The Dwarves of Wroclaw

 Yes Dwarves. These little beauties are all over town and there are over 800 of them with an interesting history of citizen rebellion behind them. Now there are a huge tourist attraction with maps and stickers for wayward travellers to hunt for them while exploring the city. I saw more than one group of people, not just kids, with maps opened up with glazed eyed smiles all around. 

They originate from dwarves painted on the walls of buildings in the 1980s as part of happenings organized by the anti-communist movement called the Orange Alternative. It was created by students from Wrocław, and its aim was to ridicule the communist system in a peaceful way. -- Wiki

During WW2 Wroclaw was called Breslau that endured a three month siege from the advancing Russian forces heading to Berlin. Of course Hitler demanded it be defended at all costs, blah blah blah. It fell ony  May 6th and all German forces surrendered on May 7th.

Aside from a bit of history, I had no expectation for Wroclaw. It was a halfway point between Warsaw and Prague and I had time, so why not. There was the posts and reviews that it was not a "touristy" as most European cities and I was ready for that, so I guess that was my expectation.

Bullet Damage from WW2

As I mentioned before, if I want to extend this trip as long as I can, I will need to cut down accommodations costs while in Europe so, I have booked hostels and will continue to do so until I have an absolute shi** experience. What I have seen as of now is it is NOT like it used to be "back in the day." Now, nobody talks to each other, and so far everyone is respectful and quiet because, well nobody talks to each other. Most of these "young uns" spend  hours a day laying in bed looking at their phones, and it carries over to the evening. The first time that I came to Europe in my 20s it was a free for all, but times have changed and to an old guy like me that works out just fine.

In Wroclaw I stayed in a 4 bed dorm with it's own bathroom, the Hostel Wratislavia, which has an odd website making it look like this crazy fun place, it is not, but it was fine for C$17 a night and a short 20 minute walk from the bus station. I guess also in order to save a few bucks I also have to give up coffee as it averages about $5 a cup and it ain't no Timmies Medium!

Historical Island Church and Outbuildings

An easy morning amble on a nice day, took me to the riverfront and I found a cafe with, you guessed it, a $5 coffee but whatever, the morning was nice and the view was as you see above. A series of ancient bridges let to the island and the place was relatively tourist free. This church was first constructed in the 10th century and has been destroyed by fires, The Mongol invasion and WW2. Those pesky Mongols were everywhere. It was on the iron bridge going to the island that I discovered my first Dwarf. The bridge has become somewhat of a "lover's bridge" much like various bridges in Paris. Couples would attached a lock to the bridge and toss the key into the river to show their love is forever. I wonder how many guys have dove into the river to find the key over the years? There were locks on the poor little dwarf as he became the symbol of tradition.

One of the many colorful town squares

With a large McDonalds coffee I found the first of many colorful town squares and streets to just sit and enjoy the morning. I don't know the names of any of these places and I did not look them up, it was just incredibly nice to sit and drink my coffee watching the wide eyed Dwarf Map Followers and the locals just doing what they do in Europe. There was NOBODY rushing around even though it was a work day. I am just going to repeat myself, I wandered around, street by street, square by square enjoying the day. I chatted up a pack of Scottish ladies doing the dwarf thing and they were having the time of their lives. When they found 5 dwarves they stopped for a drink. Now that is how you go dwarf hunting.

I guess you would call this the Seinfeld post, it really is about nothing. Go for a walk, drink coffee and a few beer, eat lunch, walk some more, learn a bit of history, take some photos, chat with a few people, hunt for dwarves and ponder a bit of WW2 damage... but it was about nothing.

Warsaw

Now for something a little different. A lovely Polish town that is very clean, steeped in culture and history, with an incredible Old Town filled with historical buildings, excellent cafes and hoards of tourists. Welcome to Warsaw/Warszawa.

First, yes I am here to learn about the Warsaw Ghetto and the Ghetto uprising of 1943 and The Warsaw uprising of 1944, which I ignorantly did not realize were two separate things until I read about it on the bus here.

