Although, I almost didn't get there at all. I had mistakenly thought that border checks between European Union countries were a thing of the past, so I was slightly bemused to find our coach being boarded by German immigration officials asking for passports. By way of scene-setting, I've travelled between Spain and Portugal on a coach and I did not need my passport. I've travelled between the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany on the train, and I did not need my passport. Even when I flew from Malaga to Amsterdam I did not need to show my passport. So here I was, on a coach being passport checked, without my passport. Problem. The German immigration lady was less than impressed.
"Where is your passport?",
"Err...",
"Where is your ID card?",
"Err, well I have my drivers license?",
"No good.",,
"But it's good in the UK, and it's all I have.",
"Where do you live?",
"Err, well in the Netherlands, but I'm English",
"Why are you travelling?",
"Just for a two day holiday." [in a regretful tone of voice]
"[With eye-brow impressively raised] I see, are you alone? Where are your bags? Are you carrying drugs; marijuana, hash, cannabis, weapons?"
And so it went on. After emptying the contents of my bag she apparently reached the conclusion that I was just a rather silly Englishman, but only after taking away my drivers license for 'checking', whatever that means. A part of me rather hopes that my name is now on some sort of European watch-list ready to flag me up the next time I try to illicitly cross a border. By contrast, the Dutch didn't even bother to stop us on the way back.
I don't quite know what it was about Berlin that I found so appealing, but almost right away I knew that I was going to like it. I hadn't a clue what to expect though. Berlin often seems like the forgotten city of Europe - everyone talks about Paris, London, Amsterdam ad Prague etc, but Berlin doesn't often seem to get a look in, so I thought it might seem a little hollow, but it really didn't.
One thing I had expected to be more evident was the distinction between the old east and west parts of the city. All of the maps highlight where the Wall was, but for the most part, I wouldn't have been able to tell if no-one had told me. Checkpoint Charlie for instance is little more than a hut surrounding my tourist touts. In fact, there's hardly anything left of the Wall at all. A part of me found that a little sad. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have lived there during the occupation, but tearing down the Wall would probably have been one of the first things I'd have wanted to do. But there's no denying that the Wall is one of the most significant structures of the 20th century, and for less than a mile to still survive is a shame. That said, the main surviving part has been turned into a graffiti art gallery, which is quite powerful in itself.
I basically spent the two days just walking around taking in the main sights, and Berlin has plenty to see. It's probably one of the more ornate cities that I've been too, but for a reconstructed city, there's little of the obvious modern buildings that blighted Cologne and it seems that things have been restored rather than rebuilt in most cases, and it works.
I think the Reichstag has to win my award for most-impressive Parliament building of the year. Most of the one's I've seen so far have been pretty austere, but humble, the former could apply here, but not the latter, but that doesn't make it seem overwrought. It's impressively open as well, with the glass dome and roof being open free of charge, from where you can look down into the debating chamber.
One thing that Germany does well very are railway stations. I mentioned a little in my Cologne entry, but they're more than just places where the train stops, you could practically live in most of the German stations I've used, and you could spend a day in most just wandering around. Take the new Berlin central station, they moved the river, landscaped a whole swath of land and held a grand opening ceremony for it. I can't quite see us doing the same when they finally takes the wraps off St Pancras.
I hadn't really expected to eat that well while I was there, but apart from having more wurst than can possibly be good for me, I was (un)lucky to visit on the same day as the final of the German football championship, so there were stalls all over the city selling all manner of things. I even popped into the German version of Harrods where I had the pleasure of sitting next to one of the most obnoxious 'I've more money than braincells' Englishman I think I've come across - I even apologised to the waitress on his behalf. That was also the only time when my German badly let me down. I tried to ask for something in German, which didn't fly, so I said it in English and asked how to say it in German, this just confused things more, until even asking in plain English didn't work. Alas, still some work to do there.
Unfortunately the weather decided to play cat and mouse with me on both days with me finding myself caught in two rather impressive thunderstorms on both evenings - the first time without an umbrella or jacket - despite it being bright sunshine in the day at 32C. On the second day I was slightly more prepared, but not for the length of the downpour (I spent 45 minutes under a window sill waiting for it to 'blow over'. But at least the light after a thunderstorm is always impressive enough to make up for the storm itself.
Another day would have been perfect, and it was a shame that I had to get back on the bus (although getting to whisper-sing 'happy birthday' to a Canadian at midnight was quite entertaining).
It's odd, but being in Berlin for two days made me more passionate about learning German properly, than being in the Netherlands for nine months has made me want to learn Dutch. There's something about being able to try and talk to people in their own language, and it can be pretty fun as well, and there's a good feeling of achievement whether it works or not. I won't come away from this year speaking Dutch, or even better German than I did at the start, but perhaps I've sown some seeds. But I do know for sure that I'm not done with Germany.
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