Ich bin ein doughnut

Ok, ok, so Kennedy never made the ‘I am a jelly doughnut’ mistake, but that was the only quote I could think of about Berlin. And yes, in true procrastinator style, I’m finally posting about my Berlin trip – only about 3 weeks late... As always it’s impossible to cover everything about a trip in a single blog posting, but will try for some highlights.

One impression of Berlin is that it wears its recent history in particular on its sleeve much more evidently than any other city I’ve visited. Or is that just because the ‘last great war’ and the subsequent Iron Curtain still hold a grip on our (my?) historical knowledge. I felt that I both knew a lot and knew nothing about Berlin’s history, so was glad we tagged on to a walking tour of the city that included ‘800 years of Berlin history in 8 minutes’. A bit compressed, but still an education.

It’s also large and small at the same time – according to Wikipedia it’s the 2nd largest city in the EU, and yet we seemed to cover the same general area in our 3 days, and felt very comfortable the town, in a similar way to much smaller places I’ve visited. I’m sure that’s because the city itself sprawls much further than the tourist-centric maps we had, but still, it felt very familiar very quickly.

We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing – however you can’t help but see sights just by walking around. By far the most impressive I felt was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (part of that visible recounting of history). The memorial goes on and on; visitors can get almost lost within it – it’s both stark and in some ways human at the same time. The artist refuses to explain what it means – rather it’s up to each visitor to interpret and take what s/he will, and it was interesting to hear the different responses given by members of the walking tour.

The Jewish Museum was impressive as well – not least because of the architecture. I was most impressed, however, with the breadth of the historical record, showing the presence of Jews in Berlin for centuries. You wind through the exhibits mostly chronologically, learning about significant personalities here, impacts on the city there – all leading to, but not solely focused on, the Holocaust... which of course you know is coming, but seems all the more horrible with the knowledge of the contribution to and identification with the city the Jewish population had.

Particularly chilling to me was the ‘Memory Void’, with its installation ‘Fallen Leaves’ – rudimentary iron faces scattered like so many bodies. You’re supposed to walk over them, which I did, but it felt sacrilege, and I had to leave. The piece is also supposed to be forward-looking, though leaves fall the tree lives on... but while I appreciate the metaphor of life going on, I think that affords too much natural order to the Holocaust – there’s a difference between leaves and lives ending naturally or being stripped from the tree while still green.

We did more than wallow in WWII memorials, however – lots and lots of walking around, and much window shopping! Berlin has much to offer on the shopping front, both boutique and department store, and we made sure to investigate whenever possible. We also were very pleased with the Time Out Guide’s dining recommendations, including an ‘American Style’ diner for Sunday brunch (yummy bacon, though the pancakes were, umm, a little different. Tasty, but not exactly fluffy Bisquik specials!) We made sure to partake of some classic tourist activities as well: standing in both East & West Berlin (echoes of standing in East & West Hemispheres in Greenwich); looking for remnants of the Wall; passing by Checkpoint Charlie; and eating some yummy pastries. And of course, no holiday is complete without a visit to Starbucks, or its local imitator, in this case ‘Balzac Coffee’, which – other than the name – seemed scarily identical to Starbucks in every way. Weird.

Another highlight of the trip was talking. And talking some more – it was absolutely fabulous to catch up with Liz, my travelling companion and first-year-in-London flatmate, so thanks to her again for suggesting the trip... already looking forward to our next outing!

(PS - for more photos, you can check out Flickr...)