Berlin

I had the chance to hitch a ride back to Berlin with Alex and Dylan, and it was one hell of a drive. We left Lille at 4am because the car had to be returned to Berlin in the early afternoon. It gave us the chance to burn down the empty highways and make pretty good time. Over eight hundred kilometers in just over seven hours. Maybe it helped that we were going 200 km an hour most of the way.

Thank god for the German autobahn and its non-existent speed limits.

The sun coming up...I almost lost my camera taking this picture.

Going that speed, we came inches within our lives a couple of times, which resulted in stopping immediately to catch our breaths, and so our hearts didn't burst. Scary shit.

We made it back to Berlin in time, and in once piece.

I stayed in Alex's dormitory, happily taking the free-of-charge floor over a hostel. I was actually confronted by one of his program leaders, asking who I was and what I was doing there, seeing as they weren't allowed to have guests. I simply shrugged, gave her my name, and never saw or heard from her again.

Going to Berlin I kind of expected to see massive, old, and epic architecture everywhere, but it was quite the contrary. I suppose considering most of the city was flattened during the war, it would have been difficult to keep that heritage. Not to mention half of the city was communist for a while, who's history is clearly visible when you are on the Eastern side. Massive concrete apartment blocks in near-desolate neighborhoods are all over the east-side, with a noticeable shortage of shops and businesses on the former communist blocks.

Standing at the former border.

Personally I found Berlin to be a pretty bizarre place. Perhaps it was just the neighborhood I was in, but goddamn there were a lot of strange people walking around. Gutter-punks everywhere, getting offered any kind of drug imaginable, from about every fifth person I ran into. Maybe it's because I clearly was not German, and clearly was not from around there that I was offered so many narcotics. The thing I found most strange, is how they use they're not-so-popular history of the past one-hundred years or so to their advantage, and exploit it for tourism.

Flying the flags of the countries that occupied you...makes sense.

A piece of the wall, next to the red star.

Checkpoint Charlie, where the Allies were allowed to pass through the wall.

The Brandenburg Gate along with the Reichstag were extremely impressive.

Another thing that I noticed is that all over the city, there are grim reminders of the atrocities committed in the past.

A very cool building beside the Reichstag, with little white crosses sitting in front, signifying the deaths of people trying to cross the wall at that spot.

These pieces of gold are cast into the sidewalks in the front of formerly Jewish-owned properties and businesses, with the names of the victims, their birthdays, along with the date of their deportation, and where they were executed.

At night though, the city is packed with some very cool bars and clubs, that seem pretty unique to Berlin. Lots of character and very cool interiors pepper the city with a special nightlife. One bar even had televisions set up, connected to old school video gaming systems...and the DJ's passed around hash spliffs. Bonus.

After three nights there it was time for me to head back to Lille, and what a fucking shit-storm that was. I made my train reservation online, stupidly through the French train company SNCF, as you can make the reservation, then pick up your ticket at the station with your credit card. Apparently they don't do that in Berlin, and I would have to be in France to pick up my ticket...to leave Berlin. Interesting.

Anyways, without a ticket I figured I was either stuck in the country for another night, or would have to pay another full price ticket, which already ran me 120 euros. I waited for the train to arrive, then sprinted up and down the platform looking for a train conductor who spoke English. The last person I found, she spoke English. With sweat pouring down my face, I tried to explain myself as quickly as possible, seeing as the train was leaving in about sixty seconds. She told me to get on the train, and we could figure something out. I hop on, and since it was an over-night train, told me to sit in one of the cabins. I waited for about twenty minutes, unsure of my fate. She came back, and told me that her boss wanted to charge me the full ticket price of 120 euros again. My jaw dropped. She asked me where I was from, told me that she loved Canadian accents, and the country. Just my luck, a Canadian lover. She then printed out a receipt, saying that she couldn't have me traveling without any form of ticket, and simply asked me for twenty euros, instead of the hundred and twenty. Relief washed over me in an awesome wave. I thanked her relentlessly, as she just saved me twice. She then informed me that I was beyond lucky, because I now had the whole three person cabin to myself for the thirteen hour overnight ride to Paris. Things just got better and better. The ride itself was actually very enjoyable. Going through the German countryside in the middle of the night with no lights around, the sky was lit up with stars. I eventually fell asleep, and woke up in Paris.

Night trains are the shit.