I had no problems catching the train out of Otterndorf, though we ended up driving to Cadenberge to catch that train as it had just come through Otterndorf. From there I rode to Hamburg-Harburg where I had to connect to a small Metonom train to get to Hamburg & then on to Berlin. My train to Berlin was on time & off I went, but right outside of Berlin, we stopped. Now, my lack of German knowledge kicked in as I had NO clue what was being said. I managed to figure out that we would be delayed another 30 minutes. The only reason I know that is because Henning called me & told me. About 45 minutes later, I was greeted on the platform by Kathy & Jaiden. Henning had walked farther down to look for me.
The Egners, I have to say right off, are the most hospitable people ever. I had never had Kathy in class while at Transy, so I wasn't really sure how it would go since I didn't know her as well as some of the other education professors. Henning is absolutely charming - by birth he is a German &, thus, a non-native English speaker. I love listening to him speak because his word order is sometimes different that what I normally use. And he rarely speaks English to Jaiden, so Jaiden is somewhat fluent in German, for a 2-year-old. Then there is Jaiden who is the absolute cutest 2 year old you could meet. He & I hit it off instantly. He was so excited that I was staying with them & he kept pointing out the S-Bahn & the U-Bahn to me & told me all about taking them around the city.
Jaiden, who I might just adopt!
We went to the Egner's apartment which was at Schohauβe Alle in the former East. We were right around the corner from an S- & U-Bahn station as well as the trolley stop, so everyting was quite easy to navigate. After a short nap, which was much appreciated on my end!, we met up with a couple from the Egner's church in Lexington. The Hoods had decided to visit Berlin to see the church that their church, Faith Lutheran, sponsors. So Jim & Judy, Kathy & Henning, Jaiden, & I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant.
The next day, Henning & I met up with Jim & Judy for a walking tour of Berlin. Henning lived in Berlin from 1975-2000, so he was an excellent tour guide when it came to answering questions & telling us about the war & the Wall. He explained how Berlin was rebuilt following the war, how he & his friends communicated with one another with the Wall still in place, & about the time when he married Kathy (1989?) & brought her to Germany to live. He showed us the Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag, the TV Tower, & several other sites in Berlin.
Brandenbur Gate
The Lutheran Church is huge!
The Reichstag Government Building
The River Memorial, recalling those victims who died trying to cross the river from East to West
Following the 3-hour tour, Henning & I went back to the apartment for lunch & a nap. Kathy & I had decided the previous night that we would go to the Anne Frank House. Lauren Covert, a Transy senior, was also in Berlin at the same time as I. She was interning with an organization whose primary goal is to encourage small businesses to come to Germany. She decided to meet us at the AF House as well. The museum itself was quite unimpressive, but the 30 minute film we watched was very well made & quite moving. We invited Lauren to dinner as we were meeting Henning's daughter Katerina & her husband Stefan & son Fynn for dinner at a Greek restaurant between the two places. Along the way, Henning pointed out holes in the sidewalk which resulted from the bombings.
Lauren & I made plans to meet up on Sunday, so after church at the American Church of Berlin, we ate brunch & walked around. She showed me these huge see-saws that were loads of fun!
Lauren on the giant See-Saw
And we also came across the mini-United Buddy Bears which represent each country in the United Nations. There are larger ones that have traveled throughout the continent & have also been auctioned for charities. We found a great little Thai restaurant for dinner that night - only spent 4 Euros!
This is the Cuban bear, complete with Cuban cigar!
By far my favorite bear - the Irish!
On Monday, I spent the morning wandering around the city. My goal was to visit 3 museums, but after 2, I had to stop! (I am not a museum person by any means.) I visited the Jewish Museum which was okay, but Lauren thinks I missed part of the exhibition & that is why I found it lacking.
The Memory Void section of the Jewish Museum
I also went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum which was overpriced & way too crowded. The museum, itself, contains loads of interesting information but is not worth the 5,50 I paid to get in as a student.
And of course I saw parts of the Berlin Wall.
Information about the Wall
A Wall Marker
I had planned on visiting the DDR Museum which documents life in the GDR, but didn't have time/feel like it by mid-afternoon. After a short nap, I met up with Lauren again. She took me to KaDeWe (pronounced Caw-Day-Vay) which is the largest department store in Europe. It was FABULOUS! The top floor is all foods & by far my favorite floor! There was fresh fish (literally, in the water), homemade pastries, chocolates, wines, (expensive) American food, & loads of other things. I bought some chocolate because it was reasonably priced, but everything else was quite expensive because it is top quality stuff. The American food was extrememly pricey as well - i.e. a box of Saltine crackers was 8,50 & a bag of Hershey's chocolate chips was 6,00! So if you want to send me any American food, I'd love it because it is so expensive here! I had my first experience with a döner which is a flat bread with chicken (or lamb), an herb sauce, salad (tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce), & feta cheese. It was huge! And so much food that I couldn't eat it all ... & all for 3,00! Then we went for ice cream. :-)
On Tuesday, my last day, Kathy wanted to take me to one of the bigger bookstores in Berlin. It had 6 floors! And I was in heaven. They even had books printed in English, so I bought 2. :-D Afterwards we went to lunch at what Jaiden called the "Butterflies," which really has dragons hanging from the trees & serves indian food. Afterwards, Henning took me to the train station to catch my train back to Otterndorf. Right at the start, they informed us that the train to Berlin would be 30 minutes late into Hamburg because they had to divert us through another city. Apparently the tracks were cut the day before! So I missed my train to Otterndorf & had to call Dagmar to let her know. I arrived an hour later than planned, but everything turned out okay in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment