Sunday, 31 March 2013
Day 1 in Berlin, the weather was mightily cold. 3 Years on from the start of my adventures in Nepal, I am still wearing the same gloves, hoodie, hat, adventure shirt (cool but smart), scarf, jacket and compass. People around me had grown up and changed a lot, maybe I should too. Actually, I have changed. I can travel into colder and wetter climates. Wow, my evolution was to keep up the British weather. Distances and durations can also be further and longer, but not just yet.
“Sh!t happened” would be how I summarise Berlin. There were the very tragic events and also in my opinion reasons for optimism. There were the Holocaust, the destruction of Berlin from Allied bombing and the Soviet siege. The scars from the Cold War were visible from the remains of the Berlin War. This was the frontline of the Cold War. It was difficult to imagine a time that one’s freedom would be determined by the postal address. I think the recovery since the fall of the wall had been impressive. Now Germany is a powerhouse in the European economy and I am a proud owner of a BMW. The reconciliation between the East and West appeared seamless. These were done not through luck, but by hard work and great people.
Berlin had the most complicated metro system ever. Luckily, it seemed that AlexanderPlatz is the answer. It is a convenient centre where almost all tube lines pass through and made all parts of Berlin very accessible. I walked from Alexanderplatz to Tiergarten to see the major landmarks in a blizzard. Unfortunately, the whole city seemed to be under renovation with cranes everywhere. The city was not too photogenic and my fingers were frozen too.
The purpose of this trip was not to see how many wurst I can eat in one day. The answer is 6 by the way. A quiz in December 2013 on this topic will be given. There was a possibility that I lost my appetite for travelling. The best and only way to find out is to travel.
Adventures of Delboy 