Eurotrip: Act 11 - Berlin

Scene 27 - 16th July

Tragedy strikes today on our Eurotrip, as we lose one of our members! Fortunately, of course, its not any of us - Lase, Gobi, Eugene and I. Its my laptop. Before we go on with this account, I have to share this sad story...

Breakfast at the Meininger Hotel, and my laptop is down having breakfast with me. Of course, the purpose of this, I must admit, was to be chatting with someone back home in Singapore. Truth be told, its that same person for whom I went walking around in the desert-like heat of Dresden, looking for Slaughterhouse Five. But, that's a story for another day; not to mention another account altogether.

Anyway, we're in a rush then; because we're going to be late for our Sandemans tour of Berlin. If you don't recall; or just are not following this account blow-by-blow, I'll refresh your memory. Sandeman's tour is the same New Europe Tour that we went on in Munich, and then Prague. Berlin, in fact, is the original city where this New Europe tour started off in; so we're kind of doing this whole thing in reverse. Nevertheless, we move on with the story...

We're in a rush. But I need to go to the loo; so I tell Eugene to switch off my laptop. When I return, though; Eugene is half laughing half crying. I reckon that's the face of hysteria. If that's the right word. Here's what actually happened in the one minute I left my laptop alone. Eugene accidentally swivels around and his bag knocks over my poor laptop. The laptop responds by falling to the floor and its screen now has a large crack across it. Ah well. Accidents happen, I tell Eugene. They do, after all, and it could just as easily have been me knocking down his laptop. Anyway, he offers to pay for the repair; which I reckon I would have too had the situation indeed been reversed.

Gobi insists that Eugene was actually jealous with the laptop (it having got more attention than him) and, in a fit of jealousy, slammed it on the floor repeatedly, stepping on it and laughing like a maniac. Of course, Gobi is known to exaggerate. And make up stories.

*

Anyway, its enough about my laptop and now we move on to our New Berlin Tour.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention. Eugene's friend from school is in Berlin now, on a Eurotrip of her own, with her friend; and we had decided to meet up whilst here. However, in the end, they decided that they would be going for Sandeman's Tour tomorrow; so we'll only be meeting them for dinner today. Once more, I will refrain from making any Asian Chick references to Henrik Larsson. At least till dinner. Ok, now, to the Sandeman's tour for real.

Victoria, our tour guide today, is wearing the wrong name tag. In any case, she's fun and, like all of them, a native English speaker. She's in Berlin to try to brush up on her German, but according to her, its to not much avail as most Berliners speak better English than she speaks German. It seems that I wouldn't have much need for German here, then.

*

Berlin is a city rich with history; it being the capital of Germany. Here, I am tempted to say that Germany is the notorious villain of the past World Wars; but frankly speaking, we do have to consider that the only reason why its considered as THE ultimate villain is because it LOST the World Wars. Both of them. If I have learnt anything from my visit to the Eastern half of Europe, we must accept that the Soviets were not much better. In fact, every country has its own cobwebs that they mostly don't boast about. Victoria explains that Germany is unique in the sense that it is very open about its dark history. The purpose? In knowing the mistakes of the past, we understand how to avoid them in the future.

Berlin is not ALL about the Wars and its consequences. Well, not entirely, at least. There is some fun stories in Berlin; and that's where this tour starts. Victoria starts off the tour by telling 300 years of German History in 3 minutes. She timed herself. But mostly it sailed past most of our heads; and besides, it wasn't particularly interesting.

She did this under the famous Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate).

If you recall, I have mentioned before how the French and the Germans were never the best of friends; and this comes up again. Its a local joke, apparently, that the French Embassy, in the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate, looks a lot like a military barracks.

The joke goes on to explain why that's the case. So, why does it look like military barracks?

Because the goddess Victoria (goddess of victory, no less, mind you), riding the chariot on the top of the Brandenburg Gate, is looking straight at it.

See?. I Think its their way of doing this..

Anyway, across from the French Embassy is this hotel.

Now it might seem unremarkable; but this hotel has a history of hosting royalty. Considering its location, thats unsurprising. So the kings of various countries in Europe, the President of America, and even the great King of Pop himself resided there. In fact, this is that hotel where MJ dangled his baby out the window...

*

Then we go to a darker time in German History - World War II. The persecution of the Jews, to be specific. If anyone doesn't know this yet; firstly, wow, come out of your turtle shell like now; Hitler planned a genocide of the Jews for some reason. So there is a whole monument dedicated to the Jews that suffered and died during his reign as Fuhrer.

Apart from that, there is a memorial dedicated to the other victims of tyranny and war; as we know there are many.

This one is a statue a mother with her dead son. Its interesting to note that this picture is an image of a mother weeping for her dead German soldier son. Perhaps its an illustration of how the German people suffered during the war too? I don't know. Apparently, architecture, like art, is subjective. So, for the Jewish memorial, nobody actually knows what inspired the work - though some theories include a theory that it resembles the Jewish cemetery in Prague.

*

Hitler was a tyrant, but he wasn't the last one. Berlin was the centre of the cold war, of course. Where the best representation of the Iron Curtain lies - the Berlin Wall. Its true that the wall is torn down, in great parts; but you can see it throught the whole city.

I must restrain myself from giving yet another history lesson here; but to those who are remotely interested, check here.. But, what we did do was cross the Berlin Wall only about a few hundred times. That's how well it divides up the city. Why we didn't realise that we had crossed it so many times its because this is how most of it looks these days.

