The Globetrotting Geek

Tuesday/Wednesday – Day 33/34

August 26, 2012

Unfortunately there are no photos from the next few days so bear with till this blog becomes all colourful again!

Having reserved a seat on the six hour train from Mannheim to Hamburg, I was fairly confident that this time I would receive a seat. Littkle did I know that my train would be almost empty and thus I had an entire private cabin to myself. For the next six hours I drifted in and out of sleep, waking as the conductor came to check my ticket a few times.

Finally, at 1:37AM I arrived at Hamburg Hbf, an almost deserted station at that hour, with many shady types hanging around. My next task was to find the bus stop to the airport, which after about twenty minutes of walking round trying to keep safe I eventually found albeit, populated by a few drunks and some other individuals which to save on the description, I’ll just say I wouldn’t wish to meet on a regular basis.

After a half hour wait, the bus arrived and I nervously boarded with all my bags, arriving after a further twenty minutes to a shuttered Hamburg International Airport. I waited in a small area the security guard opened inside the arrival lounge and cleaned myself up a bit, taking all my bags into the bathroom with me for a shave and a semi-shower with the tap water. I read through “The Litigators”, the new John Grisham book, and spent time observing the other sorry souls surrounding me. No doubt they, unlike me, were catching the first plane of the morning, Airberlin to Berlin. Despite the moaning tone of this post, I quite enjoyed watching the airport go from silent, to bustling and full, as security guards opened up areas, activated escalators and the other staff wandered in, bleary eyed to greet each other in the morn.

I was first in line for my IcelandAir flight, on which no food was served. The flight itself was fine, but nothing special. However, the airplane itself was replete with Icelandic words covering it, and the interior was themed in much the same way. The music during boarding was Sigur Ros, a well known Icelandic band and though I am generally against bottled water, the water from the fjords provided tasted fresh and delicious.

My time after landing in Iceland was all too short! Unfortunately due to my extended stay in Europe and Israel, I had only the time for a transfer. Though I did not see the Fjords, I can comment on the airport shopping: fish and ice-gear. I sampled some of the wild Icelandic smoked salmon and can say that it was top notch. Adding Iceland on the todo list for later.

The flight to the USA was just about the same as the flight from Hamburg, and passed without event. Passport control and customs in the US were not at all a fuss and too, are not worthy of being described in print.

Exiting into the arrivals hall I saw one Samuel ‘Gus’ Ruchman waiting for me with open arms. A very close friend from ISSI who due to his volunteer efforts in Africa and busy school schedule I had found it hard to keep in contact with. This however was no barrier to our friendship and the next few days with him proved that though friends may not see each other for years at a time, it is possible to retain a strong relationship. His parents generously took me in, and after a lovely home cooked meal and a walk around the local nature reserve (I saw a racoon!), jet-lag took me and I was fast asleep.

The next day was spent hanging out and having a good dose of guy time, something I had been sorely lacking in a while, and though our choice of movie for Wednesday evening (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), isn’t exactly known to be the favorite of most guys, we enjoyed it thoroughly. Other hours were spent discussing musical composition and I had the opportunity to play on his grand piano, a beautiful specimen. I felt like a missing part of me had been filled, as though I have many dear and close friends at home, Gus fills a different part as he and I connect on a number of levels, from our involvement in Jewish life, to our love for musicals and political discussion. I was sorry to leave him on Thursday to give him time to prepare for his return to Harvard.

Berlin – Thursday – Day 28

August 17, 2012

Berlin is a bipolar, janus faced monkey, dancing on the stage of European history. It is the life of the party and the grim reaper, rolled into one cosmopolitan cocktail of finery.

In the morning Nicole, Koen and I walked to the local bakery to buy breakfast. I purchased an apfelkuchen, a berliner and a small loaf of bread.

Following that it was off to the Brandenburger Tor for a free three hour walking tour of Berlin.

The tour guide was a fantastic guy called Rob from Manchester and he had quite the flair for engaging and emotive story telling! He also displayed great sensitivity to the dark side of Berlin’s history and treated it in an appropriate manner. I was pleased to note as well, the entirety of our group was suitably solemn during our visit to the holocaust memorial and during discussions that followed.

