Kyle & Chuck Go To Europe

Started the day off with no alarm and a good shower. Even though I slept around 10 hours I still woke up at 9:30. Yeah, we went to bed early the night before! Breakfast was actually really good. One of the best things about the Generator hostel. We had cereal with milk, rolls with honey and fruit spread, some juice, and rolls with meat and cheese on them. We even made a few sandwiches to eat later.

Since the hostel we stayed in is so far from town, we hopped on an S-bahn and took a few connections to get to the East Gallery. This is actually a 4.2 km section of the Berlin wall which still stands. Instead of a barrier, it’s now a canvas on which artists voice their opinion. Right after the wall border restriction was lifted, people flocked to the wall and painted over the graffiti which is like itself a large collage of art. There are several famous paintings here and we did get some pictures.

After that we took the S-bahn again to an area north of town to see a recreation of the death strip. The Berlin wall evolved from a barb-wire fence to concrete giant. There was a wall for each side and in between was a barren area. Here, guards were given shoot-to-kill orders for anyone attempting to cross the wall. The sand was raked so footprints of escapees could be seen. This wall was seriously fortified. It originally had bared wire along the top, but people could actually grab it and use it to scale the wall so it was replaced with sewage piping which proved very difficult to grip. There was a tower we walked up so we could see inside the wall and what the death strip looked like. Next to the memorial is another memorial to a church  which was actually torn down because it fell in the death strip between the walls. There are plans to extent the memorial by 2011, so make sure to visit it if you’re there in two years!

Again, the S-bahn zipped us downtown and to the Berlin Zoo. I am not a fan of pets whatsoever, nor am I very big on animals. So why did I go? The Berlin Zoo is one of the oldest in Europe and is known for its large, open animal areas. We did get to see some interesting animals. Lots of monkeys and apes, bears and lions and tigers, birds, sea lions, and rhinos. I got pictures of quite a lot of animals, so you can see them too! We did get to see Knut, the famous Eisbäre (polar bear), after much wandering around looking for the exhibit. It was impressive being so close to the animals. In a lot of areas not more than a small moat of water or a ditch separated us from them. Hell, we even got to pet a penguin because it swam in the water right next to the glass wall. We could reach right in and pet it as it swam by us. How many of you can say you’ve gotten to touch a penguin!?  (If you have, don’t say anything. I want to live in my little delusion happily, thanks!)

It was 9 Euro to get into the park and then they have the nerve to ask you pay 30 cents each time you go to the restroom. There were no attendants to enforce this rule, so I, of course, did not pay. How ridiculous a policy. It’s not like I peed all over the walls which they’d have to clean. I used the urinal and flushed. That water does not cost 30 cents. Not to mention, Chuck and I are running low on cash, so we need all the change we can muster! No pay restrooms for us. If we *have* to pay, we’ll hold it instead.

After the Zoo we walked around a bit and came across a church which had been partially destroyed in WWII. The day before we had actually seen this same church made out of chocolate in the window of a chocolatiers shop. The place looked beautiful, probably even more so because of the almost artistic, archaic feeling of the dilapidated structure. Again, we couldn’t get inside because of the time, but we got to walk around it. Right next to it was some building I could neither guess nor see the name of. It looked like a religious structure though.

After that we rode up one stop to the Tiergarten. We walked for a little bit through the garden, which seemed spacious and nice.  There were even concrete ping-pong tables for people to use. I hadn’t ever seen that before! We made our way along the path to the Victory Tower. It’s beautiful! Tall, gold-gilded, and epic. We walked through a tunnel to get to the island on which it sat. Well, it was an island in the midst of the roadway ocean. We wanted to walk up some stairs to the platform but I guess we got there too late because a cleaning lady told us, “Gescholssen,” which just so happens to mean “Closed.”

We made our way through the tunnel and Garten back to the Tiergarten stop. We took the S-bahn all the many stops and transfers back to the hostel. I have not seen anyone get asked for their train ticket on these trains, let alone been checked myself. If you wanted to risk the 40 Euro fine, I’d say you could get away with riding without paying. Not that I’m condoning it… just saying.

We ate our sandwiches and some of the other snacks we had and then asked where the local grocery store was. The receptionist didn’t understand “grocery” (which I had used before with a German-speaker) so chuck saved the day with “Supermarket.” She then directed us toward the Kaufland which was several blocks away. You can tell you’re in the middle of nowhere in a large city like that when the nearest food market is so far away. But anyway, we made the walk and found our way in the confusing parking structure of the Kaufland.  It was a huge store with many things we haven’t seen in forever. I did forget to check on soap and deodorant. I have enough to last me for a few days, but I need to get some before I actually run out. Note to self: Remember this! We got some more Nutella, chips, and granola bars since we were running short. Chuck even got a bottle of the Czech-imported beer called Budweiser Budvar, which they can’t call that in the States because it interferes with the American Budweiser brand name. There it’s called Czechvar.

So we headed back to the hostel. We took showers that night so we wouldn’t have to in the morning. I also got some of my pack done up so I wouldn’t have to make a ton of noise in the morning. I try to creep around as silently as I can so I don’t wake others since I hate when people do that to me.

Oh, I almost forgot: I did get some string at the Kaufland. You see, I had meant to bring string so we could use it as clothes line and have our towels dry in the windows but forgot it. And now the plastic holder thing on my water bottle had also broken, so I needed some string to make something to hold it by. Luckily they the large store had some, so I took advantage of it. A little late in the game for use as a clothes line, but it did wonders with the water bottle. I’ve got it set up with 4 strings as a connector from the bottle to the lid so I can carry it again. Even learned a few knots from Chuck! I am so proud of how well it turned out!

Anyways, after the showering we just went to bed. Had to wake up at 7am to get ready and travel to Hauptbahnhof for our 9:45am train to Bruges. That tale is next!