*

Anyway, after the tour Eugene asks Victoria where can we find a "war museum". After repeating himself a few times, Victoria finally points it out to him. However, it turns out she's pointing out a "wall museum". Its here, and only here, that we realise that Eugene's pronounciation is well, not that good. Its only because we live in Singapore and we're so used to it that this fact doesn't occur to us till now.

Obviously we spend the next few hours minutes making fun, and the rest of the time trying to get him to say "wall".

But there is no need for proper pronounciation for dinner - we're going to meet up with Eugene's friends.

*

Ah, yes. I know I've promised Asian chick references to Mr Henrik Larsson, but I'm going to have to disappoint you. No Asian chick references to the fact that we're going to meet Eugene's friends from NTU. I'm not going to mention that his keen-ness on this meet was just too visible. No mention of the disappointment when he heard there were only two.

Anyway, meeting them was harder than expected - they said to meet at the "red building", when we were at the sky-tower in Berlin. No issue. Wait. There are two red buildings. Hm.

Fortunately, one is a historic-looking building and the other is a shopping mall. So... its pretty easy to figure out which one they'd be at. And I amn't mistaken.

We're unsure what type of food they'd like to eat - so we just go back to where we ate yesterday. Turns out they've been living on kebabs and snacks for the past month or so, but they agree to treat themselves to some nice filling food. Its here that I realise that Gobi and Lase, having lived in Western Countries for that long, don't have the notion that food MUST cost below $10. And I, having travelled with them long enough, have already forgotten about my $2 chicken rice waiting for me back home; and am settling for $15 pasta plates etc. Never mind. In memory of my poor laptop.

Then my day just becomes worse. Yes its possible. First, the waitress taking our order brings the wrong dish. But, well, if you know me, I'm not fussy about this. As long as it doesn't cost significantly higher. Then, she spills the rice on me. And everyone else, for that matter. I do get flustered enough, after being cajolled into it by my dinner-mates, to go to complain to the head waiter. He, not-so-promptly gives me a new bowl of rice, but during that time where I was waiting for it, well, I'm not eating. Not-so-promptly is being very nice; and I had been waiting for some time.

If that's not bad enough, this waiter has the chick to not return us our change, after insisting that the restaurant has no service charge. We had explained to him that tipping is when you feel that the service was good, not when the waitress drops half your food on you and doesn't apologise. Perhaps he's just plain stupid not to see that we're not obliged to tip him, and that we had no intention to do so. I mean, of all the restaurants that we have visited throughout the trip, this one was the one which least deserved a tip.

Its less than a Euro, anyway, so I don't want to make such a big noise to him. Or his manager.

I know this blog doesn't have fantastic readership. But for the sake of whoever reads it, by chance or not, you probably want to know the name of this restaurant. Obviously I'm not telling you not to eat there, just that every other shop in its vicinity has better tasting food and better service.

Oh yes. The name is Rocco's. At Hackesher Markt.

Anyway, I'm sure tomorrow will be better, even if my poor laptop will not come to life. We're going to meet the girls again, (Shu Hui and Genevieve) to visit the Parliament House. Lase is very happy.

(Sorry, couldn't resist that...)

Scene 28 - 17th July

As promised, Day 2 of Berlin (technically Day 3).

If previous days are to be considered, I'd have to say that we don't really have much to do today. After all, we have already walked along on our free walking tour and seen much of Berlin yesterday. So we stay in for the morning, Eugene of course, has to do laundry again, Lase is happy with WiFi. Me, of course, without my laptop, can't access the WiFi of the Hostel, but Eugene kindly allows me to use his laptop. Its tiny and has an uncomfortably crammed up keyboard, but I have to make do with this.

New discovery. Being guests at the Meininger Hostel Hauptbahnhoff, we have discounts eating at the Hauptbahnhoff next door. So we decide to walk over there for lunch. When we reach there, however, we realise that we have forgotten to bring our room cards. So no discount on our fries and chicken and sotong nuggets.

As I might have previously mentioned, today's agenda can be simply summarised by a visit to the Reichstag building with Shu Hui and Genevieve.

The Reichstag building is free to enter, and hence...

Actually I'll attribute this queue moreso to the fact that today is Saturday. If Paris was anything to go by, it seems that tourist attractions get rather crowded on the weekends. This probably is an interesting fact that any reader should take away from this account. Don't visit tourist attractions on weekends.

Anyway, what's the big fuss with the Reichstag building? Apart from the fact that it was once supposed to be the center of the Central World Government, I mean. Well, the dome on top of it, perhaps.

Daniel's Mum had told us that the Reichstag building was worth a visit in Berlin because they let you go up to the top of the dome. Plus its free, so...

Anyway, the security to get into the Reichstag building is expectedly quite strict, and all of us have to pass through those metal detectors etc. And only a certain number of people can be in the building at any particular time. This, incidentally, is probably the reason why there was such a megalong queue outside the building.

Anyway, once we're up there, we're not really going to come down too easily, right?

We rarely get a groupshot for the simple reason that its difficult to take the picture while being in it. So probably the above groupshot is the only full one we'll get. This is on the roof (terrace?) of the Reichstag building. Next to the dome.

Its very windy out here. The weather is scorching hot, so each gust of wind is a blessing. But sooner or later we have to enter the giant dome.

Its interesting once inside, though.