Ghetto Uprising Memorial

From Wiki - The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) and the Warsaw Uprising (1944) were distinct events. The Ghetto Uprising was a last stand by Jewish residents against the Nazis as they attempted to deport the remaining inhabitants. The Warsaw Uprising, which occurred a year later, was a Polish nationalist uprising against the German occupiers, part of a broader nationwide plan.

There is also going to be a day trip to Małkinia Górna from which I can take a taxi to the Treblinka Labour and Extermination camp Memorial and Museum, plus a walking tour of the history of the Jews in Warsaw. and whatever else I can get myself into.

Bullet holes in the Ghetto Wall

I booked my room at the AB Hostel for four nights and it was an easy 20 minute walk from the West Warsaw Bus Station. I passed a Radisson that looked very nice, but this is going to be a long trip so I have to do what needs to be done and the AB Hostel it is. Cheap, clean, safe rooms are my jam right now.

As usual, I did a Free Walking tour, this time with Walkative, which is a creative name. The tour was Jewish Warsaw, and as with the tour in Krakow, I learned a tremendous amount of the history of the Jewish people in Warsaw and Poland, over and above WW2. There are a few scenes in the Pianist that I stood ground zero for, the first being the bridge that crosses from the small ghetto to the large ghetto, now it is a monument, and right below is the area where there were gates that opened and closed to allow the jews cross from the large to the small ghetto. There were memorials to both the ghetto and warsaw uprising which were interesting. We finish the tour at the Museum of Jewish History which I went to the next day, it was outstanding. I am heading to Prague in about a week and I am NOT taking a walking tour,  I am tapping out although I am taking a few different tours, but more on that when it happens.

View of the Old Town Square

The "Taras Widokowy" (Viewing Terrace) is the place to go if you want a birds-eye view of Warsaw's Old Town Square. It was peaceful today considering some of the photos I have seen when researching Warsaw. The climb was easy enough but the steps were tight, spiral and steep. There is a nice 360 view and the climb is worth is. I think I paid $5 but it was no more than that. 

The old town was a myriad of side streets opening up to gorgeous plazas surrounded by colorful buildings filled with history that I will never know or understand. The interesting thing about Warsaw is unlike Krakow, Warsaw was completely obliterated during the war. To rebuild it as historically accurate as they did is an impressive feat. Now, don't think this is what Warsaw is all about, this old town. Warsaw is a modern and well developed city of about 2 million.

Modern and Historical

 The people appear a bit standoffish but once you make the first effort they   are helpful and courteous. Learning a few simple words such as "hello", "thank you", 'yes/no", "please" goes a long way. I have said "sorry for being a dumb tourist, I have no Polish." when the time felt right and it usually gets me a smile in return. That being said, most of the younger people who work in the shops and restaurants speak a bit of English, and when it doubt, Google Translate is a very accepted app. "Let Google do the talking."

I had NO energy to try and figure out the Metro or the Tram System. I gave it a shot in Lublin and ended up going the wrong way, as you do. I wandered all around the old town, peering into souvenir shops that sell the same Chinese stuff as they do on Clifton Hill, with just different city names on the item. I passed a few Irish Pubs but a pint was about $12 and I was not in the mood for it. Unlike so many other places where you can go into a shop, grab a beer and drink it on a bench or in a park, Poland is akin to Canada, no drinking in public places and from what I was told, they are serious about it. My "Mad Dog" drinking days are well in the rear view mirror, thankfully. However a cold beer after walking for a couple of hours always hits the spot, but I was adamant I was not going to pay $12, not just yet. I made my way back to the glorious AB Hostel and found what became my "go to" shop. The dude working there was about 70, and I am sure he has killed people in his past. I pick up my 3 bottles, say "card", scan it an leave. We are never going to have a "bro moment."

