As I said in Day 20, we took a night train from Munich to Berlin. It was a 7-8 hour journey. Who would have guessed that the two cities would be that far apart! I didn’t think Germany was that large a country. The US is much bigger than all of Eastern Europe but I guess it has some sizable nations. Anyways, back to the night train. Reservations on the website we booked them from were a lot a bit expensive, so we decided to do the reclining seats.
“Oh boy,” you say, “reclining seats sound like fantastic fun!” But let me tell you otherwise. They did at least recline, which is more than I can say for the seats I am in now (on the day train from Berlin to Köln (Cologne)), but they are awkward to actually sleep in. Why? Because what’s the first thing you want to do when you try to sleep? Rest your head, that’s what. The seats did have a curved headrest… like an attempt had been made for ergonomics, but it doesn’t really work because you’ve got no side support, and then your head goes lolling off the side and your neck gets strained. So I tried using the window as stabilization. That sort of worked. I did eventually fall asleep, but woke up many many times throughout the night. Either my body needed repositioned, or my neck hurt, or the train jostled. I mean, it was a cheap seat through the night which saved us a day’s travel, but I expected better for something like that. If I had to do it again, I would get the couchette, because they are loads more spacious and comfortable, and even though they are small, you can lay down and stretch out.
We finally arrived at the Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) in downtown Berlin. From there we had to make our way to the hostel, which happened to be in the outskirts of nowhere. We took the S-Bahn train from HBF to Ostkreuz, and the ring train to Langsberger Allee. Luckily we got to ride the S-bahn for free because it’s run by same train company as some of the other inter city lines and they accept the Eurail pass. We arrived at the Landsberger Allee station and we could see the Generator Hostel right from there. It’s a massive blue and white building with 8 floors, 270 rooms, and 900 beds.
A little bit about the place. It was overrun by 12-16 year olds who must’ve been with either paretns, teachers or other adult chaperones. And as we all know, kids of that age group are incredibly annoying. We once got on the elevator to find that someone had hit all the floor buttons, meaning the elevator stopped at each floor on our way down. We finally got out and walked the rest of the way down. Luckily, it seems they put the large groups of little buggers on lower floors. We were all the way on the 7th floor (8th floor for us Americans) and we didn’t have anyone running around. There was no kitchen, as you could assume by the 900 some people it would have to accommodate, but they did have a restaurant/bar. That’s where we got our free and plentiful breakfast each morning.
We got there around 8:30am; too early to check in yet. We sat down and ate some of our food we brought. Since we hadn’t checked in yet, we couldn’t partake of the free breakfast. Nutella hotdogs, chips and peanuts made an awfully scrumptious meal >_> And after that we stored our packs in their luggage room and headed out with the free maps they provided. There was a free 3.5 hour walking tour which we wanted to do. We decided to take the S-bahn toward the meaning place instead of waiting for the hostel pickup but we actually rain into the group on one of the platforms.
We finally made it to Pariser Platz where they were sorting out the tour groups. This was definitely the largest crowd we’d seen. There were probably 100-150 people there. They separated people going on paid tours and those going on the free tour. We were eventually put into a group with Dave and around 30 other people. We first talked about Pariser Platz, which houses the hotel Michael Jackson dangled his baby from (Obama has also stayed there), and several embassies, including the United States! That was the first time I’ve seen American soil in three weeks. Right on the Parizer Platz is the Brandenbuger Tor (Gate). It was erected several centuries ago, modified by Napoleon, and it even survived World War II, which is impressive because 90% of Berlin was bombed.
Along the tour we also talked about the Victory tower in Tiergarten. We walked left to the Holocaust Memorial which was also impressive. It’s a grid of 2711 (or something) concrete blocks which rise to different heights and lean at all sorts of angles. You can sit on them or also walk through the grid, but you are not allowed to step, walk or stand on them or smoke in the area. We saw people both walking across and smoking in the area. People can be so ignorant. We did walk through and take some pictures. It was impressive to walk into the monument, go to where the towers stood over you and feel immersed. The ground was hilly in there, which was interesting. The momument is there for the people of Berlin to keep in mind every day.
