Heads or Tails? My quick trip to Berlin

We pulled up to our hotel pretty late in the evening. The drive from Prague to Berlin was painless; a bit long, but comfortable from the backseat of a car. Without having to pay attention to the road or which tram stop was approaching, I was able to delve deeper into Ken Follett’s sequel to Pillars of the Earth; his storytelling entrancing me, the scenery behind the windows passing me by. Before I knew it, we had arrived.

The next day was spent walking Ku-Damm, the longest shopping boulevard in Germany, maybe even the world. After stopping in KaDeWe to have a look at Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, and Diane von Fuerstenberg, we spent the afternoon with Udo Waltz; hairdresser to the stars. My roommate, from Potsdam, was ecstatic and quick to share the news with family and friends. I, on the other hand, relished the hair-washing head massage. Our evening was quiet; dinner, a walk in the park and a metro ride home. 

I was feeling relaxed. A bit too relaxed. The point of this experience abroad is to get uncomfortable, out of my comfort zone. I had only two days in Berlin and an entire 24 hours was gone to pampering and window shopping. I felt like I hadn’t seen the city yet. Sure, Berlin’s carving itself out to be a fashion capital of the world, so the previous day wasn’t carried out completely in vain, but I had to make up for the guilt. In a country once ravaged by war, dictatorship and ethnic cleansing, there obviously was more to see.

I’m quite embarrassed to say that because of a “hop on, hop off” bus tour taken the following day, I learned more about this city, this country, its conflicts and its people in a few hours than I had in all my years of studying “world history.” Berlin today isn’t much like it was before WWII. Everything had been destroyed; cities, buildings, families, everything. And it all had to be rebuilt around a linear divide; a death strip that separated the east from the west, socialism from capitalism. The Berlin Wall stood for nearly 30 years.

I felt better once I hopped off at my final destination, but was still not completely satisfied. Packing up that morning, I watched a Bloomberg Venture interview with travel guide expert Rick Steves. He recalled his last holiday and his fellow, typical cruise ship travelers; those who get off at a port, walk into town and return with bulging bags of cheap souvenirs. Nothing wrong with it of course, just not his style. But docked on the coast of Bosnia, Steves chose to travel just two hours inland, gaining a whole new perspective on a community rebuilding itself after war. This inspired him and he “returned home richer for it."

Steves assured that there’s no right way or wrong way to travel; and he’s absolutely dead on. But he made me consider what kind of traveler I want to be, what kind of experiences I want to have...

Ending my stay in Berlin and taking the train to meet my roommate in her home town, a young backpacking man took the seat next to me; magic cards in one hand and a coin in the other.

"Flip it,” he said in perfect English.

I fought the urge to shrink, to turn my head and pretend I was invisible. I looked at him.

"Come on, take it,” He motioned to me to grab the piece of metal.

I picked it up. Settling it on my thumb, I waited for the train to slow. It was time. With a quick flick, the coin landed in my palm and I turned it over on the back of my left hand.

"Tails,” I said.

He smiled and was gone.

Comments

Posted on 7/21/2009 by

Mary Smith

... Was he cute?

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