Lublin and Majdanek

I booked a train from Krakow to Lublin with Polish Trains just to change things up a bit. I found a cheap rental apartment at some dudes house for about $30 a night that I figured would be find for a couple of nights, and it was. Lublin is all about promoting its historical Old Town, Botanical Gardens and other assorted sites. I had one goal when coming here, and that was to visit, explore and learn about the Nazi Concentration/Extermination camp Majdanek. Most people are familiar with Auschwitz but The Nazi's had six (6) extermination camps which were all in Poland. They were Chełmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Extermination through labour was also used at the Auschwitz and Majdanek death camps. -- Wiki

This probably looks great at night

Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec and Chelmno camps are mostly memorials as the camps were destroyed after the war for various reason. Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau still contain many original and in some cases rebuilt areas of the camps. I have a ticket to visit and learn about  Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 10th so I will be returning to Krakow, but for now I needed to get settled before I set off into Lublin.

Now much like Krakow I still felt like crap and had no energy to try and figure out the tram system. So a 5 dollar Uber later I found the property I was staying at. I was met by Juroslav the owner who was very proud to show me to my room, and it was definitely old school Eastern European. I mean it was fine, simple, clean, quiet and safe so you do what you do, toss in your pack and go find the grocery story for a few snacks and cold beer. Here is the Booking Link and you can see that the property is well maintained. I said fuck it, I ate my sandwiches, drank a few beer in the sun on the front patio and went to bed by nine, still being bothered by whatever bug was wearing me down. I have a long trip ahead so off to bed I went.

Pylon Gate Memorial

Up and early on day two, feeling quite eager. I needed to stretched my legs a bit so I found a coffee shop about 20 minutes away and then called an Uber to take me Majdanek. Remember, be careful what you wish for. 

As you enter you are greeted by the symbolic Pylon gate, which is 11 meters tall and 35 meters wide and stands where the gate entrance to the camp was. The design itself is to represent "mangled bodies." The people are not playing around. 

I walk past the gate, and stood a bit dumbfounded with the full view of the camp in front of me, it was shockingly immense. The camp is 270 hectares, or 507 NFL football fields and I stood for a few minutes just trying to absorb it all. Majdanek does not get the crowds like Auschwitz-Birkenau. On my visit there were a few older couples, a school group of about twenty, a family of five and a smattering of others but no more than 50 people.

I am not go to write about the history of Majdanek, there are incredible resources online for that. I am going to share a few observations and one moment that stopped me in my tracks.

First, this camp is a living museum and layed out with incredible signage and information relating to the specific spot I visited. It could be a simple guard tower to an area where kids were separated from their families. Once housing bunker contained a large enclosed racks, the length of the bunker, of shoes from the victims.

This photo shows two stacks and there were six of the same inside this one bunker. I found myself staring and I know I blurted out "holy fuck" because the couple beside me suddenly turned towards me. The crematorium was still there (no photos needed).

After about two hours at the camp and while walking back from the crematorium, there was a family of five about 20 feet in front of me. It was quiet and they were just looking around. I was lost in thought when suddenly the young daughter of about 8 or 9 started screaming and jumping around from what looked like a bee or some other insect. She screamed again and it was then that my mind suddenly switched gears back in time. If this was one young girl screaming from a bee, what did it sound like when hundreds, if not thousands of young girls were screaming at the same time while being separated from their families, or walking the path to the crematorium or from being beaten. I actually stopped (I am not writing this to be dramatic) and sat down on the bench near me to try and adjust to those images. This young girl was being chased by a bee and was fine, the young girls of the past, their fate was much different.

I am going to finish this post with a photo that I posted on FB for the ones who are following me along with my travels. This is in the Lublin town square and it was a great spot to stop for a coffee after the morning I just had.

Here is the truth about this photo. I was walking around not realizing I was in a bit of a daze until I sat down and the young girl came to take my order. I just stared at her for a few seconds without realizing it and did not respond. She smiled sadly and asked "did you go to the camp?"  I know I just shook my head yes and then finally said "cappuccino please." ( I have not even tried to learn any polish). She returned with my beverage and placed it in front of me and asked where I was from? I said Canada and she calmly replied, "I am sorry for your day, this coffee is free. Thank you for coming to Lublin." I said thank you not really processing what had just happened and  sipped my coffee wondering how different this square would would have looked some 80 - 85 years ago.

