Berlin - on a BOAT!

So for 2 weeks of my Euro trip I was to be joined with none other than MEGAN BEAZLEY!! So Wednesday after Oktoberfest, I was off to Berlin to meet her at our hostel.

After almost missing my bus out (as in the bus was pulling out of the station when I flagged it down) I arrived on the other side of Germany, Berlin! I cabbed it to my hostel to meet up with Beaz. We stayed at Eastern Comfort, and it was a Boat Hostel. Yes, we slept on a boat. Once I arrived, I went down to the room and was reunited with my main girl!

Reunited and it feels so good!!

We spent the day wandering out, grabbing dinner (she had her first Kebab), and then relaxed the night away. She was jet-lagged, and I was just plain tired. We planned the next day what we wanted to do, then we made sure we were up and ready when the sun came.

One we got up, we had breakfast and then ventured over to the Brandenburg Gate to meet our free walking tour. We spent about 2-3 hours walking the main streets of Germany, and here's some of what we learned/saw:

- The statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate is Arenia, who is the goddess of peace. Her name was changed after the war to Victoria, who is the goddess of victory. The statue is facing Paritz Platz and is viewed as having "Victory over Paris"
- The Victory Column was erected for the Unification War

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

- The Holocaust Memorial is called "The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". The location (in the middle of the city) is so that people are forced to remember the past during their daily lives. It is made up of 2711 blocks all the same size and height and it is open to interpretation. The artist has never said what the memorial actually represents.
- Hitler died by a cyanide and gunshot suicide
- In 1953 36,000 people protested FOR democracy and lost to communism.

Inside the Memorial

- On the East side of the wall of Germany no one was allowed to get close. If you were found getting too close, you were arrested. There was a "death strip" in between the walls and the soldiers were told to "kill on command" if you tried to cross to the wall leading to West Germany.

Checkpoint Charlie

- Checkpoint Charlie was the 3rd checkpoint to get into Berlin. (Checkpoint Alpha was the 1st, then you passed Checkpoint Bravo, and THEN Checkpoint Charlie). The Soviets and Americans both shared Checkpoint Charlie.
- At the modern day Checkpoint Charlie there is a poster of an American soldier facing the soviet side, and a Soviet soldier facing the American side.
- Gendamenmart (the Square of Tolerance) has a French Cathedral and a German Cathedral facing each other. Both are identical, but the German cathedral is 1 foot taller.
- The Opera House in the "book burning square" was the 1st free standing opera house in Europe, and was COMPLETELY destroyed by they allied forces twice.
- In the Book Burning Square 20,000 books that didn't preach about Naziism were burned in public.
- "Bibliotek" is the memorial for the book burning. It is a hole in the ground full of empty bookshelves (you have to look through glass on the ground to see it). The quote on the memorial is Israeli "When you burn books, you burn people"
- Friedrisch the Great was the first every to be called Great while he was still alive.

TV Tower

- The TV Tower in Germany was built to prove the Germans could build a tall building without the help from the western world. At the time, it was the tallest building in Europe.
- The East German leaders took down all crosses in Europe, but when the sun his the TV Tower, it makes a cross.
- The TV tower is also called "Pope's Last Revenge" and "Pope's Last Erection"
- At the Protest in Liupsy the people chanted "We are the people". When the police came, it ended politely. Each week the protest gets larger and larger. This gave way to East Germans being allowed into West Germany, with a long list of stipulations.
- At a press conference, a memo was read (without preparation) and when the speaker gets asked about East and West Germany, he reads a line out loud "Restrictions lifted" and adds "as of now" on his own. The people storm the wall and the peacefully break the wall and the Fall of the Berlin Wall takes place.

After the tour, since we enjoyed our guide so much, we decided to do his afternoon tour. He then took us on his "Alternative Tour" which was about the artwork (graffiti) around Berlin. We learned that a lot of the graffiti is actually advertisements for artists in the area. We got to learn some of the meanings behind some of the work around the city, and I will say that now when I see graffiti, it just doesn't compare to Berlin graffiti.

After our 2nd tour, we had dinner with 2 of the girls from our tours (schnitzel!) and then met up with some other tour friends at the pub crawl. We hopped to 5 different bars - and at each bar you got a free shot of Jager with your drink. Yes, ANY drink. I ordered a cup of water at one point, and it came with Jager! Yes, I was LOVING Berlin. At the end of the night, Beaz and I headed to the area by the East Side Gallery (where we were staying) which looks like a big graffiti park, but in reality it is a big bar area. We explored a few of the bars there, with one of the pub crawl guides, and then made it back home around 5am (I'm assuming that's what time it was).

Once we woke back up, it was time to pack up and check out....and head to our next destination, PRAGUE!

Guten Tag,
Apes :)

Dachau - the very first Concentration Camp

After recovering from our time at Oktoberfest, we (Elen, Andres, and I) decided to visit a concentration camp. So we went to Dachau, but little did we know that it was the VERY FIRST concentration camp. It's the one that started it all. We had a great guide, he was SO knowledgeable, and I couldn't write down everything he said fast enough. But, here is what I did happen to write down:

