The Eye of Patrick / Berlin: A City United from a Divided Past

Berlin: A City United from a Divided Past

I realize I left Europe on January 15^th I think and I am still blogging about it all the way in March. So I will try to get off both my Berlin and London posts today in the hope to returning to blog about Japan soon.

After Geneva I said good bye to my family and boarded an Easy Jet flight to Berlin. The reason I had selected Berlin was not for any real reason except it was a place I had not been and up to the moment I bought my ticket I wondered if it was a good decision. I why Berlin? As it didn’t seem to have many historical sites that came to mind on the level of Rome or Venice. But then I thought to myself that I did not really care for the sites, but the experience of going. A vacation is what you make of it, so I decided to head to Germany and Berlin.

I arrived in Berlin SFX airport and made my way to my hotel and checked in. Usually after saying good bye to either friends or family I am blue and being in a new place made me feel even bluer. But I am lucky in the sense that I know when I am in a mood and can rationalized that once I sleep I will be better. So I headed to bed.

The next day I woke up and got on the train to head towards the main areas of Berlin. I decided to make my way to The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which was one of the few surviving churches in Germany after the bombing of the city during WWII. It is an interesting building to see as it is kind merging of both old Germany a modern Germany.

Some of the other highlights of my trip were attending the opera. For some reason or another I have gained a love for the opera and thought of two places that would be great to see it in, either Italy or Germany and so I was in Germany, I decided to see La traviata.

If you asked me to explain what the opera was about, I would have to tell you it was a love story about a girl and older and younger man and the fight for love. The reason I can’t say much about it is because it was in Italian. While on the top of the screen they had subtitles. But not understanding the words did not make it any less interesting, as the atmosphere was great. It was a real opera house and everyone was dressed in suits and such. I think it was the highlight of my trip to Berlin.

The singing was amazing, I don’t know why I like opera as I find the music to be at first so harsh. But it has slowly grown on me and now I just love opera.

Also in Berlin it was fun one night when I went for the subway to catch the train back to my hotel. The train was having problems or construction so for one part of the line only one train was running in both directions. So while I was waiting many German people would come up to me and speak to me in German. It was at this moment I think understood how Asian people feel when they are confused for other Asia people. I enjoyed it though, because in Japan I never have that problem. Everyone thinks I can’t speak Japanese because I am white.

I went to the Jewish Museum and learnt of the horrors of World War II. I thought Germany in some ways can be a model for the world in how to deal with the failures of the past. The accepted their guilt, genuinely sorry for it and built museums and such to never forget it. This is in stark contrast to Japan where the currently leader of Japan has decided to deny the use of comfort women during world war two (link)

To get into the museum was difficult as you had to go through metal detectors and such. This shows that there are still unresolved feelings in the country.

The Berlin Wall and Check point Charlie were not that interesting. They have for the most part been turned into over commercialized tourist traps selling GDR Chinese manufactured souvenirs at inflated prices. Though the Berlin wall museum was interesting in that it showed how many people tried to escape East Berlin to West and I enjoyed learning about the Berlin Airlift.

But the topography of terror exposition was the most moving place I went to. It is an outdoor museum dedicated to remembering the horrors of World War II. The reason it is still outdoor is that they have had difficulty getting the funding to build a proper building. But in some ways it being outside created a darker mood as the sky was grey and it was slightly cold.

Part of the reason I found it interesting was it dealt with World War II and the post war Nuremberg trails of the former Nazi government officials. It showed how the world can become a horrible place if good people do not stand up to fight for it. (On the right you can see some photos of it.)

The food in Germany was good; it was not fancy like the stuff in Italy. But in some ways I found German food to be more practical, it was more meat and potatoes you could say. I had lots of German sausage and pretzels and other little snacks.

If you asked me would I return to Germany and Berlin, I would have to say yes. I just felt a connection to Germany. For me Germany or Berlin is that rugged city that is not as polished as the other cities. But it had a charm to it. Though talking to a friend we both worry that Germany’s dark history and dark feeling could some how swallow our souls. But time will have to tell.

So yes I enjoyed Germany.

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