First, there's an interesting account of the history of the building. Considering the fact that I mentioned above (i.e. that this building was meant to be the seat of the World Government), there is a significant amount of History in this building.

Secondly, there's this insane mirror thing in the middle of the room.

The architecht designed this (post Hitler, of course) to reflect the transparency in the government. Its to remind the German government who they are serving - the People. Dem Deutsche Volke.

Thirldly, we can climb up to the top of the dome for a panoramic view of the whole of Berlin. There was an audio-guide, by the way, which was free. And, unlike the one at the Louvre, we found this one quite useful. Besides, did I mention that it was free?

*

Post-Reichstag Building and we're walking by the Berlin Wall again. There is something on the map about a Berlin Wall exhibition. Again, the drawing factor is that it is free. Turns out its just that some people had painted colourful pictures on the Berlin Wall. Voila, an exhibition. Ah well.

Interesting event here. Its quite funny, I must admit; though I'm a little shocked that it happened. Two girls, on passing an oriental painting from Japan, I think, stopped by to take a photo. Catch is, that they pulled the sides of their eyes i.e. narrowing them to slits. Hmm..

Actually the funnier part of it was that they were slightly taken aback when they saw Eugene walking towards them. Even funnier part - Eugene spends the next five minutes trying to convince us that his eyes are large.

*

Dinner is at Central Station again; and, once again, we forget the discount cards. Its just not meant to be, is it? Never mind; tomorrow, we're off to Copenhagen and then Sweden. You can actually see Lase is glad to be reaching home.

Previous - Act 10 Mainz

Next - Act 12 Copenhagen

Eurotrip: Act 10 - Rheinland-Pfalz

Scene 24 - 13th July (Rheinland-Pfalz)

We leave behind the relatively derelict East Germany to make our way towards the west - the same path travelled in generations past by thousands of people seeking a better life in the West. And like them, we are going to meet waiting friends on the other side of the iron curtain.

Only, of course, this time there's a high speed train taking us across the curtain. And that the curtain doesn't actually exist anymore.

A brief side-note: I said that Dresden and East Germany and East Europe is 'derelict', but I probably have to add in the fact that perhaps I'm making my comparisons to cities like London or Munich or even Singapore. Cities who either were not touched by the war, not burnt to the ground by it, or had the money to re-build after the war. As Colin from Prague said; we must not forget that for Eastern Europe, WWII only ended about 20 years ago.

Anyway we're on the way across Germany - its a five-hour trip and I have plenty of time to tell you, as promised, about Daniel Hach. And Christina, his fiance. Actually don't know her surname, my apologies.

Daniel is Lase's friend from Sydney, and by extension, Gobi's friend. The three of them knew each other from Sydney Uni. And how do I know him? When Daniel and Christina came to Singapore earlier this year, I showed them around. Well, Puva and I. Singapore was a short stop in their long trip to this part of the world, which included India and New Zealand. Currently, as I write this, incidentally these two countries are the least and most likely countries I would live in, respectively. After Singapore, of course.

They live in Mannheim. Or somewhere nearby. Considering the famed German Autobahn, I reckon no place is exactly too far. So we will be staying with them for a couple of days. Well with Daniel and his mum, actually.

So anyway we're reaching Mainz Station. Daniel told us to go to Mainz first, which is somewhere near Mannheim. I check the map, and find out that technically they're not even in the same state. Nearby though, and again; consider the famed German Autobahn, where there is no speed limit.

Mannheim and Mainz technically seem to be part of the 'outskirts' of the major city in the region, Frankfurt. In fact they're connected by Schnell-Bahn. So now we realise that our Europass covers S-Bahn. Which means we kinda wasted a bit of money somewhere someplace. Oh well.

When we reach the station (once more German Efficiency deems that we shall arive at 1500hrs on the dot) we see Daniel and Christina on the platform. German Efficiency once again. Which makes me feel a little bad considering the last time we met (back in Singapore) I was late. German Timing vs Indian Timing. Then again, considering that they had just come over from the Motherland (India) I reckon they would have expected me to come a little over 2 hours late. So probably they'd have been glad that I came only 15 min late.

Christina comments that she's seen me more often than most of her friends. Obviously, this startles me, but then, it makes sense because Germany is a huge country - and we (Eugene and I) live in a country which you can cross end to end faster than you can cross Greater London. And, not to mention, a country which is about as wired up as it could possibly be. Then again, I realise that I haven't exactly seen my old friends very often either, even given the puny nature of my country.

Anyway, we leave our luggage in Daniel's car and he puts a coupon. It comes to my attention now that Singaporeans' complaints about parking fines are unwarranted, as I hear about the standards of parking fines in Germany. Either that, or the German Minister for Parking Fines, on visiting the Singaporean Minister-for-Parking-Fines, got a few unwelcome ideas.

First on the agenda is Mainz city centre. Daniel and Christina have bought an apartment near where we are right now, but it's not ready so we won't be staying with them. We'll be staying instead with Daniel and his mum. Anyway, I also learn that Daniel and Christina are actually engaged - so they'll be getting married next June. Or sometime then. Wow. But then he is quite a fair bit older than us. Of course with the exception of the now 29 year old Henrik Larsson.

First on the stop in Mainz city centre is the Gutenberg Museum. And no photos are allowed in so we'll just take the one outside.

Why is there a Gutenberg Museum? Because Johannes Gutenberg, father of the printing press, and, not to forget, the man whose invention triggered the Protestant Reformation, was born in Mainz.

