Berlin in a day
It was a common scene. Sarah and I huddled over our trusty map of Europe on our dorm bed. The Let’s Go Europe within easy reach. A purple highlighted line marked our trip on the map. The line ended in Berlin. We did not yet know where it would continue. That evening in Berlin, I wrote in my journal “we planned out our trek through Germany”.
But first, Berlin.
The next morning, we locked our heavy backpacks in the train station and made full use of our 24 hour city pass.
This was less than three years since the historic dismantling of the Berlin Wall. I had watched those scenes unfold on the news. Now, we could walk through the iconic Brandenburg gate connecting East and West.
With the wall completely demolished, we found some segments on display, not in their original location. Tracing the wall, we saw many crosses in memory of those who tried to escape. I learned more about the desperate ways people escaped over, under and through the wall at the museum at Checkpoint Charlie.
We used the convenient Bus 100, like a hop on hop off bus, travelling by the major sites. It was the first line created after the reunification of Germany connecting East and West Berlin. In addition to the Brandenburg Gate, we also stopped at the Victory Tower, and the Reightstag building.
After dinner, we hopped back on Bus 100 for a relaxing nighttime ride gazing at the city scenes all lit up.
We certainly got our money’s worth.
It was that day in Berlin Sarah found out she was accepted to Guelph University. When I got my news, we had a celebratory dinner in Milan (with a hot model). For Sarah’s celebration, we hopped on an overnight train to Koblenz. Sorry Sarah. Our plan for Germany was set.
We had to draw our next line.
This is one entry from my 1992 European backpacking trip with my friend Sarah. If you want to start at the beginning, please check out The journey starts in Nice.
