in our lives we will have to come back to Berlin as most of the people we met were not from there, it was hard for us to get a sense of what the city was like. But maybe that is what it  is like, influenced by such history and with such a unique energy that it pulls others into its vast city scape.