Following that we visited the bunker while Hitler killed his dog, and entered into a suicide pact with his then wife Eva and shot himself. The contrast between persecuter and persecuted was stark in its treatment by modern Germany. The bunker was buried underneath a carpark, Hitler’s ashes scattered to the winds, to lie unseen eternally. The persecuter’s memories were to be blotted from the earth, while the victims would be eternally memorialized.

Next we saw an example of Nazi architecture, a cold stone building, large and phallic in structure, that originally was their headquarters. Following the defeat of Germany, it saw occupation by the communists, and watched over the rape of Berlin’s women. Finally, to this day it remains feared, the home of the tax bureau of Germany.

From there it was off to the Berlin wall, where our guide made us appreciate the magnitude of separation, emotional and physical that was wrought on the already traumatized city. He told us a love story about a man whose girlfriend lived on the opposite side of the wall and how he kidnapped a near identical individual to switch the two. He told us of the families that were separated, of the jobs lost and of the friends who were never to meet again. However, interestingly enough he told us that life in East Germany wasn’t nearly as bad as US cold war propaganda led many to believe, telling us of elderly Berliners who still reminisce about the sense of community forged in the communist block.

A quick break for lunch and I consumed an awful iced coffee and some terrible fruit. Lesson: never trust a free tour guide paid in sandwiches by a cafe.

Following that it was off to museum island and the squares designed by Frederick the Great with huge monuments to human ingenuity and ability.

Finally we came to  the Berliner Dome, a huge 20th century structure ordered by the Kaiser to replicate the grand palaces of older European cities.

It was on the steps looking out over the plaza that we were told the story of Berlin’s greatest moment, the fall of the wall. It was told fantastically and is a story well worth hearing from someone who can tell it better than I.

After the end of the tour, us and a number of the others on the tour went to a local bar for a drink. Chatting with some Canadians for an hour, my first beer in Germany went down well. Additionally we had a great time convincing them of the existence of drop bears!

As we left the bar, it soon started raining and after getting me a German sim-karte, we rushing into the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station to get back to Theresa.

After chilling there for a while it was off to dinner to try some traditional German food. Which, importantly is amazingly cheap.

After dinner I discovered the most amazing part of Europe. The prices on icecream. For one euro, yes, one euro, you can buy a scoop of gelati in a cone. Additional scoops are also priced at, yes, one euro!

We wandered the streets for a bit then thinking what to do next when Theresa decided that in honor of ISSI (the Weizmann program) we should buy a few drinks and head back home to look through photos and videos.

Two bottles of wine, one of vodka, one of Jagermeifter and one of Feigling later, we were happily content with reminiscing to the early hours of the morning, and to wish Nicole a safe trip as she told us she had to leave for the airport at 5AM. At 3AM I phoned home to talk to my parents and to see how the family was and by the time I was ready for sleep Theresa and Nicole were curled up on the same bed, without an alarm set. Thus I set one for 4:45 and settled in for an hours sleep.

Nicole woke up crazily ten minutes after the alarm, madly packing her belonging that were in disarray on the floor. After an hour of madly rushing about she received an email about her hostel booking in Rome, to where she was heading next. This prompted her to check her boarding pass when, she noticed that she had in fact decided to leave one day before her flight. Much laughter ensued and we went back to bed for a well deserved sleep in.

Sunday/Monday – Day 25/26

August 15, 2012

Today was spent again with friends. In the morning I walked again in the Jerusalem sun with Yumi, an Israeli girl who had been volunteering in education in Australia for the past year. Though she herself is a Jerusalemite, I still managed to surprise her with an ice-cream shop I knew for it’s authentic italian style and delicious flavours (Noya).

In the afternoon it was already back to Tel Aviv to spend the afternoon with my brother Adi. As a goodbye we decided to go out for dinner and a movie. Dinner was at ‘La Lasagne’ a kosher Italian place on Dizengof street that came highly recommended, followed by ‘Brave’ at the Rav Chen cinemas.

Prior to the commencement of the movie, there was a traditional Pixar short, this time in 3D! It was titled ‘La Luna’ and was one of the most wonderful and sweet pieces of film that I have seen in a long time. It was almost worth seeing the movie just for that.

Brave itself was a traditional Disney/Pixar film, and though there was nothing particularly special about it, there were enough moments to make you smile in delight. All but stiff curmudgeons and those of hard heart would be sure to enjoy it.

After the movie, we talked late into the night before finally, sleep took us.