The day after our road trip out of Prague into the tiny town of Kutna Hora, we embarked on an even longer drive from Prague to Berlin on New Year's Eve, the celebration termed 'Silvester' (in honor of St. Sylvester) in Germany. Having only 8 days on the road together, the family elected the following itinerary departing from Mainz: 2 nights in München (Munich), with a day trip to Neuschwanstein, 3 nights in Prague, with a day trip to Kutna Hora, culminating with 2 nights in Berlin over Silvester, a route that could entertain travelers for about a month. Had we a month, we could have easily stopped in Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Nürnberg, Regensburg, Dresden, various countryside castles and ruins, and multiple national parks known for neat forests, rock formations, or decent skiing. The abundance of natural and historic sights to see within close distances distinguishes travel in Europe from travel in the states, and this 8 day, ~2200 km journey is characteristic of American or Australian tourists, who are used to travelling long distances with few desirable (or stoppable) stopping points in between.
The most beautiful (so I've heard) city of former East Germany, Dresden, thus remains a destination for a EuroTrip outside my 6-7 month tenure. Nonetheless, highway construction outside of the GPS's knowledge taught us to follow signs through a countryside detour in the mountains and through a mountainside town with winding and steep roads, sometimes narrow enough to impose one lane traffic. Ryan had a blast driving our 6-speed standard transmission diesel Opel houseboat, the same one you saw him expertly park in Prague.
We arrived in Berlin around 3pm, looped around the block by our hotel before emulating the 'legal' parking of other patrons of the apartments and hotels along the same street. We went online, looked for available times to view the Reichstag, the building of the Deutscher Bundestag, or German Parliament, from within, and quickly learned that the next available time just to enter the building and view out of the Dome would be the evening of the 2nd, and we were departing the morning of the 2nd. Moving along, I skipped showing my family the film traditionally viewed in Germany many, many, times in one sitting on Silvester in an attempt to get out before the sunset. Since it was already after 4, we were unsuccessful.
We boarded a regional train headed into the center of the city that was smokey (despite smoking being illegal on trains) and full of heavily pre-gramed and songful Silvester prepared youths. We surfaced for air at Potsdamer Platz, immediately hitting a wall.
Berlin Mauer
A giant ice slide at the Christmas Market by Potsdamer Platz Bahnhof
Mmmm shroooms!
We indulged into museum mode before letting the brick path indicating the former path of the Berlin wall lead us across the street to the Christmas style market to begin delving into tasty holiday sweets, i.e. Glühwein mit many versions of schuss, (gotta catch 'em all!) and some of the best food I've had in Germany out of giant skillets.
Once filled, we ventured to Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), an entrance to the city since the late 1700s, closed in 1961 'until further notice', i.e. the fall of the wall in 1989. On Silvester, this is Germany's Times Square, the cite of the biggest party in Germany, and possibly in Europe. We passed through a checkpoint on the west side of the gate and south side of the stage where a few guards casually searched our personal bags, then submerged into the crowd in front of the stage. Realizing we needed drinks, we attempted to take a left turn to the stands in our sight. "Entshuldigung" (Excuse me) I said nicely. "Nein", the crowds had formed walls. "Warum nicht?!?" (Why not) I said. Some of the crowd had begun streaming the rest of the crowd through the back of the crowd. To the back of the crowd, however, were more fences containing the party. Now it was only 7:30, and remaining here until midnight would require us to a) not drink anything until then and b) not discharge any drinks already consumed until then. We grasped hands and danced our way out over possibly half an hour, occasionally squeezing hands as signals we were still attached even when the density of the crowd prevented us from seeing each other over our linked arms.
Brandenburger Tor, west side, site of the biggest party in Germany
Packed at 7:30pm - you'd have to dehydrate to last 'til midnight in this crowd
Once outside the checkpoints we had entered through, we followed the redirected pedestrian traffic passed the Jewish Memorial, a small field of rectangular cement blocks of varying heights. The heights are not so varied as you gaze upon them from outside the memorial, but walk between them and realize that the stone lawn is a bowl, with perhaps some rolling bumps. The situation resembles a deep pond: a nearly even surface, shallow by the edges, deep in the middle. The blocks near the sidewalk rise just past my knees, some in the middle are higher than Ryan (188 cm). We would return here later to view the fireworks centered over the Brandenburger Tor.
The Jewish Memorial of Berlin From: http://vanweeldenj.files.wordpress.com/judaism
Inside the Jewish Memorial, haunting, day or night
The redirected pedestrian traffic sent us several blocks away from the Brandenburger Tor on the east side, along Unter den Linden, the boulevard lined with Linden trees, once and still known as one of the 'grandest' streets in Berlin. Manned Glühwein carts and tables stood at multiple street corners and shop entrances. Three of us bought Glühwein at an ice cream shop so the fourth one could use the WC. Wandering and window shopping eventually led us back near Brandenburger Tor. Our group divided in two. The sky was already becoming yellow with the smoke and sparks of the civilian sparklers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, and other readily available firecrackers. I followed Ryan into a store. Opportunistic shop owners stay open until at least 11pm on Silvester well stocked with goods to satisfy the impulses of the crowd, much of which has pilgrimaged across multiple country borders and possibly oceans to partake in this party.
Mother and brother, with a quintessential tourist bear of Berlin, window shopping
Window shopping
Window shopping
Shopping
Taking pictures of road signs helps you locate a previous location
Street lights, search lights
Within half an hour of the official year change, we found front row standing room near our initial checkpoint, still on the old path of the Berlin Wall, and counted the minutes, then the final countdown (how appropriate that the band is called 'Europe'), to fireworks higher than the ones being shot off around us.
The Eltern were still up when the Kindern arrived, after visiting the subway, some currywurst and pommes, and a decent walk to digest that currywurst and pommes. A small piece of firecracker shrapnel had bit my mother in the imitation-UGG boot, leaving a little fuzzy hole in it and a light singe on her ankle. She was nonetheless in good spirits. 'It's really like a combat zone out there,' my father chuckled. The whole family slept until 11am the following morning.
A silhouette...made of light...
I think the gate is patterned onto the subway windows
Giant neon snowman
Mosaic rock!
Berlin feels modern, edgey, busy, mixed, and alive. It's beauty and energy are felt, not seen like in the romantic towns along the Rhein. I hope to elaborate more if I post pictures from the postSilvester wandering.
No comments:
Post a Comment