Berlin with Sensei

[Thomas Froehling]

So, here is my promised Berlin tour report; please lean back, this may take a while:

The clouds gather
Three days before the arrival of the Sakais and the Dojo members, I had a walk around the area where I planned to take my guests, then doing some research with my notes, in order to be able to say something at least halfway interesting and intelligent. My wife Julia accompanied me along the way, adding some stories and insights. Julia had lived in the GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall, while I was living in the FRG.

The weather was not too good, a light drizzle most of the time, with occasional heavier showers and gusts of wind. Forecast said it would be very much the same the next week, so I was a bit worried, trying to figure out some kind of Plan B in case it got just too wet and cold to be walking around. I urged Stan and all other foreign participants to bring jackets for wet weather, just to be prepared.

A meeting of….friends
Early on Monday morning, after bringing my younger daughter Nele to her kindergarten and going to a Doctor with Mara (the elder one), Julia, Mara and I drove to Tegel Airport to pick up the first guest: Fanfan had found the time to attend. I hadn’t seen him in person for almost four years, so I was unsure if I would recognize him or if he would remember me, so I drew a small sign to identify me. Turned out that time had not changed the two of us too much, we recognized each other with no problem. After our hellos and introducing, we hopped on the car again and rode back to my place.
To make things convenient for me, I recommended two hotels close to my place, so I could pick the others up en route to Sensei’s hotel. Fanfan’s room was not ready when we got there, so we just left his backpack and went to a restaurant, where Julia and Mara were already waiting for us, to have lunch.
We had been in a bit of a traffic jam on our way back from the airport, and I feared we would get caught in the rush hour. I would have hated to be late, so I lashed the others on. With all that urging on, we (being Fanfan, Mara, and me) were at the airport well before Stan and Sharon were due, so we had time for a tea.

Sensei and his wife were expecting just me because I had said to pick them up, so they were really surprised seeing the three of us. Mara had grown considerably since Stan and Sharon had seen her in London; well, time sure is flying.

Going back into the center of the city was not that much of a problem. In fact, the clouds opened up, the sun shone bright, traffic was smooth….
We dropped the Sakais off at their hotel at about 4:30 pm and agreed to meet again later for a short walk and dinner. Fanfan’s room was finally ready to accommodate him, so everybody could get some well deserved rest.

At 7 pm, I met with Fanfan and Joergwesti from the Dojo (who took another hotel I recommended, just a few meters from Fanfan’s place) to take the subway train to Alexanderplatz. As stated in the “Bourne” trilogy, Alexanderplatz is a security nightmare and a bit of a maze, with three levels of subway platforms and an abundance of exits. Every time I go there, I have to take a chance which exit to use, reorientate myself when outside and adjust my direction accordingly. We met Sharon and Stan in the lobby and lazily strolled over to Hackescher Markt and along Oranienburger Straße to the Synagogue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Synagogue_(Berlin) and the Tacheles.

By the time we were there, we all were quite hungry; fortunately, it is impossible in that area to throw a brick without hitting at least one restaurant. It was not the season for throwing bricks, so we chose our restaurant by just going to the nearest one, which was Indonesian and by chance one I knew to be good, because a similar one by the same proprietor was close to where I live.

Food was excellent, though we had to wait a while for it to be delivered; but company was excellent, too, and we passed the time having conversation and generally a good time. After dinner, we sauntered back to Alexanderplatz.
By that time, some good looking young women were lingering around Oranienburger Straße (though not close to the Synagoge), looking for early customers, but they were professionals in every meaning of the word, so they instantly knew we were not looking for that kind of entertainment and did not bother us in any way.

We parted at the entry of the Park Inn hotel and Fanfan, Joerg and me rode back to Kreuzberg to our individual places.

