BERLIN, GERMANY
11th November, 2015
When I was 22, I met someone who changed my life. I had no idea that over the next near decade, Anika would turn into a dear friend. Weâd met when she spent a few months in Australia and the irony is, we werenât particularly close at the time but through postcards, letters, care packages, emails and Skype a friendship blossomed! I live all the way in Oz and she lives in Germany so when I booked my ticket for Ăire, it made sense to book one for Berlin. With the help of some mutual friends plus an English bird who is a stranger to Anika, we set about organising a surprise. As far as Anika was concerned, she was to be a tour guide. She would meet and farewell this visitor at the Airport as well. Just because of who she is, Anika even took the day off work which is lucky for me as it meant I got to spend two days with her.
The flight touched down in Berlin in the late afternoon, I wasnât sure if the time was correct as it was dark outside! Back home, the sun still shines well into the evening! I had a few butterflies about my plan, d'uh⊠a bit late donât you think? Walked towards the arrivals gate and the doors open and thereâs my friend standing there with a giant sign with someone elseâs name on it. The look on her face when it registered, gold. Absolute gold! Well me being me, I just burst into tears and laughed. Between the two of us we just stood there hugging, staring at one another, laughing, crying, rinse and repeat! Nine years is a long time!
My hometown has five train lines, four of which share the same track. Berlin has more than a dozen or so making it pretty easy to get around town. Driving makes no sense in a town so well connected by public transport. Anika took me to her home to meet her husband and have dinner. We drunk cups of tea, a smoky whiskey and my favourite⊠Red wine! As my visit was so short, we took in some sights that same night. I even got to see parts of the Wall. I studied Cold War history in year 12 but to actually be there and see with my own two eyes how Berlin was divided is just crazy. War and politics, eh? I do wonder what the generations to follow will make of us and our decisions these last few decades!
Can I just say, the rubbish thing about someone knowing you so well is that they can emotionally blackmail you! Had it not been for the fact that I desperately needed a shower, was slightly unwell and had purposely chosen to splurge on my German accomodation, I would have given in and stayed at my mates. Well played though! The repeated pleas and bribes of good morning hugs and homemade brekky and early morning chat very nearly broke me! I stayed in the centre of Berlin in the district of Prenzlauer Berg. The place was called Ackelhaus and wow, wow, wow I am going back for sure! This trip has been a mix of hotels, B&Bâs and hostels for days when I knew Iâd be out on tour 'til sunset so it was quite lovely to spoil myself and stay in a boutique hotel. Itâs got me thinking about destination 2016! To be fair though, I am due another physical adventure like last yearâs six day summit up Mt Kilimanjaro!
We visited so many places including a Holocaust memorial site, the Berliner Dom, Brandenburg Gate, parts of the Berlin Wall and even spotted an Irish Pub! Theyâre bloody everywhere ;-) Once we exited the underground, I found myself telling my mate that we could be in Australia! She explained that a lot of the buildings had been destroyed so a lot of Berlin was fairly new and did sadly look like just about any city. There were still quite a lot of buildings with Gothic architecture. Visitors to the Berliner Dom can choose to climb 267 steps to the top of the gallery for a 360° view of the entire city. What did we do? We climbed! Bloody hell I donât mind admitting that we had to pause for a bit but the views were stellar.
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