Day 12 : Back to Berlin

Day 12: From Krostitz to Berlin

Date	Jan 14, 2024 ( Sunday )
Total This Camino:	103 miles.
Total 2024 Caminos:	103 miles
Total All Caminos:	2103 miles
Lodging:	Martas Gästehaus @ $ 75
Total Lodging:	$ 726
Planes:	$ 1300
Total Planes / Travel Insurance:	$ 1470
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$73
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 176
Food:	$ 25
Total Food:	$ 355

Meaningful Moment

On the way back to Berlin. 

I'm in the Leipzig train station and I'm starting to have an emotional moment, realizing how much I've done over the past 12 days. Lots of hiking, lot of using the transportation system, never using English in the restaurants, walking through cities and suburbs and towns and villages and hamlets and fields and farms and forest.

Several days ago I was here in Leipzig visiting the  church that  played an important part in the fall of the Warsaw pact and the Soviet Empire.

Although I haven't hiked the entirety of the former German Democratic Republic, I did hike in four states: Berlin, Brandenburg, Anhalt-Saxony, and Saxony.

Due to transportation strike, I felt it prudent to reserve a seat on the train.

Random Thought of the Day

It was a cold night in the church community center albergue, but I had my sleeping bag and three blankets so I stayed warm.

Had breakfast and a hot tea.

The weather today is awful. In Krostitz it's already a combination of strong blowing winds, drizzle and gropple and sleet.

Berlin anecdote 

I don't remember being panhandled in Bavaria, but it has happened here I think at least three times. Make that four times because the same guy just came back and tried again.

What's funny is that the first time I was taking his conversation serious, so I explained that I don't speak German ... until I caught up to what he wanted.

Then he panhandles me a second time a few minutes later.

This time I ripped right off in German, "you already asked me."

East End Gallery

I am remembering studying in German class about the city of Berlin as part of the culture portion of the material.

When I was reading in class about the East End Gallery, I could not have cared less. It didn't seem interesting to go see an old wall with paintings on it. Of course, I realized it's historical significance, but it didn't register on an emotional level. 

One problem I had was the name. I kept picturing an art museum. On the test I actually got the question about the East End Gallery wrong, LOL.

However, I couldn't think of anything else to do today, so that's what I went to visit. And somehow, seeing this very very tall wall cut through the center of the city was impactful.

To realize there were men with machine guns whose mission was to riddle the body with bullets of anybody trying to cross the wall from east to west was now hard to grasp. 

The East End Gallery is now the remnants of the Berlin Wall decorated with modern art and / or graffiti. It is also a wide green space, where I presume the killing zone was.

And alongside it, the Spree River was flowing peacefully through Berlin.

On the Road / Notable memories

7:30 a.m. Up and at'em.

8:40 a.m. At the bus stop.

8:50 a.m. On the way to Leipzig

10:15 a.m. Leaving Leipzig

11:30 a.m. Arrive Berlin. I'm not here 5 minutes and I feel overwhelmed by all the people and the crowds and the traffic. How different from the last 10 days of forests and hamlets. It's overwhelming!

12:00 p.m. checked into Martha's guest house. This is where I started on the 3rd of January and now I'm wrapping it all up on the 14th.

1:00 p.m. Showered and clothes washed. Probably the cleanest I felt, certainly in some days. And I feel warm. Some of those hotels did not feel all that warm. And definitely the albergues were not warm.

3:00 p.m. East End Gallery and some shopping

6:00 p.m. Went over to the train station to get something to eat. One has to realize that main train stations in Europe are huge deals with hundreds of stores and restaurants all surrounding multiple levels of Intercity trains and local rapid transit and subways. I wouldn't doubt that tens of thousands of people pass through that station everyday.

8:00 p.m. The young man at the reception desk recognized my Buffalo Bills jacket and asked me if I was a fan. He was getting my coffee and chocolate brownie ready. Turns out that he is Hungarian, working here in Berlin, but as a younger man loved to play American football, and was both a lineman and a tight end in university.

9:30 p.m. Nighty night

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

A little bit of dog training in the train station

One last look around Leipzig, Germany from the main train station

The Dubener Heide from the window of the ICE 602 train, heading back to Berlin. That was a nice hiking day when is making my way through the Dubener Heide.

Back at Martha's Gästehäuser, where I started back on January 3rd. This was the smallest room available. I won't be in the bunk beds.

Berlin's Eastside gallery

It is the longest remaining standing stretch of the Berlin Wall.

It is now a nationally recognized preservation site. The wall has been used for art, not only for graffiti but also for images of more substance.

The Eastside gallery runs along the River Spree.

If you're not in a hurry, it's a good 15-minute walk from one end to the other. Once again for me, an amazing reminder of what a government is willing to go through to restrain its people.

Whoever wants the world to remain as it is, that person does not want the world to continue

River Spree

Mercedes-Benz arena, home of the Berlin Eisbärens hockey team ( The Ice Bears )

When you see this TV tower, you know you're in Berlin. That's another section of the Berlin Wall.