Angels on tour
Nights in Kreuzberg tend to be long and loud; Fanfan and Joerg did not sleep too well cause of others partying in their hotel. Maybe I should look for more quiet hotels next time…

At 9:30 am, we met the Sakais at their hotel again; at least, that hotel offered rooms to sleep comfortable and, above all, peaceful in. There is an open air exhibition at Alexanderplatz right now, memorating the years before the Fall of the Wall and the time until the Reunion. Next year, it will be turned into a permanent, maybe even roofed exhibition, since that will be the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. After having a glance at some of the photos and exhibits there, we went to Nikolaiviertel, seeing the Rotes Rathaus on our way. Well, at least part of it; there are excavations in front of it, so we had to make a little detour around the hoarding. Fortunately, Berliners are pragmatics: if there has to be a hoarding around an area usually visited by tourists, these hoarding can be used to advertise and educate, right?! There was a little historical summary about the early days of the twin towns Cölln and Berlin, which grew to become Berlin later.

After the Nikolaiviertel with its somewhat strange mixture of old and new-but-build-to-fit buildings, we followed the Spree towards the Berliner Dom and along Unter den Linden to Bebel Platz, where Nazis had burned books of anti-Nazi authors before WW II. There is a quite good (IMHO) memorial in the middle of that square: a glass plate you could step over, through which you can see empty book shelfes on all for sides of a subterranean room.

Our tour brought us to Gendarmenmarkt afterwards, with the French and the German Dom, which I keep confusing with each other. They do look similar (they were meant that way), but we agreed that the slightly more beautiful must be the French Dom, which turned out to be the truth.
Gendarmenmarkt is said to be one of the most beautiful squares in Germany and we took a rest for refreshments at a small coffee house. My wife was already there waiting for us, enjoying herself in the sun. Yes, the weather forecast was inaccurate, but for the better. No rain, only some cloudlets and heap clouds drifting by fast. Perfect weather for walking around, dry and not too hot.
A German saying goes: When angels travel, they take good weather with them. Seems to be true…

We went on through the formerly and now re-established diplomatic quarter, with the English, French and American Embassy nearby, to the huge memorial area for the victims of the Shoah and on to the Brandenburger Tor. There was a very long line at the Seat of the Bundestag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(building) (aka Reichstagsgebäude); going up the spiralling ramp inside the glass dome is quite popular, but even if we had taken the VIP entrance (using my wife’s handicapped ID), we would not have been out in time for picking up Nele from her kindergarten. So we passed, and before passing out for lack of food we took the train from the newly build Hauptbahnhof(Central Station) to Warschauer Straße in search for a restaurant, visiting the Eastside Gallery and going over the Oberbaumbrücke to Kreuzberg again. I went off for Nele and let my wife lead our guests on to a restaurant called Heinz Minki with a big beer garden, but alas it was not open by then. So she decided to try one close nearby which was a good choice. The lunch being served there was satisfying but not too filling. And it started to rain shortly after they arrived at that place, just to make the point.
The rain only lasted for a few minutes, so we walked the Berliner Mauerweg from Schlesischer Busch along the canal separating Treptow from Kreuzberg. We took a bus to Checkpoint Charlie, where you could take your photos with “guards” dressed in US and French uniforms (I don’t know why; as far as I know, the French never were on guard there).

One of the local comic book stores (there are four in Berlin, run by two different proprietors) was close by, and Sensei had agreed beforehand to sign his books they had in store while he was there. Although that was no official signing and there were only about 20 books to sign, we stayed there for quite some time, looking around. Michael (owner of said shop) seemed to be very pleased, as will be three costumers who have a subscription for UY there: they will find their copies of issue 131 signed when they pick them up!

I had made a reservation for a table at the Max and Moritz, where we would hold our final (and well deserved) dinner. They’ve got a good selection of various dishes, with interesting explanations of the meal’s origins. Lunch was not too long ago, but had been a bit on the light side.
Stan must have felt a little adventurous then, because he wanted to go back to their hotel without escort, so I explained in detail how to get to Alexanderplatz. One of the reasons I recommended the Park Inn, besides from being in walking distance from a lot of interesting places, was that with it’s 44 floors it can be seen from far away; knowing that they could not possibly get lost on their way, we said our good byes, now for the last time.
Fanfan, Joerg and me walked on to our places, still a little dazzled by the pleasantness of that day. My throat was a little sore from so much talking, my legs felt heavy, but I was happy and satisfied, hoping the others shared my feelings (mentally, not physically).

