Danes and Deutschland

No refund yet. But, I opened the camera anyhow, so I now have some pictures to throw up here! I just peeled the "Global Refund" seal back, hoping to fool the customs folk when I finally leave Europe.

But there's way more fun before it's time for that. After my little Oslo trip, I hopped down to Copenhagen/Kobenhavn, or rather, Oslo to Malmo (to try for refund), Malmo to Copenhagen airport (to try for refund), Copenhagen airport to Copenhagen train station (to try for refund), and so on. Soon after that was when I finally broke down and did the deed. No more harpin', I promise.

I had some beautiful weather for Copehnagen. The city was quite nice, though still too expensive for my blood. At $7.50, the Danish Big Mac's have taken the prize so far. I did manage to find some nice buffet's and Smorrebrod for meals, so there was no 7-11 stretch a la Oslo. I tooled around, hitting some of the more notable tourist sights of the Danish capital, and I stumbled upon a nice little Ballet festival in the old fortress. Cool stuff, though they lost me with the dancing rats. Just a simple boy, I am.

The following day was a bit more rainy, so it mostly museums, and finally a trip out to see the Little Mermaid. Why, didn't you know Hans Christian Anderson lived in Copenhagen? Well, Copenhagen certainly won't keep it's visitors in the dark to that fact. In fact, I don't know if anything notable has ever happened to that city before or after the Great walked those streets. So, it was a cool city, though not one of my fav's.

On the other hand, we have Berlin. This place is amazing! First, the city is huge, 80km East to West. Then we have the Berliners (yes, JFK was correct in using 'Berliner'), who really are a hoot. Then we've got history. If you can't think of a couple reasons why Berlin might be a fascinating stop, go eat some bleach.

As soon as I got into a hostel, I signed up for an all day walking tour, which, lasting from 10am to 8pm, I will attest was an All Day walking tour. The guide was a semi-geeky history buff working on his Masters in German History. Naturally, I was eating it up. I wish I could get a tour that great in every town I hit, but again, perhaps every stop isn't as historical as Berlin. We made a huge loop around just about everything one might care to see in the city, and, of course, the little side-notes and context were the best part.

The Berlin Wall, for example, was being chipped away for so many souveniers that the government had to put up fences around the remaining bits. Also, the Luftwaffe building, a gigantic structure where the precision bombing raids on Europe were planned, was untouched by allied bombs that levelled the rest of the block. And some of the ironies can get pretty dark. The new Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of concrete blocks without any placard of what they commemorate, cause many Berliners to worry that it would be a target of vandalism. Luckily, the city found a coating resistant to spray-paint, supplied by a little chemical company that also made that doosie Zyklon B. Hmm.

Anyhow, tons of history here. Yesterday, I was content to run errands (wash disgusting clothes) and do a bit of shopping (buy replacement clothes), and the rest of the day I was absorbed by a text on German History I picked up at the Deutsche Dom (pictured to the right). Great little book, and to all of the kids who teased me from the back of the classroom, yes, I guess I do read the textbooks for fun.

Today was a museum day, and I got to see some gems in the Olde Museum, the Pergamon Museum, and the Topography of Terror Exhibition. Great stuff, notably the latter two. The Pergamon is a collection of a whole bunch of huge stuff which some German dudes went to the trouble of finding, painstaikingly excavating and cleaning, and then, after pondering "Hmm, Ich Wonderin vere zees might loook Gut?", shipping off to Berlin. Example, an entire friggin' Greek altar. Imagine somebody picking up the Parthenon and shipping it. But, very neat stuff, which also led me to think about the merits of archeology as a whole. Service to mankind?

I also noticed that many collections didn't mention how the pieces were obtained. Surely a cruel insinuation, but is it justified? I know not.

The Topograophy of Terror is another exhibition on the Gestapo and SS, located in the ruined basement of their former HQ. Very well done.

Anyhow, I would LOVE to go on and on about this fantastic city, the biergartens, bratwurst, and all things crazy about Berlin, but lo, I have a bus to catch in a few minutes. Can anyone tell this post seems a bit rushed? Apologies for that, but hopefully notes from Prague will make up for it. Stay tuned.