Berlin, Part 1 of ?

 Our biggest and most memorable trip within our trip was our visit to Berlin. Technically, it was our visit to West and East Berlin, for at the time, the city was still divided. There are so many reasons why those few days have stuck with me.

I'm sort of embarrassed to say, but I think the fact that we were more on our own, away from both our families and our host families, made Berlin more fun for most of us. For me, that was a first at age 16. Granted, we had our teachers' supervision, but we could certainly relax more. It was a little unnerving for the first couple of weeks in Germany to be on our best behavior in someone else's home, while being unsure of pretty much everything. Dare I ask for another ice cube? Is it ok to have a 2nd Brötchen? In the case of my host family, the boys ate like (no exaggeration) ravenous animals. Clearly they were growing, but WTF? I remember one of them grabbing the serving dish and rapidly shoving the remains into his mouth. I was dumbstruck. In Berlin we could act like the sixteen and seventeen year old's we were. I recall taking full advantage.

Peter, me, Dave, and John in the 1936 Olympic Stadium. I won the gold for the worst looking sweatshirt imaginable. Check Peter's jeans and note his rock and roll buttons - yes, the 80s, nor should you overlook John's Member's Only Jacket.

The other reason it was a highlight is because the history and politics of Berlin were fascinating. West Berlin, the part still connected to Western Europe, was an island surrounded by East Germany. The Berlin Wall, for example, surrounded West Berlin, to keep others out, namely East German citizens. 

Trains were not quite so speedy in those days. I remember it was a long ride, and we were nervous about the "passing through East Germany" part. The teachers had prepared us to try not to act like idiots in a way that could get us into trouble. I can't imagine a trip like this would even be possible with some of today's teens, since many of them figure they can get away with (and often do) anything. Along the way through East Germany we made a few stops, which I think were border and security checks, and I guess I couldn't resist pointing my camera out the window.

DDR flag, Deutsche Demokratische Republic, taken out the train window in 1982.

I'm not sure my next move was the smartest, even in my sixteen year old brain, but when the East German border police came on the train to ask who had taken photos, I pretended I hadn't. Hopefully I wasn't in any real danger of being pulled off the train. Perhaps they would have taken my film. I'm glad neither of those happened, but it's probably also a good thing that I didn't try that ten or twenty years prior. It might have had a different ending.

I don't remember much else from the train ride, but when we arrived in Berlin we checked into a youth hostel, although I have no idea where in the city we stayed. By no means is Berlin any sort of a grid city, and we mostly traveled around by subway, which doesn't really lend itself to getting your bearings. At that time, the heart of the city was the Kurfürstendamm, the busy boulevard in the west. With the end of the wall, the heart has moved to the historical center, Mitte and Alexanderplatz. I'm looking forward to seeing that change. In the K-damm area, I recall visiting the memorial church and it's more modern replacement, and perhaps we went to Ka De We? Pretty sure that was a big tourist hit in its day. Here's a photo from the Ku-Damm:

The "U" is for underground (subway) and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is in the background next to the modern bell tower. 

I remember seeing what appeared to be hardcore punk rockers in the city, which we didn't really see in Madison in the early 80s. Seems as though the city had a sizable population of drug addicts then, and perhaps we'll see both when we return this summer. Thanks to U2, I now know that Zoo Station is a hangout for those who are addicted. Actually, I read a bit online and see that now the subway stations are frequented by addicts, especially along the U8 line.

Also troubling is that I see the U.S. State Department has a "Do Not Travel" to Germany and all other European nations. Looks like COVID is still the primary reason. We'll see if that is updated to a caution in the coming weeks.