On the next morning I shuttled Fanfan over to the airport; without any more visitors to take care of, I started taking it all in, recapitulating it.

It was a total pleasure to have you (Sharon, Stan, Fanfan and Joerg in no particular order) here, not to mention an honor to be able to be the host to such amiable guests. I’d do it any time again.

Edit: It seems that links with breaks at the end do not work with abbreviation; so I put the link in normally for Synagogue and Reichstagsgebäude.

[Steve Hubbell]

Very nice!

Thank you for the great report, it almost feels like we were there following along behind you.

You all must have had a great time.

[Maka]

Thomas,

What an excellent report. You put a lot of thought and consideration into their / your visit. Thank you for taking the time to share with us. It was especially nice of you to put in the different website links.

You proved, once again, Usagi Yojimbo fans are the best in real life, as well as on-line.

Peace, maka

[joergwesti]

Nice report, Thomas. Nothing to add.

[TigerRider]

Very well written, Thomas. While reading, I felt a little bit, like I've been with you there in Berlin, thank you!^^

Greetings,
Jens

[Stan Sakai]

Thank you to Fanfan, Joergwesti, and Thomas and his family Sharon and I had a wonderful time in Berlin. We were very impressed at how much Thomas knew about every place and monument we went to.

Me had a great time with Jens in Magdeburg. He acted as our guide on a walking tour of the city.

[gaston]

Very nice report!
And thanks to Thomas (and Sensei), even I got something out of this trip without even being there... Six Usagi TPB's, Signed and with super cool sketches!

Actually Thomas has single handedly restored my faith in humanity with his great kindness and help. So maybe there is still hope for mankind

Now I will assume awesome-Usagi-reading- position, and shut out everything else around me. See you on the other side!

Thanks again! [/u]

[Stan Sakai]

Actually Thomas has single handedly restored my faith in humanity with his great kindness and help. So maybe there is still hope for mankind

[/u]

Yes, Thomas is a very nice guy. He carried those books in his backpack all day, and did not take them out for me to sign until after dinner.

[Mayhem]

You'll find Gaston, that I can't think of anyone here who isn't similar in that respect. This Dojo seems to inspire people to be a great community, in whatever way we are able to help out. Sadly I couldn't be there this time, conflicts with another gathering I was heading to, but then, I get my yearly greeting to Stan at San Diego heh... others aren't so lucky as myself...

[Fanfan]

Thank you all for the fun my friends !!!!

Photoreport here

[coolray85]

I really liked your photos, fanfan!!especially souvenirs and street art!!!!!
can I assume that you are the dude with the black hat?and thomas would be the one wearing a red jacket and who else?who is the other guy with the camera then?;)

[Maka]

Thank you all for the fun my friends !!!!

Photoreport here

Hello Fanfan,

Great pictures, as usual! Thanks!

Here are the ones I like the most (but they are all great!)










I loved this whole series of "hearts."



I'm glad you all were able to make that trip! Awesome!

Peace, maka

[Steve Hubbell]

Great photos! The good ones are way too many to list but a couple I will mention are (1) the picture of Stan in the maze was neat, and (2) I really liked the picture of Sharon cracking up while trying to take a photo herself.

It is obvious from the photos that everyone was having fun.

[Thomas Froehling]

Thank you for the photos, Fanfan; it's a good thing that an experienced photographer was there, my camera would not have yielded photos of such quality.

...He carried those books in his backpack all day, and did not take them out for me to sign until after dinner.

Would have been kind of rude to first present you with things to sign; there is a German saying that goes "Working first, then the pleasure!", but I'm not typically German when it comes to that. And it seemed the most appropriate situation then.

...can I assume that you are the dude with the black hat?and thomas would be the one wearing a red jacket and who else?who is the other guy with the camera then?;)

Well, the hat is a dead giveaway; your assumptions are perfectly right, coolray; the other person is joergwesti from this Dojo, who came all the way to see Sensei (and Berlin). He's a nice guy, too.

[coolray85]

thank you thomas!..I learned from columbo;)
joergwesti allrightithen...