True Story.

Krakow Poland

Guide Sɫawek doing his best 

I made a dumbass mistake on my first full day in Krakow, which if you know me is not a surprise. I signed up for two walking tours, almost back to back. The Jewish Quarter Tour and the Old Town Tour with Krakow Explorers. Then to add to my stupidity I thought it would be a good idea to walk the hour and a bit into town from where I was staying and then at the end of it all, walk back. I will never be mistaken for a MENSA candidate that is for sure and this just went into the NO category. For now, let's return to the scene of the crime, Krakow Old Town. It was just an easy 1 hour and 15 minute walk from my hotel. Yup, no problem to start by day with this stupidity.

Certainly not my stop

Let me step back a bit. I stumbled onto something a few years back while travelling in and around England and Wales where hotels can be a bit costly. The answer to that is not staying in a dorm with a bunch of 20 somethings but univercity student housing. There are residency groups that post rooms for rent for short term travellers and I used them in London, Bath, York and Nottingham. In this case it was Next Door Student Housing which I found on Booking.com and booked a standard single studio. My intrepid walking journey began there and with a decent night sleep, google maps primed and a skip in my step I headed out into the sunny morning. Then it happened, my first sneeze which is no big deal, but then came the second. Now for context, a few days before I left for Berlin my sister Kelly and I took a quick trip to Toronto for the "Celebration of Life" for my Uncle Bill Wilkerson. We ended up running through the rain because I refused to take the TTC from Union to St Patrick Station where the ceremony took place. We ended up walking a few block in the pouring rain, which is no big deal. That was until Kelly started sneezing the next day. I told her to "eat more vegetables." Well I will skip the details but I am sick as a dog after my marathon wander around Krakow. "I will sweat it out" was my mantra, which let do day 2 in my university dorm room sleeping away most of the day, leaving once to go to the Żabka, Polands answer to Mexicos OXXO. 

The Square of Ghetto Heroes.

I learns quite a bit about the history of the Jewish people in Krakow and Poland on my tour. This was not just about the War Years, but went back almost a 1000 years and how the Jews have been persecuted even during ancient times. The guide used the word "Pogroms" often which is a Russian word which means "To "wreak havoc, to demolish violently." There were a couple of things that caught my attention on this tour. The first was The Square of Ghetto Heroes. This was the platform in Krakow where the Jews of the Ghetto stood waiting to be seperated and to which camp they would go to, Płaszów (labour) or Auschwitz (death). There is a series of 65 chairs, each representing 1000 people who came though this square. The chairs were because so many of the jews had small chairs to sit on while they awaited their fate.  It it quite humbling.

The second thing that make me stand up and go "holy crap" was when were were standing outside of the elementary school, much like the photo here from Schindler's list. In the movie, the Nazis line up 7 adult male prisoners and shoot them with a high powered gun, to see how many they could kill with just one bullet. In reality, they lined up 7 children that they pulled from the very school. The viewing public would never have allowed that in the movie and it would have been too much to bear and I suspect society would have protested the movie, regardless of it's historical accuracy because seeing kids lined up and killed like that would have caused riots in the streets. So there is fact in the scene but it was tampered down. Just to stand on that corner knowing that this occurred no more that ten feet from where I was standing seriously took my breath away. I made a mental note to watch Schindler's list that night.

The second tour was the Old Town Tour and I have to be honest, it was a waste of time for me. I was beat and whatever Covid style bug was attacking my system was revving up. A few times I almost dropped out of the tour but this guy makes his living by tips so I stuck it out like a hero. We did finish the tour on the fort which was impressive, and it was there that I learned the legend of the Wawel Dragon. 

