Let me start off by saying that Germany is amazing! I arranged for a three day weekend to visit an old university friend of mine, Katrin. We planned to meet in Berlin, travel up to her original home town on the Baltic Sea, and then spend the rest of the time sightseeing in Berlin. When I came off my flight she was waiting for me and we ran to the train station and caught a train right away! It was a 3 hour train ride to Rostock, and we wandered around looking at the lovely buildings, most dating from the 1500's and 1600's. Unreal!
Katrin had a whole picnic feast ready for us on the long train ride!
Rostock, beautiful old buildings
Main city square
After a couple of hours in the centre of Rostock, we took a train to Warnemunde, a fishing town bordering the river and the Baltic sea.
It was here that we linked up with Katrin's 10 year old daughter (who was only 5 or 6 when I first met her!). We strolled through the streets and ate ice cream, then took hot chips and sat on the beach.
Boats on the river
Baltic Sea looking out to Denmark
Cold water!
After our hot chips we walked barefoot through the small lanes of the town, going past the house where Katrin grew up. We stayed the night in Rostock and caught the early train to Berlin!
After dropping our bags we went to Alexanderplatz and walked down the main streets to see the dome, the Brandenburg Gate, parts of the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the museum there, as well as having a delicious bakery lunch nearby to the river and Parliament.
The Brandenburg Gate
Parliament
This is a mural in memory of the riots on June 17, 1953
What was fascinating about being in Berlin was that we just happened to be there on the 17th of June, which marks the anniversary of a huge worker's protest against low wages and bad conditions in 1953, to which the Soviet government responded by sending in tanks and thousands of soldiers and they just mowed everyone down, and then opening fire and killing between 100-500 people. We were able to see the memorial and read about the history of it. I had no idea about the significance of that date, it was really interesting to me.
A piece of the wall
What was also fascinating for me was that my friend, Katrin, had actually grown up in East Germany, and was a part of the Young Pioneers, a children's club run by the GDR, which basically forced all the children to be a part of, and was used to try and indoctrinate them into the Soviet way of thinking. It was so eye-opening for me to hear of Katrin's experience, at how the Stasi (secret police) were often sniffing around her neighbourhood, questioning people and taking notes. The Wall came down when Katrin was 12, it must have been such a huge thing, it really gave it new meaning for me.
The next day we went to the Stasi museum, which housed many many different types of spy gadgets! It was so fascinating! Cameras in buttons, cameras in watering cans - you name it, the craziest things they would put cameras in. Recording devices hidden in all sorts of items, it was surreal. It felt like a movie set! We also went to the Mauer Park, where some of the Wall remains, and followed a section of road where the place the Wall stood is marked by stones in the pavement. Such a humbling experience to be standing right on the place where the city had been separated, thinking that for 28 years you could not even see across the street.
For lunch we had a famous Currywurst - sausage cut up with curry seasoned ketchup! It was delicious, and I then we tried a famous Turkish doner kebab which was also delicious.
All too soon I was heading for the airport and farewelling my friends, but Germany will remain in my heart as a place that I loved.
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