Lessons learned in Berlin

Josh and I did a quick weekend trip to Berlin. We went with the base travel group (Information Tickets and Travel - ITT) which had organized the trip. Josh has done ITT trips before when he was stationed at other bases. I, obviously have never done an ITT trip. Berlin was on my list of places I wanted to see, however it is a long trip whether you drive or take a train, so I wasn't sure when we'd be able to go. When I heard ITT announce their overnight trip to Berlin I figured it was a good way to try out ITT, see Berlin, and let someone else do the driving. I was excited about our trip... and it was an interesting whirlwind.

I will start with the bad first. When I signed up for our trip, they didn't have a set itinerary available for me to look at. However, the lady at ITT told me we would meet on base and leave at 11:30 pm on Friday night, ride through the night on the bus and arrive in Berlin Saturday morning. We'd have Saturday to tour around the city, and we'd spend the night. We would wake up Sunday morning and leave sometime in the morning to get back to base Sunday night. When Josh was put on night shift we had worried that his new shift would interfere with the trip. However, I had been told we would be back Sunday night, so we both figured it would work out okay. At worst, Josh may need someone to cover the first hour of his shift. We talked about calling or stopping into ITT just to confirm times, but never did. We should have. We arrived on base Friday night, boarded the charter bus, and our trip was underway. We were about a half hour away from base and the tour coordinator was walking up the aisle of the bus seeing if anyone had any questions. Josh asked him what time we were to return to base on Sunday. We were informed we'd be returning to base Monday morning around 5 AM. Josh's shift starts Sunday evening at 10:30 pm. So we knew from the beginning that either Josh would have to either try to get someone to cover his shift (which wasn't a possibility) or we'd have to take the train home. It was a crappy way to start the trip. However, it was our own fault. Which made it even more crappy. Riding on a bus, even a nicer charter bus, is not the most comfortable way to try and get a good nights sleep. Josh and I didn't get much sleep just because it was hard to get comfortable... that and we had to listen to the annoying whining of the girl sitting behind us who kept telling her friend how "terrible" and "auw-FUL" the bus ride was in a horrible southern drawl. The group of people who were on this trip were mainly younger people ages 18-20ish (I say 20 because we overheard a group of them talking about how to gamble in Germany you must be 21 and they were kicked out of a casino). They just had different priorities than Josh and I. As we were talking about which historical places we wanted to see and which museums were on our list, the younger group was talking about going out to party that night. Why on earth would you go to Berlin and spend your time partying? You can drink at home. The whiny girl behind us whined not only about the bus ride, but generally everything about the trip. It got old very quickly and I felt myself rolling my eyes and dreaming of gouging her eyes out. The train ride home was long as well... slightly more comfortable than the bus ride, but it is a long time to have to sit. However, the bad of unexpected train travel and annoying people was nothing compared to the good. Onto the good.

We arrived in Belin at 7 am. Knowing we only had one day to tour around, we wanted to cram in as much as we could. Included in our trip was a bus tour of the city, which was a great way to see the layout. We then went to a Holocaust Memorial, one of two in the city. We walked from the memorial to the Brandenburg Gate.

We then were given the option of going to the Zoo or going shopping. Josh and I both love zoos, and although we only had about an hour and a half we were able to walk through and see a good portion of the animals at the zoo. They had our "neighborhood" wild boars there. There is nothing about these animals that are cute... and nothing that can make them cute.

We were taken to check into our hotel, which was an art deco hotel that was Andy Warhol themed. Lots of bright colors, and many replicas of his work. Interesting to say the least. After checking into the hotel we had free reign to do whatever we wanted around the city. Josh and I took off to go tour. We went to see Checkpoint Charlie and the remainders of the Berlin Wall. Strange to actually see it in person and to think of basically two separate cities and worlds divided... And to think it really wasn't that long ago. All through the city you can see a strip of cobblestone that is about a foot and a half wide, and it marks where the wall once was.

Once a year the museums in Berlin have an even called the Long Night of the Museums where all of the museums stay open late. They also have lots of extra things going on such as musical performances and food. You can get into most of the city museums with just one ticket. We decided to take advantage of this, and went to see the DDR Museum (about what life was like in East Berlin under communist rule), the Altes Museum (Greek and Roman art), and the German History Museum. We also walked through the Berlin Dom (cathedral). Like a lot of cathedrals in Germany, the Berlin Dom was damaged during World War II, however the damage done to it was significant... so the inside of the Dom now looks much newer and brighter compared to other churches.

After all of our running around we were exhausted. It was a long, full day. We went back to our hotel to relax and get some sleep. In the morning after breakfast we went to the train station. Our train ride home was long, but went without much of a hitch. 

Berlin deserves a second trip to see all of the things we weren't able to see/enjoy this first time. From here on out we will be traveling on our own. There will be no wasting of time or waiting on other people. Lesson learned.