The Tours are done and so am I but "Fu** it" I am walking the hour back to my room. It was easy enough and I stopped at the river a few times to chill, but in the end it was a nice day. HOWEVER, then came the second day where I was going to visit quite a few historical sites but that never happened. I also found out that you needed a predetermined ticket with a timestamp on it to visit Auschwitz, and the earliest available was now May 11th. There was NO way I was going to come all this way, Covid bug or not, and not visit that terrible site. I booked the ticket and decided I needed to come back to Krakow for at least 3 more days to take in what I missed and so that is what I am going to do. Flexibility with travel is the only way to go. That being said, this choice put a damper on my ability to visit all 3 baltic nations that were high on my agenda for doing this trip this way. I have a flight booked from Krakow to Dubai on May 12th, so it depends on how I want to manage my time. I do not want to just rush into Lithuania to say that I was there. I may just hang around Poland for the month as there is much to see and do. It would not be the worst use of my travel time.

Dresden

 A short 2.5 hour bus ride on FlixBus took me to Dresden. A town that was controversially devastated during WW2. First things first, let me tell you about FlixBus. Somebody put their thinking caps on when they started this bus company. Here is a nice EuroNews article from 2024 so I don't have to spill the tea. In a nutshell, the bus industry was deregulated in 2009 and three college kids from Munich started it in 2011. These buses are clean, modern, safe and they cover 35 countries and the selling point is that they are cheaper than the train and travel times do not vary much from the trains. I know, train travel in Europe sound sexy, and I will take a few along my way, but I am all about the FlixBus while I am here.

QuetzalTrekker Buddies

Meet Caro. We were volunteers together at Quetzaltrekkers in Leon Nicaragua. This office in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala is still open, but sadly the Leon branch has been closed down. One of the former lead guides started up his own company called Volcano Day. Tell Chichara Ken sent you.

We were there together in 2016 with a large group of excellent people who were also volunteer guides. Here is a post from my final day, sadly Caro was out on a hike when these photo were taken, but here is a 2015 Christmas post, picture is at the bottom.

Anyways, she saw the posts that I was in Berlin, and as she lives in Dresden and it was my next stop, we took the opportunity to meet up and hang out for a while. 

Dresden was good for a 3 day 2 night stop. I did resort to hitting up a hostel to see if I could handle it. $25 a night for a bed is better than $70 a night for a room. If you are going to stretch your pennies to travel as far and as long as you can, tough choices need to be made. 

Hostel Lollis Homestay was in the centre of town and an easy walk to anything I needed. I slept in an 8 bed room, and on the second night there were 4 empty bunks. It was quiet, I had a locker, there was no snoring and the common area was active enough so I did have some good chats with people of all ages.

I got quickly settled by tossing everything on the bed then locking my valuables into a locker and then for the old town. I am sure once I plough through a few more towns visiting the "Old Town" is going to get stale, but for now this was Dresden and history awaited!

Let's be honest, traveling is a breeze (all things considered) with google maps and gps, although I am still prone to turning left when the Google Maps says turn right, because I have my phone upside down, but that is Google's fault. The Old Town was about a 30 minute walk and then when you hit the river it will be right there staring you in the face.

A nice walk across the Augustus Bridge that spans the Elba leads right into the heart of old town. I do not take a lot of photos because they never do what I am try to shoot any justice. There was the Zwinger Palace, Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), Semper Opera House, and the Brühl's Terrace all stunningly ornate and surrounded by centuries old cobblestone streets. It was an easy way to spend 2 or 3 hour just walking around or to site a cafe drinking $4 cappuccinos among the relics of history. There was one small monument to the destruction of the old town by allied bombers but it was unimpressive.  As with all these old towns that I have visited I find my best recourse is to take my time and wander around. I do like to look at the ornate statues, gargoyles and other creatures that adorn the buildings, and I am seem to be fascinated by doors, size shape design and color.

