Eastern Germany
Wed Aug 31 – Fri Sept 2 2001 : Leipzig (D3 – D5)
The train journey was extremely comfortable and there were only a handful of people in my compartment.
I found Leipzig delightful. Located in eastern europe, it is a bustling tiny city with a famous university (and a few Nobel prize winners in the faculty) and plenty of students. On a couple of occasions, locals came up to help me when I had my map spread out in front of me and a lost look. One of them didnt speak English, but still managed to show me how to get where I was headed. I was warned that Eastern Germany still has a bit of Neo-Nazism and that I might encounter racism. I must admit that for about half a day, my first in Leipzig, I did look at every man with a close cropped head with suspicion.
I wandered the streets of Leipzig and managed to visit most of the tourist sites. The architecture in Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and even parts of Poland looked quite alike to me. The visit to the Stasi museum in Leipzig was the most memorable of my activities in Leipzig. It shows in great detail how the Stasi spied on the people and kept an iron fist till the people revolted in 1989. They even have the banners that people used during their rallies and the night they stormed the Stasi building in 89.
There were plenty of tourists in Leipzig, but the numbers were dwarfed by the foreigners I ran into in Dresden and Berlin.
Sat Sept 3 – Sun Sept 4 : Dresden (D6 – D7)
Got to Dresden before noon on the train from Leipzig – only about a couple of hours of journey. Spent 2 nights there before heading off to Berlin.
I liked the new part (Neustadt) of Dresden more than the old part. The old part is lovely, full of tourists and lacked character. Neustadt made up in charm that it was lacking in sights. I had a conversation with a German who was delighted in having won a paid holiday for drinking beer – he won some contest and his trip was sponsored in its entirety by the beer company.
Sunday afternoon, I played football in the park with some Germans and some Spanish speaking forlks – from Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Spain & Chile. It was lovely to be able to practise my Spanish and I enjoyed the couple of hours of kicking the ball around. (Update: I met one of the lads while walking around in Wroclaw! He was there visiting his Polish girlfriend. What a surprise!)
Mon Sept 5 – Mon Sept 12 : Berlin (D8 – D15)
I had a lovely week in Berlin. The city is huge and has much to offer a tourist. I stayed in a really good hostel. The staff were fantastic and I had a wonderful time at the hostel.
The weather was quirky to say the least. Rain, sun, cloudy days… ran the entire gamut. It was cold at night.
There are so many things I remember with pleasure about Berlin. The city and the sights, the multi-cultural neighbourhoods, the people I met at the hostel…. I had dinner with the mother of a friend of mine one night. She has been living in Berlin for a couple of years and had some exam at work, which meant she only had time to meet me for dinner. Her English is better than my German, but it was halting conversation with frequent references to the dictionary. We managed to still have an enjoyable evening and share a few laughs.
There are plenty of museums, but I only managed to visit a couple. One dealt with the history of Berlin after the allied forces captured Berlin. The other museum dealt with the history of the Nazi party, how they came to power and the sufferings they heaped on the Jews and other folks they deemed not worthy of living in their Aryan society.
East side gallery is amazing. The 1km odd stretch of the old Berlin wall still standing along the river Spree (?), in a stark neighbourhood devoid of much beauty, was opened up to artists and it is well worth the visit.
East side gallery, Brandenburg gate, some parks, the Holocaust memorial, … there is so much that is memorable in Berlin. My favourite day was that spent with a few folks from the hostel when we visited the Holocaust memorial, and then to a park in the afternoon to listen to Karaoke. There was a flea market in the park as well, but the people came to see the Karaoke. Every Sunday afternoon, an Irishman rolls his machine out to the amphitheatre at the park. A lovely Sunday afternoon before the clouds vented their pent-up fury on the city!
Tags: Travel
Damu