Christina is not joining us for the Museum - she's got errands/shopping to do. Anyway, its a shame that I didn't bring my student pass - its in Daniel's car. So I pay the full adult price. Shame. But not too bad since we're not really in one of the major attractions of the world and even full adult price is not really substantial.

For a museum dedicated to one man's one invention, the Gutenberg Museum is surprisingly large. Perhaps due to the fact that this one invention has had such a large impact on the world. Perhaps the last two inventions before this that had such an impact were fire and the wheel. So think about it.

Anyway, the obvious repercurssion of Gutenberg's printing press, as mentioned above, was the Bible. So there's a whole room dedicated to the storage of Gutenberg Bibles. Which are old and light-sensitive so there is a very special dim room for them. And a very special anti-theft glass which alerts security whenever someone touches it. We know this because we touched it and got a scolding. In the room upstairs, the other effect of the printing press which is more obvious. Strangely enough, I hadn't considered this on entering the Museum. Newspapers. So there is this whole room on the effect of Newspapers, good and bad. How the MadMan known as Hitler used the Newspaper to control people etc etc.

Anyway, no more about Gutenberg Museum. And we're off to the Dom. Now, der Dom is the main cathedral in Mainz. Still don't know what denomination of course but Daniel says he used to go there sometimes. So at least we know that Daniel and der Dom share the same denomination. Oh. Holy water fonts. Okay, that makes it obvious, especially when Daniel dips his finger and crosses himself. Can't really make out where the altar is, such is the size of der Dom. By the way, "der Dom" means "the Cathedral" in German. And there is no large dome on top of it.


See?

Anyway, its just a little too early for dinner now; but I reckon that considering that the travelling party is relatively tired from all the travelling that we have been doing, we're quite okay with sitting for awhile and eating dinner. We have our dinner at some pizzeria - irony considering that even in Germany, we are having pizza. The taste, however, is distinctly different from the Italian version. Wonder what Jean would say.


We also try a new drink. If you recall, Gobi does not drink; and yet in that picture it might appear that there's a fizzing glass of German Bier in front of him. That is, in fact, sparkling water mixed with Apfelsaft (apple juice). Now, till today, I don't understand the European obsession with sparkling water. But its a huge thing here too.

Personally I can't stand the taste of carbonated un-flavoured water. But, in this case, the Apfelsaft makes the drink quite nice. Nothing compared to the traditional Mother of all Drinks in Germany to which it looks so much alike, though. Bier, if you didn't get that.

After dinner, its just a little too early to go home. I'd like to say here that I'm a sucker for natural beauty. Mountains especially. No, no mountains here in Mainz, unfortunately. But what we do have is the Rhine. Now, ten years ago, on my visit to Switzerland, I saw Rhinefalls. The significance of it being (one of) the largest waterfall(s) in Europe was lost on me then. The Rhine here, however was way way different. Peaceful, quiet. (If there was one thing I remembered about Rhinefalls was the deafening noise the water was making).

Anyway Mainz is a quiet town; the Rhine flows quietly, people walk or jog by quietly and we are probably the noisiest people around. Interesting event though, as we were basking in the glory of the Rhine - someone quite near to where we were sitting was on the brink of being indecently exposed. And before you get your hopes up, it was not even the type of somebody to which you want to see indecently exposed. So most of us force our heads in the other direction, fighting against the glare of the setting sun. Oh well.


It is still worth chilling by the side of the River Rhine for awhile longer; mainly because it really is relaxing and we really are lazy. However, of course, all good things come to and end and we have to go back eventually.

Daniel Hach lives in a village (Gau-Bickelheim) a short while away from Mainz. Well, I reckon distance wise, it is quite far, but time wise, well, now we shall introduce the concept of the famed German Autobahn.


Enough said.

So once more I have a little time (very little time) to tell you a little more on Daniel Hach's visit to Singapore. Trust me, its relevant. Daniel worked on a project during University on smart fridges. Ones that could take advantage of fluctuating power supply from wind power so as to better conserve energy. Back in Singapore, of course, wind power is unheard of. Mainly because with the exception of the shore and certain places sparsely distributed around the island, wind has mythical status i.e. practically non-existent. So to us, the concept of wind power is absurd.

So to see wind turbines like those below on the way to Daniel's house is a completely new thing. I wonder how immensely huge those things are. I mean, considering the speed that the car is going at; and then consider that the picture is quite clear; hence the turbine must be quite far away. That makes it huge.


Anyway, as I said I have a very short time to explain this - we're at Gau-Bickelheim. Daniel gives us the whole basement since the house, despite being relatively huge, is just shared between Daniel and his mum. We don't see his mum, though, I think she's inside somewhere. I reckon that's enough to show how big the house is. Definitely the best hotel insofar. And that's even if I ignore the fact that we aren't exactly paying for it. We must get them some presents from Singapore when we get back.




You know, the view from Daniel's house (above) makes us wonder why on Earth for all that is good did he ever think of moving out. It is a vineyard down the road; and Daniel says we can just go down there. I see the hills, and recall my obsession with mountains; and coupled to my obsession with sunset; I want to see sunset from the mountain top. Really wonder how that would look.

Of course, it turns out that that hill was too tall to climb before sunset so we settle for sunset from somewhere near the middle of that hill.