On day two I found myself at the War Museum which was absolutely worth the price of admission. Germanic military artifacts history predating Napoleon and right up to modern times. Yes, these was two floors dedicated to both WW1 and WW2 with interactive exhibits, videos, and countless relics on display, including a mini sub, that I thought only the Japanese had.

What cause my attention, and I may have mentioned this in the past, were the amount of school kids here and they were not here just to screw around. Each student had a clipboard and I am guessing they had to find something or make a comment about it. Then they would gather an the teacher would give them instructions, then selected students would give a small presentation. I spoke to one of the teachers and yes absolutely, learning about the horrors of WW1 and WW1, especially the Holocaust is mandatory for students and NO parents do not object because the subject matter is to difficult for Wolfgang and Heidi. Are you listening Canadian School system? Canada has its own dark and violent history but it gets whitewashed or not taught at all. It is better to hide the truth about Residential Schools or The hunting of Indigenous for cash in Newfoundland.

Dresden was worth a couple of days, but I am still suffering from Jet Lag and I find myself wide awake at 3 AM. I am walking all day long in order to hopefully this old body will "tap out" and sleep through the night. All that it is really doing is making my feet sore.

This was just a short trip to Germany, as the reason I came here was the flight was the cheapest to get onto the continent. Flights to Dublin were cheaper but Dublin has become more expensive than London so Germany it is. Next up is to spend some time in Poland including Krakow, Lublin, Warsaw and Gdansk. There is some dark history here that is for sure so let's see how that goes.

Tear Down The Wall

 I signed up for another free walking tour with Sandmans, this one was the Communist Berlin and Berlin Wall Free Tour. I can not recommend these tours enough if you are in Berlin, aside from getting to locations that you would eventually make your way to on your own, the insane amount of detailed historical information you receive gives depth and honesty to the historical experience. It also puts into context the humanity of it all. As I have mentioned before, we tend to whitewash the fact that real people suffered, and at times at great lengths, just to survive and I don't mean "the Wifi is down, this is BS" suffering.

However, today I decided to talk to the meeting point near the Brandenburg Gate. Google maps says it was about an hour so no big deal. There was a large park called the Tiergarten along the way and I figured a bit of nature was never a bad thing. When I cleared the park after a 30 minute stroll I came to the Victory Column that I was eyeballing yesterday. It 67m-high gilded column commemorating victory in the Prussian-Danish war of 1864, with a deck for city views (Wikipedia). I paid the 4 Euros and huffed up the spiral stairs to the viewing deck, cool views. The spoke layout of the city reminded me of Paris and the Arc de Triomphe layout.

I like to walk, within reason, when I am in a new city because you never know what you will stumble upon. I knew that it was Soviet Red Army that liberated Berlin but it never crossed my mind that there would be memorials to the Soviet Fallen in Berlin. 

20 year old Russian killed in the Battle of Berlin

There is Treptower Park which is a must visit. I first came across the Soviet War Memorial Tiergarten as I was walking to join my tour. It actually caught me by surprise, much like Langemark German War Cemetery in Belgium dedicated to fallen soldiers of World War 1. 

War Cemeteries are fascinating to me, as are all cemeteries. I see this etching and wonder, what was I doing at 20 years old. This kid did not volunteer for this but here he was, battling Nazi Germany to the end. What were you doing at 20 years old? I bet your biggest worry was getting drunk, stoned and laid, but not in that particular order, mine was. Perspective is everything sometimes.

The Berlin Wall Death Zone

What was the killing zone? There were two walls in Berlin. The main wall or Vorderlandmauer averaged 13 feet tall. The inner wall, or Hinterlandmauer was 6 to 10 feet tall. In between was the "death strip" of about 20 to 25 feet. This strip was filled with sand or gravel and the guards in towers were under to "shoot to kill" anyone who entered this zone. There were 140 registered people who died trying to avoid the anti-vehicle trenches, watchtowers, floodlights, and trip-wire machine guns. I honestly did not know this and it was explained to me as to why people just did not climb the wall and escape to the West, or the East for that matter. Families were separated and they wanted to return to the East as well to be reunited. So desperate for a better life, over 140 died in the death zone between 1961 and 1989.