- The gate at each concentration camp has " Arbeit Macht Frei" on it. It means "work will set you free". Obviously it was a lie, you worked until you were dead.
- Each camp had "Coppolas" and "Block Elders" who were other prisoners that were put in charge of the prisoners in their areas.
- Dachau was 40 acres large.
- Each camp had a "roll call square" where the prisoners would line up twice a day and would be counted by block elders. Sick and dead bodies had to be brought to the roll call as well. Sometimes the roll call would take 22 hours.
- If you were able to escape, it was still 300km to Switzerland. So you were usually recaptured. Once recaptured, you were hanged.
- The say 3 things would be taken from you as soon as you entered: 1) Personal Goods, 2) Civil Rights, 3) Humanity
- Extermination Camps were only in the East, and they were to get rid of the Intellectuals.
- T4 program is where handicaps were sent to die. There were 250,000 people in the T4 program. Mothers protested the program and the program ended.
- The registration process had 4 steps: 1) Line up, 2) Strip naked, 3) Shaved their head, 4) Shower
- The registration table was manned by other prisoners. Since they spoke other languages, they could give tips to the incoming prisoners without the soldiers understanding what they were saying (for example, "learn to count to 25 in German)
- As a form of punishment the prisoners would be whipped 25 times. At each whip, the prisoner had to count off in German. If they said the wrong number, it would start over. If they didn't know German, they would be whipped to death.
- If you were sent to the Infirmary you were given 1/2 rations, and no medical attention.
- Around the perimeter of the camp there was grass, followed by a dry ditch, electric fence, a canal, and SS stations. They soldiers were ordered to kill on sight, so if you stepped on the grass, you were shot at.
- Guards would throw prisoners caps while they were walking, and when the prisoners would go to get the cap from the grass, they would be shot with the excuse "they were running toward the fence"
- Whenever a soldier shot a prisoner "trying to escape" they were given a day off work.
- Barrack X was a "killing via cyanide" barracks. It took 15-20 minutes for the prisoners to die once the cyanide was released.
- There is no evidence that Barrack X was used at Dachau because everyone at the camp died, and the SS doesn't have a statute of limitations (so no one will come forward to confess crimes).
- Germans no longer use the German word for "shower" due to the "shower rooms" from the concentration camps.
- In the barracks the prisoners were separated by nationalities to inflame hatred, but it backfired and the prisoners banded together.
- Prisoners at Dachau could send letters and receive packages.
- Children went with moms to the gas chambers.
- At one point, the soldiers made a brothel on camp with prisoners from women's camp in order to encourage men to work harder. The men refused to go to the brothel so the SS closed it down.
- The memorial at Dachau has the colors/symbols from the nationalities represented on the uniforms. The exceptions are Pink, Green, and Black. The pink represents homosexuals (homosexuality was illegal at the time the memorial was built). The green represented common criminals (which were usually the coppolas and block elders at the camp. The black represented gypsy's and are still discriminated against.
- The "electric fence" statue at Dachau is also in Israel. It depicts what the artist said the prisoners bodies looked like when they threw themselves against the fence to commit suicide.
- At each concentration camp there are the "Ashes of Unknown Concentration Camp Survivor" because German law states that once a cemetery, it will ALWAYS be a cemetery. With the ashes at each camp, the camps can never be torn down and history can never be forgotten.

Being at the camp was definitely eye opening. Walking around, I still couldn't grasp what the prisoners went through, and until I went to Auschwitz, I couldn't grasp the size of the camp.

- Apes  

Oktoberfest!!

Yup, I went to Oktoberfest. The REAL one, in Munich, Germany. And it was great.

Saturday morning we (Elen, Andres, and I) arrived in Munich. We hopped off the bus and made our way to our home for the next few days...Elen's friend Joules. Once at Joules' apartment, he fixed up a traditional Bavarian breakfast: Vealwurst with sweet mustard, Bretzels, and BEER! Then, after we were rested up (sleeping on a bus isn't exactly refreshing), it was off to the VIESEN!!!

As we walked over to the festival grounds, we found a little shop that was selling Dirndl's for not TOO expensive, so of course, we went in so I could get Oktoberfes-ed out! While I picked out my attire for the day, they gave us free beers (yeah, I was LOVING the oktoberfset spirit). Once I picked out a red/black/white one, it was time to go.

Once at the fairgrounds, I was QUITE surprised at what Oktoberfest really was (and VERY happy that I was wearing my Dirndl, so I fit right in). I always thought it was just people in their oktoberfest clothes (dirndls and lederhosen) sitting at picnic tables drinking huge beers, kinda like this:

And while essentially, yes, that DOES happen....that's not what it is really. Oktoberfest is like a huge state fair! There are rides, games, souvenirs, and carnival food (well, Germany style). And THEN there are HUGE tents...and that's where Oktoberfest REALLY is. Yup, that's where you sit at the tables and drinks liters of beers. But there is a catch....you MUST be sitting at a table in order to get a beer. But, in order to be at a table, you have to get there early or else the tables will fill up. But with like 20 huge tents, there are PLENTY of seats....you just have to pick the right tent.

...and luckily, we picked the right tent! Joules had some friends at one of the tents, so once we made it through the line, we were able to squeeze into one of the outside tables, and then the BEER WAS DELIVERED! The beers were about 10€ each (well, less then that, but then you tip, so it still came out to 10€) for a liter. You just got to sit and drink, and the servers would walk around with full beers and if they saw you were emnpty, they'd plop one down, and take your money. NO WAITING! It was great! Check me out:

Once it started getting late in the evening, we braved the inside of the tent. And boy, was I impressed! It was EXACTLY like the Festhaus at Busch Gardens....tons of tables lined up, everyone still dressed up, a stage with the Bavarian band in the middle, the only difference was that everyone was dancing on the tables!

We stayed until the tent closed (of course) - which was about 11pm. Then it was off to visit a friend of Joules who was celebrating a birthday. So off we went (me, still in my Drindl) and there it was...my first time at REAL oktoberfest...I couldn't wait to go back again (and I would, in about 2 weeks, with Megan Beazley in tow).

Guten Tag,
Apes :)