A bit of bad news though, by the time we reach home; Eugene has a temperature. Apparently the searing heat had an effect on him. Gobi's not feeling too well either. I'm still spiffy but I'm absolutely sure that its a matter of days before my immune system falls. I'm very familiar with this phenomenon - its called the immune lag. Matter of time.

Anyway, Eugene being Eugene does his laundry again in Daniel's house. Once more, I just contribute one or two sets of clothing; and this is considering that I still have spare to lend Eugene as he has run out of clothes. Somehow.

Scene 25 - 14th July (Baden-Württemberg)

Before I go on any further, let me explain a little bit what those words in the brackets mean. First, if anyone reading does not know that I'm in West Germany now, well, I'm in West Germany now. Big question is perhaps where in West Germany we are. If we recall a little, we arrived in the city of Mainz, which is in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. Gau-Bickelheim, too, is in Rheinland-Pfalz. At least that is my understanding. Rheinland-Pfalz is borderd by the River Rhine, which we walked down the other day. So you can say that yesterday we crossed the state boundary a couple of times and travelled between Rheinland-Pfalz and Hesse (where Frankfurt is).

Today, we're travelling further south from Gau-Bickelheim. And in doing so cross state boundaries once more. This time to Baden-Württemberg. Hence, the bracketed word.

Mind you, I actually have to research and look at the map properly before I tell you these things; because on the German Autobahn, you probably could cross state boundaries without putting too much thought in it. And that's kind of what has been happening so far.

ANYWAY,

on this trip south I shall tell you that Daniel attended the University of Mannheim; and hence we'll be visiting that later. However, the first thing on the agenda is Heidelburg Castle. Now, let me tell you here that this is the greatest piece of news (and purely coincidental, I think) because Prague Castle was a scam of a medieval castle. I wanted a real castle ala Chillon. One that was in ruins. So, Daniel telling me that we're going to visit a medieval castle really made my day.




And, this time, the castle didn't disappoint. A true medieval castle with a history. One where the slaves will be put into a place and natural fertiliser from the castle's occupants dropped on them. Apparently these slaves/prisoners made quite a fair bit selling this fertiliser. The first true entrepreneurs cum marketing geniuses. Royal Poo. True story.


You see, had we been there a couple of hundred years earlier, we'd actually be standing in deep sh*t. Literally.

Thank God for Indian Timing.

There's a story in this castle regarding a footprint of a man who, in an attempt to escape from the castle, apparently jumped from a window on one of the upper floors, landed on the lower floor on one foot, left a large footprint in the ground, and sprung from the lower floor towards the city at the bottom of the castle. Being engineers, we came up with all possible explanations as to why that story is impossible, including the brittle fracture of bone on contact with the floor.


Of course, considering the fall from the castle to the village at the bottom, I don't think calcium hyroxyapatite's brittle nature comes into play at all.

~*~

Anyway, after Heidelburg Castle, we make our way to Mannheim University and Mannheim city centre in general. Now I'm honestly wondering why I didn't put Germany as one of my choices for exchange.


And once again, we have fun in the classroom, just like in Imperial.


Anyway, the next item on Daniel's itinerary (btw he's super organised) is a swim. Now, none of the travelling party has swimming trunks, and though Daniel offers to lend us some, nobody is in a real mood to go swimming. Besides Eugene is sick, so ultimately we decide on going home earlier.

~*~

Today Daniel's mum is sitting on the porch. She doesn't speak English. And irony of all ironies, the one of us who first starts trying to talk to her (in German) is Gobi. Not Ben, who has 3 years of German studying under his belt. Not Lase, who has 8 years. But Gobi.

Anyway, that leads me to start trying to talk to Frau Hach. Since I can say that at least I ought to know more German than Gobi. Obviously, in German that is as terribly fractured as the leg of the guy who tries to jump four floors from Heidelburg Castle and land on one foot, I talk to her for awhile.

Soon the conversation goes to the weather. But its not because she's very bored; its because the weather has become terribly scary. It starts to rain, and she asks if that happens in Singapore a lot.

Well.

Jeden Tag I say. (Everyday).

However, the severity of the storm is kind of scary. Makes me reconsider saying Jeden Tag.. Considering that it was scorchingly hot for the past few days; so much so that I think they tried cloud seeding, I think nature heard their call. And answered. Very loudly.

I honestly thought the house was going to be ripped up by a twister that would spontaneously generate. To say that tables and chairs were flying, however, would not be an exaggeration. I don't understand how they are sitting outside with the flying chairs and tables. I'm happy hiding in the basement with sick Eugene. I heard that was the one place that wouldn't go flying off in a twister.

Anyway, by the time the storm blows over, I'm looking kind of silly, thankfully only to myself since I'm the only one who knows that I pictured the house being blown away. Well, until you read this. More importantly, however, its late enough for most dinner places to be closed.

Now, perhaps I have a clearer picture of one of the downsides of living in a village the size of Gau-Bickelheim. In the end we have pizza delivered; so for the second consecutive dinner with Daniel Hach, we have pizza.

~*~

I feel terrible now, because I've discovered that our indecision had caused Daniel to be forced to change his plans. Worse still, apparently, dinner was supposed to include Christina. So, now, as it turns out, we won't be seeing Christina at all. Not for a very long time at least. Oh well. No more indecision, then.

