The Berlin morning was grey and wet, perfect for my mood, and playing right into my preconceived notions of the German Capitol. The rain was no deterrent though and I got up early to breakfast and check out the town. The hotel has a deal with the restaurant next door and I popped over for the breakfast buffet. Wow! Baskets fresh bread, a cheese board with all manner of artisan cheeses, smoked salmon, fresh yoghurt, fruit, Nutella, jams, scrambled eggs, sausages. This was an amazing spread. I took a small plate and loaded up on protein along with a roll and some Nutella to go with. The coffee was hot and plentiful, black and strong. In no time I felt charged up and ready to take on this big city. I set off in search of a hop on hop off tour bus.

Hop on hop off works really well for me on a lot of levels it’s nice to know that the transport I’m using is limited in scope to things a tourist might want to see. That works fine for this trip, this survey of Europe. I found the City Circle line and for 20 Euro I could hop on and off till my hearts content till 1900 when all the busses stop, discharge their passengers, and head home. The portly woman at the mobile ticket office, a female version of Sgt. Schultz from Hogans Heros, complete with mustache, made a point of explaining that at 1900 I better be someplace I want to be, because if I’m not, the City Circle line will not be taking me anywhere else. I believed her and began planning to that important tip. I gave her the money and she gave me my earbuds and map. Just then a yellow double decker pulled up and I clambered aboard and headed for the top deck.

These Double Deckers are usually roofless so on rainy days a tarp is stretched over the top deck that doesn’t quite keep out the rain, but rather redirects it to a few seats. After some searching I found a dry seat and eagerly plugged in my earbuds. The female voice I heard was flat, factual, and functional. It was a little bit like a young Lotte Lenya but without a personality. Add to that the rain and the fogged up windows and the tour was off to a rocky start. No matter, my mood was a little rocky as well. The audio tour went on about this building or that park, and somehow they all seemed to be former hunting lodges and game preserves for Frederick the Great. Then the tour voice let us know something very important, 70% of Berlin was destroyed during the World War II. Now it’s coming into focus. The war is the historical line of demarcation that defines what Berlin is today. It’s an ancient city that is brand spanking new by European standards. Other European capitols have retained their old world splendor, while Berlin’s was blasted to rubble. Now Berlin is modern, cutting edge, serious, yes Berlin is one serious town, a sleek, shiny, serious Capitol for a serious nation.

I hopped off at Checkpoint Charlie and took a look around. I remembered my Dad talking about how that was place of real danger and how American soldiers were put on the spot beCause one mistake could start world war three. Now it’s just a place, surrounded by gift shops. All the shops in the area were selling little chips of concrete, remnants of the Berlin Wall. I didn’t buy one. Back tracked a bit on the city circle route to a museum called “The Topography of Terror”. The museum is built on site where Gestapo and SS headquarters once stood. Now the only building is the squat grey museum set in a sea of dark crushed stone. Along one side of the site a long section of the Berlin Wall has been preserved. There is also a preserved section of the basement of the evil buildings now razed. The basement serves as an outdoor exhibit of the history of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, and the efforts of the Polish resistance against them. Heavy stuff. Poland got a raw deal, the got rid of the Nazi’s and ended up in the hands of the Soviets, who treated them almost as badly. My mood darkened even more when I went into the museum and saw the big exhibit that shows that all the stuff the Nazis were doing in Europe between 1936 to 1944 was a calculated effort to terrorize Europe into acceding to Nazi desires. Those guys knew exactly what they were doing. What a world that must have been. I had seen enough and my mood was getting darker. I wandered out, reluctantly, and that really surprised me. I felt, somehow, as though I owed it to … Someone… To look at every bit of the exhibit. I was spooked. I left.