Euro tour day 21
I was woken up around 5.30 am with my lovely room mate
coming in from partying all night. It was a good thing as he was like a freight
train, so I got up and went down stairs using my key of absolute power that is the
lift key. I used the internet while waiting for the door to open for breakfast.
It was not too long anyway. While I was eating I looked outside and it was
still dark at 7am so I knew I might have to wait a little bit before it gets
light enough to see. I jumped on the first bus that I seen and headed out to
Checkpoint Charlie. This is the most famous points between the East and West
Germany and Berlin.
I jumped off the bus and found out how cold it actually was.
I was freezing and it was near 830 in the morning. I happily took pictures of
Checkpoint Charlie and crossed the road to look at the the fence line that
talked about the wall. I wandered off into the East side and noticed how some
buildings you could not really see at all. There was virtually no one around at
this time which was good for me as no one would get in my way. I wandered back
to where the wall was and found the museum of terror where it seemed to open
early. Unfortunately a lady came running out to tell me and a couple others
that it was not open yet and that someone had for gotten to lock the door on
their way in.
I told the lady that I will be back later and then walked
off to see something else I was looking for and that was Hitler’s bunker or the
marker to say where it was. There was not much to see at all and would not have
known it was there if it had not been signposted. I looked around and then
walked back to the topographie of Terror where the remains of the Berlin Wall
actually still stands although this is only a fraction of what is left. There
are still remnants and markers telling people where it is and one spot was near
the Brandenburg gate and another was Potsdam i think its called. I will find
where checkpoint Bravo is some time later.
I took a wander following my guide book again to see what i
could find. I was looking for the bunker where Hitler shot himself towards the
end of the war. A lady ws there giving a talk to a couple and was saying that
she believes the story about the man shooting himself even though they do not
have any real proof. There were a series of bunkers and how a building is
mainly on top and all that tells you is a board that gives you the information
about when the Soviets had found it. They had blown it up as well and while the
wall was being built tunnels were found near the Brandenburg gate.
After the little non wander I went back and waited the
twenty minutes for the museum to open up. It was interesting looking at how
Hitler oppressed his people although it
could have sounded communist, but was not. He had a volk working society where
those who did not work were basically eliminated. It did not matter who you
were if you were some burden then you could have been killed, imprisoned or
sterilised. Political opponents went into ‘safe havens’. If you did anything
with a prisoner you would be humiliated in front of the towns people. I did not
actually know there was more to the story than just that of the WWII starting
and ending. This did fill in the gaps as to why people did what they did. At
one point the Volkism was actually called a Hitler cult. He did the same thing
at home where ever he had went and there were plenty of picture references. The
area where the museum now sits was part of the Nazi SS building I think it was.
The Berlin wall went right past it. The museum asked for that part of the wall
to be left to show where it ran to. The was just a small slice of what once was
a complex and part of what would have been the kill zone.
I went for lunch up at Checkpoint Charlie as I thought I
should eat something and instead of going for maccas I sent for something
different. A German eatery where you could pick what you wanted and pay for. A
nice jam donut thing and a couple of other things and the cashier thought I was
German until I spoke and then he said sorry. I thought it was cool. I went into
the checkpoint Charlie museum and thought it was better if I visit the next day
and I had been asked by two Gypsys if I spoke English. One I said yes before
realising what happened and the other time was inside the museum shop. I would
have complained, but the place had something to do with human rights
organisation and I don’t think they would have liked me saying something. I
found something down the road and it was the Stasi museum about the files that had
been recovered the GDR had on its citizens. Everything they did was watched and
recorded and there were many people employed by the organisation to make sure
people toed the party line or else you might vanish for a little while. Work,
rest, play and religion were all monitored including contact with the west. I
did an audio tour about this and it was interesting.
I wanted to get a look at the Brandenburg Gate while it was
still daylight and got back there, but was really busting to use the loo. I
headed for the one place that might, The Kennedy museum. They did and I paid
and stayed to look at what they did have. I was surprised Jackie Kennedy was
the one who controlled all pictures which was why you never seen JFK wearing
glassed or on crutches. He was also very sick like taking plenty of drugs and
had Addingtons disease and osteoarthritis in his back. It was actually
interesting looking at the pictures and found he was actually upset with the
wall being up at the Brandenburg gate. He was seen as a pop star amongst the
German people. I thought the museum was a pleasant surprise and something
different to what i would look at.
I walked back to the hostel which was not far and had a
shower. I had to get to the show that I was going to see. While walking back I
was tracing some of the wall and did come across Potsdamer platz here I was
looking around one of the posts that give information. One German guy comes up
to me and asks in English what are you doing. I told him not much and just
reading. He asks me again and I decide to walk off before he asks me for money
although he could obviously see what I was doing. Tanz Der Vampire, which was
brilliant. I had only seen bits on youtube and never knew the sets would be so
well done and the music including classics sung in German. I went to the show
and I did not know a word of German and totally enjoyed watching the show. I
will be doing the same thing when I go to Paris when I see Dracula Spectacula.
I did not actually realise what I was getting myself in for, but well worth the
price and I was up top and could see the stage very well. I enjoyed it and if I
knew German I would see it again. It is one of those shows that English would
ruin the whole thing.
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