Scene 26 - 15th July (Rhine)

The Rhine is a river that originates in the Swiss alps and passes through West Germany, as mentioned earlier, before draining into the North Sea in Holland. Now I must bring up a point I neglected to bring up previously, since we mentioned Holland. If anyone were to have been following our trip, the original plan in Europe did not involve Mannheim or Gau Bickelheim or Mainz, but Amsterdam. Of course, considering the fact that we were mirroring the Eurotrip of the four teens in the Eurotrip movie, AND considering the fact that it seems that the general consensus seems to suggest that no Eurotrip will be complete without a visit to the Sex and Drugs capital of the world, it seems odd that we would do this.

It had come to our attention, somewhere in Paris, that Amsterdam was highly overrated and expensive. Also, given Eugene's sheer paranoia of the HIV virus, it also didn't seem logical. By the way, paranoia is probably the nicest thing I can say about it; and even then, I concede that the word is an understatement. And we haven't even mentioned Gobi's repulsion towards all things immoral - we'll come to this later. Anyway, I reckon I'll choose visiting friends any day over seeing the erm - windmills - of Amsterdam. And by 'windmills' you know what I mean.

Anyway, back to the Rhine. I get distracted easily.


Where was I..?

Oh yes, this area of the Rhine was deemed a World Heritage Site. What's that? Erm...

So we get onto the River Cruise. For some absurd reason, this boad is inundated with Asian people. From poor disillusioned Eugene's motherland. Of course, Henrik Larsson is in danger of missing the beautiful sights outside the boat if he's too distracted by the beautiful sights inside the boat.

Our plan is to take the cruise up for about 3 hours; then take a train back down to Mainz and then off to Berlin. You'd think that we'd get bored sitting on a river cruise for 3 hours; but, while I can't say that for my fellow Eurotrippers, I wasn't bored.

To me, taking a peaceful relaxing trip down a river that is not the Singapore river, viewing beautiful scenery on either bank of this river, is probably the ultimate end to our experience in West Germany. I think Gobi and Eugene are enjoying the boat ride - me and lase (all asian chick jokes aside) are enjoying the scenery outside the boat.



A picture tells a thousand words; so there a couple of thousand words in those pictures. To me, those couple of thousand words tell the story of why this place is indeed a world heritage site. AND here I have to thank Daniel for this - its amazing that he found the two things that we had not managed to see or do during our Eurotrip - the boat cruise and the castle..

Three hours fly by and soon its time to get off the train. The train station, however, where we get off, is well, desolate. It doesn't seem that the train is coming any time soon; but apparently upon checking with the schedule on the station, there is one coming in erm.. oops. now.

We rush up to the platform just as the S-bahn comes to a stop - Lase is down below with Gobi trying to buy the tickets. We had brought up the bags to the platform; but we don't dare board the train lest it leaves, splitting our group in half.

They're done with the ticket purchasing, run up, and we rush into the train! Yes!

And, just as it has to be... we wait another 3 minutes before the train finally departs from the station. Hmmm...

*

Prelude to Act 10 - Berlin, 15 July.

IF anyone were to take a look on the map of the world, or just a map of Germany, for that matter; they would probably see that Berlin is back in East Germany. This has Historical significance of course, but for once, this account is not going to give you a history lesson. Besides, I'm sure I'll cover it some time when we're actually in Berlin.

The significance to us, though, is that this ride across to Berlin is pretty long; and by the time we reach there, it is dinner time.

Now, here I'll tell you that we are staying at the Meininger Hotel Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Anyone following this blog might recall that this means "Main Train Station". So, for once, we have ABSOLUTELY no trouble finding this hostel - its right next to the Hauptbahnhof, where we got off the train.

Oh, by the way, I observed something interesting just now. When we were on that high-speed train, as we entered Berlin city centre, it slowed down dramatically. Its almost as if it was going to stop; that's how slow we felt it was going. And at that point, I realised that it was in fact zooming past ordinary Metro trains on adjacent tracks. I say this to emphasise the speed at which these high-speed trains travel - so fast that even when they slow down dramatically they still zip by the ordinary city trains. I reckon we were still travelling at about 80kmph. Which, if you think about it, is a drastic slow-down from 300kmph.

Anyway, one thing about arriving in Berlin and then living next to the rail station is that its not exactly near the hip-and-happening places. So we ask the Meininger clerk to help point us to some place to eat. He obliges, and we go to walk down to the region where he indicated on the map.

My life gets slightly (only slightly) interesting here. As we walk by the restaurants down the street - these restaurants are still slightly pricey - we notice that (according to Gobi) the restaurants seem to have an interesting marketing strategy by having girls parade themselves in very strange outfits outside each restaurant.

Obviously, while I'm not actually kidding when I say that Gobi had thought it was a marketing strategy, we soon realise that they're not really too interested in promoting the restaurant they were standing outside - but moreso just standing there. Walking the street.

Its about this time that Eugene seemed to realise what they were and took painstaking efforts to plan his walking path to maximise the distance from them. In the event that maximising distance didn't work, he didn't hesitate to increase his 'distance' from them by adding a buffer (i.e. one of us) between him and them to further protect himself. Remember I said paranoia?

If anything, I found watching him and them interesting. I was actually quite curious as to see how this concept of prostitution worked. Never actually observed it. Obviously I'm careful not to appear overly interested in them i.e. give anyone the wrong impression. But for academic curiousity...

Anyway, I don't think its the time of the night where their business starts to pick up.

*

Can't say much about dinner, apart from the fact that it is probably the most affordable thing there is in this region of Berlin. Probably Berlin, being a capital city, is more expensive. Oh well.