Next, we walked along to an inconspicuous area. Here, the guide told us, under the ground, lie the bunker in which Hitler lived during the last few weeks he was alive. He married Eva Braun and two days later they killed themselves. Guards then burned most of their bodies while the battle for Berlin raged around. His teeth survived though and were used to identify that he was indeed dead and not hanging out in Mexico with Tupac, Elvis or Amelia Erhart. The area today is, fittingly, a parking lot. There is no memorial to Hitler, and owners take their dogs there daily to relieve themselves 
The bunker is sealed off and flooded, so no Neo-Nazis can come pay twisted homage to Adolf.
We then walked to the former Luftwaffe HQ building and later the center for Eastern Berlin government and a Russian intelligence agency. The building is gargantuan! 2000 offices sit inside. Today it’s the tax building. The movie Valkyrie was filmed there. On one of the sides is a mural of what communism was supposed to be, and in front is a picture of a revolution which took place there. Onward again, we walked to a section of the Berlin Wall and the guide talked about it. Throughout the city is a strip of two bricks which mark where the wall used to run. Quite a few times in my and Chuck’s visit we crossed between East and West Berlin which was impossible just 20 years ago. That’s crazy to think. And we walked to Checkpoint Charlie, which is one of the most famour Wall crossing areas. Right after that we took a 30 minute break to grab some food and rest.
Then we saw the Konzerthaus, Deutscher Dom, Franz Dom and a Catholic church which a Prussiam ruler had built. Then we saw Bebelplatz, which is a popular and historical Platz. One of the many things to occur here was the Nazi book burning. Right across the street is Humboldt University where the likes of Max Planck went to school. Right next to that is a monument which has changed names several times. It’s now called the Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyrrany. Inside is a statue of two huddled figures, one holding the smaller other. The room is quite large, and has a circular opening in the roof which casts light onto the statue. It gives you a sense of the isolation Jews in particular felt in WWII and even though the figures are downcast with heads bowed to the floor, the opening above suggests that even in their plight, light and perhaps hope is looking to shine on them.
We walked across a bridge reminiscent of ones in France and we could see the TV Tower in the distance. Our next stop was the Berliner Dom, a huge church built in 1905 but made to look much older with its Baroque-like architecture. The garden in the front is beautiful and has a nice fountain to boot! Right across the street is an empty area where a bustling, important building once stood. It was voted the ugliest building in Berlin 6 years running. The plan is to build another place like it sometime in the future. Under some trees to the left of the Dom we ended the tour. Dave was a fantastic, entertaining and education guide and I hope anyone else who takes the tour can get him as their guide!
On our own now, we walked back past Humboldt university. We made our way to the Reichstag building, which Dave had mentioned on the tour but we didn’t get to go in it. We walked around, trying to find an entrance, and found it on what we thought to be the back side. it was actually opening on a park. They had a really interesting fade from concrete walkway to grass, which I have pictures of. The Reichstag is actually the home of the Bundestag (German Parliament) and was never used by the Third Reich. The name Reichstag somehow stuck. It is a large building with an old-style facade, but the interior is modern. We waited in line to be able to go to the top. In the middle is a huge glass dome. Inside It’s a walkway where you can listen to the free audio guide to learn about the Bundestag and building and get a great view of Berlin. It also has some crazy structure of mirrors on the middle which focus sunlight and direct it into the building to reduce the amount of artificial light needed to light the main room when the Bundestag is in session. Very cool! The audio guide was great at pointing out sights in the distance as well as some other epic looking governmental buildings right by on the River Spree.
After seeing the Reichstag, we headed back to the hostel. We checked in, got settled, and then went to eat at some Turkish place around the corner. Seriously, Turkish food is all over here. We had some Döner which was really awkward to eat since it was packed full of food and was in the middle of some break container. We managed. In the process I incidentally blew a bee into the sauce on it, which got on the bees wings and meant it couldn’t fly. I then killed said bee in a napkin because I figured if it could get away it would be pissed and probably sting me. After all that fun we came back and eventually went to sleep. This night our roommates were some people from Argentina. I slept with earplugs in because it is much more restful that way. Sounds or other people in the room don’t wake you!