Getting There

I had never flown overseas before. I have, however, taken an extremely long flight to Anchorage, Alaska which lasted almost as long as a flight across the Atlantic. I love flying so I was not worried one bit. Of course I did have a layover in Brussels, but I figured that airports are usually pretty easy to figure out and cater to international travelers pretty well. I booked my tickets on Orbitz and got a round trip flight from Chicago to Berlin and back for $697.77. I Couldn’t believe that I was going on a month long trip so far away form home, but I was unbelievably excited. The more outrageous thing was that I was spending every day of this month with someone who I had only met in person for a total of 3 hours!

Anyway, so my flight left at 5:40 on August 5. It was an overnight flight and I would be arriving in Germany at 11:05. From Chicago to Brussels, I sat next to a woman who was from Belgium. She, her husband and their two children were coming home from a long vacation in the Southwest states like Utah, Arizona and then some of California. They traveled all over to see the sites. She said that they took these kinds of trips fairly often and have been all over the world. I was jealous that their employers let them take a good month off to see the world. We talked here and there as we flew through the darkness over the ocean. I arrived in Brussels around 8:45, walked through a number of empty hallways, and ended up in the most spacious Airport Terminal I have ever seen. It was just one big metal arch, much more spacious than was needed, but it was quite visually impressive. I waited there a little while for my plane and then had a short flight over to Berlin. The plane was small, and so was the Airport. I flew into Tempelhof Airport, which is located very close to the main city of Berlin. I had to walk from the plane to the terminal and then wait while they got our baggage. The airport was practically empty, and there was no traffic on the other runways, I was very surprised. Once I got my bag, I walked through a door and there was Dirk. I did not have to go through any lengthy inspections, no customs, no metal detectors, just a glass door. It seemed very strange. I was expecting more technicalities and fanfare…nope, just my German buddy waiting behind a simple glass door.

Exploring Berlin
We gave each other a big hug and then loaded my bags into the Ford station wagon. It was all a bit surreal, being in a different country, with someone who I had not seen in a long time. I had known him for about a year at that point, but I still had no idea what to expect. We stopped off at the church parsonage where we would be staying the next few nights, and then went on our way to explore Berlin and do some sightseeing. Berlin is a very new city. There are historical buildings, but they are few and far between. I suppose it is all because of WWII. Dirk always described the large, bland, metal and concrete buildings as “GDR buildings.” It was an overall lack of esthetic and it all felt very cold and sterile. For me, the architecture had a feeling of the 70’s in America.

We took the train to the main part of the city, to see some of the more famous areas of Berlin, but we also made sure to stop at Starbucks, and H&M (mostly to hide from the pouring rain). We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Sony Center, pieces of the Berlin Wall and a GIANT Holocaust memorial. Huge concrete blocks of varying sizes filled acres of land. I was frustrated by the children running and playing on the blocks. I didn’t think their parents were raising them right, they didn’t instill the sense of reverence for what it symbolized. But looking back at my video, the running children add a whole new element to the space. An innocence amid tragedy.

Some Thoughts on Berlin
We spent the day walking through the city and enjoying the random rays of sunlight. I can’t say that I was all that impressed with Berlin, maybe I was still in shock that this was the first day of a momentous journey in a country where I couldn’t speak a single word of the native language. Maybe it was it’s similarity to many large American cities. I think I would rather visit medieval cities than new ones. I did, however, make two important discoveries While in Berlin: Döner is heaven in edible form, It is very similar to a Gyro, but somehow better. The other discovery was that being able to drink in public places is really great! Dirk and I bought some bottles of beer that we would drink later. My eyes widened when he popped the cap off that bottle right there on the street. It was refreshing, I mean we weren’t going to get drunk, we just wanted to sit in a nice area and have a beer, It was so logical yet so freeing! There we sat sipping away on German beer in the Alexanderplatz the promise of an amazing trip sparkling in our eyes.

Done for the Day
We took the train back to the parsonage where we were staying and met up with our hosts. Two brothers (Bise and Robert) were watching over their uncle’s home while he and his wife were out of town. The brothers (who were our age) rolled their own cigarettes and played some card game that I could not understand (different cards and different language.) We all just hung out in the house, I think I took a nap and tried to catch up on my missed sleep. We pulled out the couch, prayed, and then went to sleep eagerly awaiting the next day of our trip.

Video From this day posted at Stone Farm:

Google Earth Placemarks for Day 1: Open this map