This is the famous photo of Hans Konrad Schumann an East German Border guard escaping to the west in 1961. It is etched onto the wall of this building is because this area of the wall that the photo was taken. Another moment of standing on the ground of history.

The stone path in front of the picture is, if you can believe it, a tunnel. Berlin was built on a marshland and there are very few "rises in elevation", this place is the exception. It was high enough that a tunnel was dug and this one was the famous Tunnel 57, named for the 57 people that escaped to the West. Overall there were over 70 escape tunnels were dug and about 300 escaped.

Here is a story from Joachim Neumann and his tale of escape from East Berlin to the West from one of these tunnels.

I only scratched the surface of Berlin but here are a few fun facts. It is a city covered in graffiti, where flop house bohemians mix with phone staring tourists while busy well dressed workers ignore it all. People will not jaywalk and they wait patiently for the little icon to change green regardless on there not being a car in sight. The Turks and the Vietnamese were one of the first modern day immigrants and there are Pho and Shawarma shops on every corner while smoking is still an olympic sport. The transit system is honor based and excellent and the people are friendly but in a standoffish kind of way It is all wrapped up in a dark history that has obviously been tampered down and monetized over time. It is not a place I would rush to get back to, but I am sure there are some pleasant surprises in store if I did.

Berlin First Glance

 I was sitting at the Brandenburg Gate with an overpriced Dunkin Donuts coffee and I was suddenly reminded of a story that an old friend Eric had shared with me when he was at this exact spot with another friend Dwayne on New Year's Eve 1989/1990.  I will not share the details of their epic story but he was kind enough to send me a few photos of them standing in front of the still standing Berlin Wall behind the Brandenburg Gate. It is a timeless photo as the drab and dreary scene is punctuate by the grey sky surrounding a sad and violent history. 

I remember having conversations with various people about heading to Berlin for Pink Floyd's concert at the wall in the summer of 1990. To a person we all passed because we were conditioned that the summer was for working our tourist jobs as waiters and summer was when we made our money. We would never get the time off, so we did not even ask. 350,000 other people can now tell the story about how they saw Pink Floyd play at the Berlin wall. I can talk about working a double and making $160 that day. I want a mulligan on that one.

Contrast the above photo with the tourist Shit Show that is now on display for all to see. This is the front of the gate and the photo above is from behind as that is where the wall was established in this area. It is surrounded by Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, cheap souvenir shops and various bus, peid-cabs and walking tour groups, then toss in more than one Tik Toker with both a camera and light setup doing their look at me Tik Tok dances. 

I get times change and the horrors of history are usually replaced by blatant consumerism and the "I was there" photo. We are all guilty of that at some point.

Bullet damage from the battle of Berlin

Case in point, I joined a free city walking tour with with Sandman Tours. City walking tours and the infamous Hop on Hop off busses are excellent ways to get introduced to any city. Although I have been watching some great videos with the Honest Guide from Prague who exposes the Hop On tours as a huge scam. The walking tour of Berlin hit all the major points like Brandenburg Gate, site of Hitler's Bunker, Memorial to Murdered Jews, part of the Berlin wall that still stand and the very touristy Checkpoint Charlie. What these tours include is running commentary about everything including buildings that we were walking past, pointing out WW2 damage still visible and never repaired. Standing atop Hitler's bunker and standing on or near the spot where his body was burned was hard to fathom as it was now beside by a bubble tea shop. However there were photos and diagrams detailing the bunkers location. The government tried to destroy it but in the end they filled it with concrete so it would never to be used as a martyr's shrine for those who still believe, and yes, they still exist.

Checkpoint Charlie

 This photo is the "replication" of Check Point Charlie and yes, I stood line line to take this photo, as you do. Of course like anything else this photo does not do the history of the place any justice. Have a look at the photo below, that will do the trick. A tank standoff between the Allies and the Russians that could have easily ended in Boom Boom Boom that's all folks. 