But the hotel receptionist was not lying. This is the happening place of Berlin. Even if you consider what I now called Whore-Strasse.


We walk back up Whore-Strasse (I don't know how we actually managed to convince Eugene - apparently we're very convincing) and I get to see more activity. (i.e. the people I named the street after are finally getting business.. IT turns out they operate like this. People actually go up to them and ask them for their rates, and they tell. Then there is actually bargaining and negotiating, and finally if they agree upon a fee, they disappear around the corner.

Obviously, I do not observe past this point because that's crossing the boundary into voyeurism, out of academic interest. In any case, I don't really have much intention to see what's going on around that corner. Besides, in the dark, this place looks about ten times as dodgy as it looked in the light.

Previous - Act 9 Dresden

Next - Act 11 Berlin

Eurotrip: Act 9 - Dresden

Scene 22 - 11 July

Today is an important day - its the day of the Final of the World Cup! It's also Henrik Larsson's birthday. We agree to forget it until the night when we'll buy him a cake or something he'd like more like beer and then surprise him. Of course, here, by 'we' I mean Gobi, Eugene and I. Today is also a Sunday, which means that I'm going to church in German for the first time to see how much really I understand in German.

Anyway, all this is something to worry about later; right now we're still in Prague and wondering how to get out of here. After breakfast, the receptionist at the counter advises us to take the tram rather than stupidly taking the Metro like we did to get to the hostel in the first place. After all, taking the Metro would involve changing train twice in a ten minute journey; and the tram is more direct.

Getting out of Eastern Europe is harder than expected since it seems that so many people are trying to do it. Stereotypes again. Ahh.. Anyway, there are many people at the train station waiting to get onto the Prague - Dresden train.

Like typical Singaporeans we rush onto the train just as it opens its doors. What we don't count on, is that Eastern Europeans seem to be better at it than us. However, the true kiasu-ness shines through ultimately as Eugene ghosts past one guy who was about to enter a cabin and finds himself in the cabin before that guy. I manage to glimpse the guy's shocked expression as a little chinese man suddenly appears like a leprechaun in the cabin in front of his eyes.

That little chinese leprechaun then lets the three of us in.

Soon a lady starts knocking on our window and gesturing to us wildly and mouthing to us in a language we can't understand. I interpret what she is saying as "wind down the window". Eugene, on the other hand, thinks that she means close the curtains.

Besides, I dont know how to wind down the window. However, before we get to drawing the curtains, an old man comes into our cabin and tells us that he had reserved all four seats in the cabin. So basically, he's saying "scram".

By now, the train is about to leave; so we quickly rush out of the cabin and run on the platform side. Its not the first time that we're running on the platform for a train that we might very well miss, but each mad run is its own experience.

As we run along the side, panting with our gigantic bags we try the immediate next cabin; but the person assures us that there are no seats on this cabin and tells us to go straight to the first cabin. So we run there, dump our bags, sit quietly, and breathe.

*

The train ride to Dresden from Prague is not too long - only about 2 hours. This is perhaps another reason why Dresden is a popular stop off - because its 2 hrs from both the capital of the Czech Republic (Prague) and the capital of Germany (Berlin).

*

Alighting in Dresden, the train station is typical German. Trains running on time, etc etc. But once we step out of the train station, take a tram down to near our hotel, things change. Dresden has become a dead town. Its almost as if they're still hiding from the horrible allied bombing that virtually destroyed this town at the end of WWII. Which brings us to just why Dresden is famous - it was nearly completely destroyed by allied bombings at the end of the War. And, afterward, it was actually rebuilt. One of the famous monuments in Dresden, the Frauenkirche, was actually rebuilt from as many of the original stones as possible. But once more, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back to the fact that Dresden seems like a dead town. Perhaps its attributed to the fact that today is a Sunday. Wait, that means I have to go to church. Which means that I have to FIND a church. But first, to the hostel.

After walking quite a fair bit, we finally find the hostel. Or as its called, a homestay. ITs not really a homestay, mind you, its actually a hostel. But nevertheless, we find it. We ask the friendly receptionist why Dresden is such a dead town. Rather than the answer we expect (The allies are cominggg!) he tells us that its the heat.

Ok that most definitely makes more sense because right now, the temperature outside is just too hot. I'm Singaporean, and if I say that its too hot, its too hot.

Still, I have to walk all the way down to the city center across the river to find the Catholic Church for mass today. The guy at the reception desk assures me its ONLY a 30 min walk, and says its very walkable. Considering the heat, URGH.

But I do it anyway. And its actually walkable.

*

Gobi doesn't trust my navigational skills (for perhaps good reason as I've been lazy to guide in the past few cities), but I know better. Still he's got me doubting myself so I'm exceedingly careful not to get lost in this city.

Its still afternoon and I'm sure that evening mass is in the evening. So I take my own sweet time walking down to the 'Old Town'. There is irony in the name, because the 'Old Town's' buildings are actually newer than the New Town's ones. For the simple reason that the Old Town's buildings are the ones that were firebombed during the war and were only rebuilt after that.

You can actually see the cranes. I hear that's ACTUALLY how they built the Old Town back in the day.

I get to church just in time for the Mass. The Polish Mass, that is. Ahh, so the Polish immigrants are the Catholics here. There is a German Mass at 6.30pm, so if I go for that instead, where I probably would be able to understand at least a bit of what's going on, I have about an hour to kill.

