Berlin's redemption

After some frustrating navigation yesterday, Berlin has redeemed itself and we have departed on good terms.  We met some very nice Germans who restored our faith that maybe they all don't hate Americans after all. 

Yesterday started off well and we successfully took the tram/train from Berlin to Orienburg to tour the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It's hard to describe the visit as good because you are touring a place where horrible things happened to thousands of innocent people. It was a very solemn experience and I am glad we were able to go. We chose to do a self guided audio tour at our own pace and spent about two hours there, which is the minimum amount of time in order to see the highlights and get a good sense of the place.  We were able to see the barracks, roll call court, infirmary and morgue, cremation sites, and site of the gallows.  I was hesitant to take a lot of pictures here because it seemed weird to do so. I can only say that if you are ever able to visit a concentration camp, you should do so because it is an unforgettable experience. 

Entrance to the camp: 

Flowers left in memoriam 

Memorial constructed to remember the 18 nationalies of the people imprisoned there:

The triangles at the top represent the different colored triangles people were forced to wear based on their reason for being there.  Jews, homosexuals, opponents of the Nazi party, people who had relationships with Jews, etc all wore different colored stars. 

Leah and I both bought books at the bookstore. I got a series of two books by a Jewish man living in Berlin who was a literature professor.  He kept a diary for many years of every day events as life unfolded during the years 1933-1945. I am very much looking forward to reading it and I have already started. 

Worst parts of the day: We both wore our brand new Birkenstocks to the concentration camp and we started off feeling great, often commenting about our high arches being so supported. After about 5 hours, our feet were again killing us and we were starting to get blisters and do the grandma shuffle. I forgot again to wear some sunscreen and got a sweet sunburn, mostly on the back of my neck.  

Check out that sweet heat-induced rat tail. 

So we went back to rest at the hotel, change shoes, and get directions for our highly anticipated beer tour.  We were feeling really great about our navigation skills at the point in Berlin. Two UBahn trains later and we were at the correct stop for meeting up with the Beer & Currywurst Tour sponsored by Berlin Food Tour. We were scheduled to meet the group at 5:30 and it was 5:20 - plenty of time to find the place. Except that it wasn't. It's like the Berlin gods scoffed at our confidence and took away all of the street signs and our sense of navigation.  We began unknowingly walking in circles and asking multiple people for help, all of whom sent us in different directions. It probably didn't help that we were butchering the pronunciations for the German street names - there was a lot of miming involved. In the meantime, our 5:30 meetup point had come and gone. My mood had crashed as drastically as the stockmarket in 1929 and at 5:45 we were both about to give up. Not only did it suck not being on time for the tour but it also really sucks being in a foreign city without wifi or cell coverage. Being two people so tied to our phones and accustomed to quickly access information on the internet, it is hard to not be able to when we need it most - like in this situation. So in desperation, we ducked into a restaurant advertising free wifi and pleaded with the owner for help. I showed him the map and he motioned over for another man to help us out.  This man was not only kind enough to put the meeting address in the GPS of his phone but he also let me call the tour guide director and see if we could still meet up with them. He went even further as to personally walk us the 10 minutes over to where we were supposed to be, probably because he could tell how distressed we were. I tried to pay him afterwards but he refused the money, instead trying to find Leah on FB.  She may have a new friend request waiting soon. In an extremely lucky turn of events, our tour guide, Bastian, and the rest of the group were waiting for us, despite being a half hour late.  No one of them seemed annoyed and appeared happy to meet us and we were grateful for that. After this debacle, things started turning around significantly. 

Best part of the day: I'm so glad that we made it in time because the beer/Currywurst tour was phenomenal and definitely a highlight of our entire trip. It completely restored my appreciation and fondness for Berlin, which had been wavering.  Our group consisted of Bastian, a Berliner and native German, two Brazilian scientists who study entomology and are presenting at a conference this weekend, and a family from Singapore where the parents are architects, the daughter is an aviation lawyer, and the son is almost finished serving his compulsory two years in the Singapore army.  During the tour we were able to talk to each other quite a lot and after spending five hours together, had made some new friends.  Leah and I both really enjoyed our interactions with everyone and had a great time with them. I have contact information with some of them to keep in touch, which I hope to do. 

Our tour consisted of multiple stops at many different bars for various types of German beers and a couple of stops for Currywurst, which is a sausage doused in a tomato and curry sauce, kind of like curry ketchup. It is the most popular street food of Berlin and quite delicious. Bastian told us that the places we went were places he frequents often and are his favorites. 

West Berlin style Currywurst that has a skin and bread to sop up the sauce afterwards. 

East Berlin style Currywurst with no skin, served street side with fries and mayonnaise. 

Not being a huge beer drinker, I was a little unsure of how I would like the beers but I figured if I was going to try beers anywhere, it might as well be in Germany. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy quite a few different kinds. 

Tasting of (in order) a pilsner, stout (my fave), beer I can't remember but just won the Gold Medal award for best beer in Europe, and a wheat beer (second fave) 

Bastian describing how to pour our drinks from the central tap at the table. 

Everyone at the table getting their beer

My favorite drink of the night, half beer and half lemonade - a popular summer drink. 

At this bar, if you ring the bell you have to buy everyone a shot. Leah rang the bell and bought everyone a round of jäger. 

Beer liquor - very strong, tasted like cinnamon and honey. Good except for the burn. 

Last beer of the night from a really famous German restaurant in Berlin. Must go back because the food smelled delicious. 

Along the tour, Bastian pointed out some great street art which we really enjoyed. Here are some of my favorites:

At the end of the night, Leah declared to the group that she had finished all of her beers at every stop, which was quite a feat. I managed to get through maybe half of mine.  The evening ended on a very high note and we were all sad to part ways.  So thanks a million to Bastian and the rest of our group for making our last night in Berlin so enjoyable. 

We are now on the train to Prauge and are both looking forward to exploring that city. 

Somebody's a little hungover...

And someone feels pretty great...

Best quotes:

(Man sneezes) 

Leah: Gutentag! (Turns to me) I did it!

Me: You just said "good day" not "guzundheit"