My day finished with a wander back through the the city centre, revisiting the Reichstag Building, The memorial to the Murdered Jews, the Berlin Cathedral, and a beer at a cafe in Alexanderplatz just because it looked really cool in one of the Jason Bourne movies...it was not.

Jetlag and all the walking was starting to kick in, so I had a second beer then found my way to the train for the easy and fast ride back to my hotel. The good news is I fell asleep around 10, but then at 1:13 am the Jetlag kicked in, good times. 

Check Point Charlie,  October 27, 1961
The Real Deal

Flight of the Condor

Germany

Here I sit at the Hotel Chateau Kurfurstendamm in Berlin, winding down after a whirlwind of a travel day. Condor Air flight DE2403 took off on April 6 at 7:55 PM and landed Frankfurt Germany around 930 AM on April 7th, German time. Just a nerdy note, Germany is 6 hours ahead of Toronto. Condor Air is Lufthansa's discount airline and it was anything but. They get a Don Cherry Thumbs up from me. Next up was a boring 5 hour layover in Frankfurt with very little sleep, but then an easy 50 minute flight to Berlin. There were sleeping pods called NapCabs  that could be rented for 17 Euro an hour, two hour minimum. Normally I am all over airport sleeping pods, but I passed this time and decided to have a breakfast beer instead, well two breakfast beers but it is Germany so don't judge.

This is my first stop on a well needed and much delayed trek back out into the world. I am not going to share my plans because they may change/usually change along the way but I will share that this is going to be an old guy GAP year trip. 

GO Train Niagara

 I am going to repeat myself from my previous post in December when I went to Mexico. Instead of dealing with driving, long term parking or some type of overpriced airport shuttle, and if you have a bit of patience and are ready to putting your earbuds in and watch the world go by, then by all means you save some cash going to Pearson Airport, especially on the weekends. Get yourself a ride to the Go Transit station in Niagara, or your station of choice because the $10 GO Transit weekend pass allows for unlimited travel on any GO train or bus throughout the day on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Shit, even if you want to catch a Jays game, it is there and back on the same $10 ticket...so get off your ass. Anyways, once you get to Union, walk the 10 minutes to the Union Pearson Express Train to the airport, just follow the large brown UP signs while embracing the madness that can be Toronto Union Station. The ticket to Pearson is $12.35 and the ride takes about 20 minutes. So it is 2.5 hours on the GO train, 10 minute walk and 20 minutes to pearson for $22.35. That is a good deal in my books anytime.

Who said the Germans are not funny

I did watch a few Youtube Videos on how to get from Berlin Brandenburg Airport to Berlin Station, and it was helpful. That being said and this being Germany it was easy enough, but again thank you YouTube.  Google Maps gave me detailed numbers that I would take to my station. Buying the ticket is straight forward from the machine, just remember to validated it in the time stamp machine. There are very few train police checking tickets but when they do, and if they find you are skipping paying the fare I guess the price is steep. My ticket was 2.40 Euros, about $375 and it took about a hour. Again I cannot stress this enough Google Maps kicks ass with transit directions. You do not need to download the Berlin transit app just because you are told to.

Charlie wishing me a great trip

I went for a walk around the neighbourhood and found a vietnamese restaurant and dug in. Next up was a SIM card. I found a TeleKom shop about 15 minutes away and was up and running 10 minutes after that, just bring your passport. I got a 30 day 25MG plan for 25 Euro (38$ Canadian) and it is good for all of Europe which is fantastic and smart. I am leaving Europe on May 13th so there may be a gap of about a week but I am sure Europe has a plan for that.

...4 hours later. So Jet lag has decided to slap me in the face, It is 3AM and I am wide awake, sleep is not an option. Strange as it sound I go not get much Jet Lag if I fly West, but when I fly East I get destroyed. So be it, it is a first world problem.