So I walk down the River Elbe. Considering the weather, I reckon that there are at least a hundred better things that I could be doing instead. Including jumping into the first fountain I see. Another problem is that I've forgotten to bring any money.

So here I am in the blazing heat, without any money, waiting for mass. A plus point, I pass by the place where I see what I think is the German national U-19 girls soccer team training. Can't really see clearly what's going on so I shall just walk on. Finally my hour is killed and I go for mass.

By the way, I don't think it would have made much difference had I attended the Polish mass.

When mass is done, the sun is lower in the sky and the weather is kinder on the skin. Hence, walking back is easier. Much easier.

---

Now, as I mentioned earlier, today is the 11th of July and we have to watch the World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain. After dodging a couple of places deemed too dodgy by our resident dodgy-place-meter Eugene, we end up in a Turkish place which was relatively empty considering its World Cup Night.

By the time we enter the place, actually, its already the second half and its SOOO different from Munich where the atmosphere was alight. Here, nobody actually cares who won, it seems. That obviously makes sense because Germany aren't in the final. It seems that they, like us, are slightly supportive of the Dutch cause. For some reason.

Double disappointment. The Dutch lose, and the Kebabs sucked to the core. Urgh. Now I know why Gobi is so hesitant to eat European Kebabs. And here I thought Germany is the Turkish Motherland. Urgh. The fact that Henrik Larsson has thrown away half his food isn't surprising. The fact that I follow suit, however, is an indication of how bad the food was.

---

Finally we reach back to the hostel and I am bushed. Turns out the my travel companions had been sleeping the whole time I was out walking the Old Town. But I can finally sleep now.

Oh wait. I forgot to mention. 11 July is Henrik Larsson's birthday. Now, we all know what Henrik Larsson likes second best in the world (no. 1 being of course Asian girls). As I was saying, number two is beer. So we had been planning to surprise him with a beer party when we came back. Well, fine. A beer. As in one can of beer. It should not be forgotten, here, that we are Asian. Stereotypically speaking, that would mean that we're cheap. Ignore the fact that Henrik Larsson's birthday present was supposed to be one can of beer. We move on to fact number two - there is no beer. You see, for some absurd reason, they don't sell beer past 10pm in Dresden.

To think we complain in Singapore.

So, we end up getting him an ice cream from the dodgy shop down the stairs. Gobi says there was a professional serial rapist behind the counter. I don't know. I was too busy playing my part in the 007-style mission that was getting Lase a present without him knowing. Apparently there was a pretty girl in the shop too.

I don't know what Gobi and Eugene were thinking leaving the shop with those two people in them.

Oh yes, it has just come to my attention that the Train ride from Prague to Dresden was in a First Class Cabin. I don't know how we pulled that off. Eugene attributes it to his and Lase's blond-hair and blue-eyes. The poor disillusioned Chinese Leprechaun.

Scene 23 - 12 July

Today is another of those days that will whir by unnoticed. Today, though, the excuse is as much the unbearable heat as it is the fatigue. And of course, add to these factors the fact that there honestly isn't much to see in Dresden.

In our intelligence and defiance to the fact that European weather can ever compare with the searing heat of our beloved homeland (by we, of course I mean Gobi, Eugene and I; and by homeland I mean Singapore for Eugene and I, Australia for Gobi), we decide to brave the unbearable heat and torture our Scandanavian counterpart.

We are going to CYCLE around the bike-friendly ruins that is Old Dresden. Now, I mentioned a while ago about the Historical significance of Dresden with respect to WWII. Today we are going to visit all those places that were rebuilt to look just like the original state.

Of course, here we must pause to recall the last time we cycled on the wrong side of the road. But this time, I'm sure we can just stick to the rule. Keep Right Unless Overtaking. Its quite simple, really. I hope. Besides, Dresden still seems to be pretty much a dead-town because of the heat. So as long as we're not cycling in an air-conditioned room or anywhere near a gigantic fountain, I think its fine. So, I mark out anything that resembles a gigantic fountain on the map.

I have got a confession to make here - yesterday, on my long long walk before mass, I went searching for a place. A place called slaughterhouse 5.

Why? Kurt Vonnegut was trapped there during the allied firebombings; and this inspired him to write the book Slaughterhouse 5.

So? Erm. Secret.

Moving on, today all of them come join me for my quest to search for Slaughterhouse 5. Today, we are all on bikes; hence we might be able to go further. We go past the German U-19 girls soccer team training ground, past a fun-fair that seems very very creepy - a quick flash to the Sullivan Brothers' Carnival from Heroes and back again - and then we're at this strange place. Now, are we at Slaughterhouse 5? No one actually knows. I know we're somewhere AROUND where it is supposed to be.

There is this building with a picture of a cow on it. That seems like something that a Slaughterhouse 5 should have?

Though I'm not sure about the wisdom in depicting Kurt Vonnegut as a cow.

I snap a shot of the said Slaughterhouse,

AT long last the sun sets and we're headed back to the hostel with the erm.. happy.. receptionist. Gobi uses the phrase overly-friendly - further proving the fact that no matter how homo-phobic I ever be, he (Gobi) will be worse off than me.

Tomorrow we will be going all the way to West Germany - across the Rhine in fact; and we'll be visiting Daniel Hach and his family. I'll probably tell you all more about them on the train there.

Previous - Act 8 Prague

Next - Act 10 Mainz