If You Go To Berlin - Try The Costel

(May 14 – May 16)

Our Costel

The Berlin Wall

American Propaganda

Monique and the Berlin bear

Me and Monique

The Reichstag

My suggestion to Kara for baby dos

Hot Chocolate makes up for rainy afternoons

Walking the Wall

Communist architecture

Sums up our whole trip

Plastic bag = poncho

Two brick Berlin Wall memorial

Outdoor plumbing - typical Berlin style

The memorial to Hitler's bunker

The Jewish Memorial

The Communist stop lights

The "Michael Jackson" Hotel - where he dangled the baby

Paris Platz

The old remnant of the wall - chiseled away by tourists

“It can’t possibly get any worse than this…” – that was the expression which I learned the hard way to stop saying after our trip out to Berlin. Because for some reason when I say that, it become a challenge to the universe to try and see if they can sneak in one more surprise for me. It seems that sometimes Mother Nature and Father Time have different plans for me than I would prefer – my trip to Berlin became a testament to that.

Monique came to town for a second time last week and we spent the first couple days around Belgium, mainly seeing Leuven. On Friday, Monique, Liam, Erin, Francesco, and I rented a car at Brussels Zuid train station and took a road trip across the autobahn to Berlin for what was supposed to be a memorable car trip to a European city with an interesting bit of historical perspective.

The road trip out was probably the most enjoyable part of the experience for me as driving on the autobahn is nothing short of exhilarating – seeing as how the Germans average 200 km/hr (roughly 140 mph). I kept up with traffic for the most part but wasn’t able to push our rented Hyundai hatchback past 180 km/hr on the straightest stretches of the trans-German highway.

It wasn’t until we arrived in the “Bear” (mascot) City, that things really started to hit the fan – as the expression goes. We got our supposed hostel around 6 pm, parked the car in the back parking lot, and then headed in to check in.

“I’m sorry we don’t have a reservation,” the blonde haired blue eyed receptionist lamented in a kind voice. “Is there a chance you are Ida party of 5?” I stared back blankly at her – a moment of comedic sanctuary – before my mind catapulted into a hectic frenzy trying to figure out where we would be staying for the duration of the trip.

As it turned out, the German futbol championship was in town that weekend, so not only was our supposed hostel entirely booked, but every hostel, hotel, town house, garage, shed, and tent, were booked as Germans from all over flocked to the festivities of the capitol city. The closest city and accommodation could be found in Hannover (2hrs and 45 minutes away). It took us less than an hour for us to come to this realization and a little bit longer to come to the following: we came to see Berlin, we might as well see it. Thus for the duration of our weekend in Berlin, our hostel was our car (car + hostel = costel). The receptionist was nice enough to allow us to use the kitchen and bathrooms at the hostel and to keep the car parked out back. However, at the end of both nights in the city, the 5 of us slept in our rented Hyundai – luckily it was a hatchback which allowed us a little extra room when we dropped the seat in the back.

When I settled into the car that night, wearing almost all of the clothes, and uncomfortable on the ridged trunk-turned-mattress, I sat back and thought, “it can’t possibly get any worse than this.” It was then that the first drops began to fall, tip tapping on the roof of the car.

Those same rain drops also greeted us as we woke up the following morning (and continued all day) and proceeded to set about our overtired day. Borrowing some garbage bags to use as ponchos, we headed out for a free walking tour of the city.

Besides the weather and the exhaustion, Berlin was a fascinating city with a very unique vibe and history – a majority of which stemmed from the Cold War and the East-West divide. The scars of communism were as prevalent in Berlin as they were when we traveled through Bratislava and Budapest, made most evident by the sections of the infamous Berlin Wall which remain up as a tribute to the divide – and a two brick outline in places where it has been removed.

We started our first day in the rain on a free tour of the city. The tour was extensive and we saw most of the aesthetic in’s and out’s of the city. We started in the Paris Platz which is one of the most important squares in the city. We then followed the tour past the Reichstach, the Jewish Memorial, Hitler’s Bunker during WWII(which has been immortalized with a gravel parking lot), the Lufthasse headquarters, Bebel Platz, Check-point Charlie, the East-West divide, and a multitude of museums.

Once we finished the walking tour we made 2 additional stops on our trip ‘round the city. Upon the (terrible) suggestion of our free tour guide, we headed out to see the recently refurbished pieces of the Berlin wall – an outdoor exhibit in the rain. This past year, the city commissions, brought in all the original artists who painted the wall and had them remake their creations with new paint. The fresh vibrant color danced off the wall in a variety of different collages and creations made on the thick cement. It was an amazing experience that was only dampened (pun intended) by the consistent rainfall which had plagued us all day throughout our tour.

Once returned back to the city center (it was a hike to the remade paintings) we decided to stop at the interactive DDR Museum. We first grabbed a quick hot chocolate at Andy’s Restaurant and then headed to the museum which told the story of life behind the wall. The museum took many different approaches to show how the communist creations of the USSR affected the everyday lives of the people in east Berlin. The interactive experience included a recreation of a communist kitchen, a typical communist work day, and even the chance to drive a Trabant – the atypical communist car.

When we finished at the museum, soggy and downtrodden, we headed back to our costel, stopping first to pick up food at the grocery store to cook in the kitchen while we played cards. Once the cards were finished, we packed up and again headed back to settle in for another “relaxing” night of sleep.

The following morning we woke up and for the first time in 2 days, used the car for its actual purpose – to drive to the center of the city in order to quicken our touring on the second day. The sun was a welcomed sight and warmed our spirits (and our backs) as we set about the city. We spent the early morning retracing our footsteps from the day before and re-taking pictures which had previously been grey and rain washed.

Because the line outside the Reichstag was so long we decided to take a tour of the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. The city-block sized monument is a large and intimidating compilation of large cement rectangles (which almost resemble coffins) and become easy to walk through and lose your way. We spent over an hour walking through the memorial and then another in the museum which accompanied it. The museum was designed to tell the personal stories and experiences of the Jews under the Nazi regime – and it did so memorably.

After the museum, we decided to slowly make our way back to the car, taking time to enjoy some of the good weather which had finally joined us (it figures the day we had to drive home). It was thus that at 3 pm we set out back to Brussels, first stopping to drive past the refurbished wall one more time in order to catch the colors in the sunshine. With the walls behind us, we began the voyage back.

My hope, through leaving so early was that we would arrive back in Brussels with plenty of time to take a train back to Leuven for the night. However, the universe had alternative plans for us as we headed home – turning a 6 ½ hour drive into a 10 ½ hour nightmare. On the plus side, flowing in and out of phantom traffic over the course of the trip gave me an added boost of confidence in my ability to drive manual. We unfortunately arrived home so late, that most of Brussels was closed down and it took the 5 of us an 85 euro cab ride to get back to Schapenstraat. At approximately 3 in the morning, we stumbled into the Nachbahrhuis, and I for one was exhausted. Though Berlin itself was fascinating with its aura and history, the circumstances of the trip unfortunately made our experience less than stellar (not the Jersey City accent for “stella”). However, it was only the good company that kept my spirits up throughout the trip – and kept me from driving the car off the road.