Day 10 - Berlin, Germany (July 10th)

The only auto rental agency port side in Warnemunde is Hertz and I was told they only have cars brought in from Rostock for those who've pre-booked. I'd made a reservation through an agent in the Toronto Hertz office who told me he couldn't give me a confirmation number but that everything was in place. Well it wasn't. In fact, the young girl had no pre-bookings and only one vehicle available for rental: a mini-van for 65 Euro. Considering that it was only 5 Euro more than the expected Citroen, I grabbed it.

Driving to Berlin on the A19 was effortless and it only took 2 hours to get to Berlin City Centre. We parked in a "parkhaus", a parking garage a few blocks east of the Brandenburg Gate for 1 Euro/hour. Unter Den Unden is the main drag leading up to the Brandenburg Gate and is lined with souvenir stores that were of the best quality I had seen the entire trip. The t-shirts and knick-knacks had a creative flair unlike the mass produced items usually found in these shops. I even purchased a tiny bit of the Berlin Wall for 2 Euro. The Brandenburg Gate (< pic upper left) is to Berlin what the Arch De Triomphe is to Paris. At its foot is a lifesize photo and timeline detailing its fascinating history. Crossing through the gate to Tiergarten Park in old West Berlin, we were immediately reminded of those who were murdered trying to cross the wall by a block long display of photos with descriptions detailing location and murder date of each victim. The Holocaust Memorial one block south of the gate is a field of 2000 rectangular concrete slabs of varying height, which are placed on uneven ground. Walking through the maze of stone was disconcerting. Did it signify the anonymity of the countless murdered, I thought? A few wrong turns and you could easily lose the person you came in with.

Making our way down to the Sony Center to visit the German Film Museum at Potsdamer Platz we were constantly reminded of the former Berlin Wall. Buildings erase much of the former wall but the permanent indentation in the ground with sporadic pieces of wall or gold plate memorials tell us that Berliners do not want to forget. The Filmmuseum Berlin was the highlight of our day in Germany. Highly interactive and informative, we were taken through a journey of Germany's film history from past to present. The interactive kiosks allowed us to explore the techniques and styles of Germany's greatest directors from Eisenstein to Wenders to Werner Herzog. The most fascinating exhibit was that detailing the propaganda films made by the Nazis. I never knew that there was a film starring Emil Jannings that depicted the British placing their women and children in concentration camps! The Marlene Dietrich tribute included many of her costumes, memorabilia and the ability to view scenes from all of her films. It was slick, creative and a steal for only 6 Euro. We could have spent a full day in the Filmmuseum Berlin alone but alas, it was 5PM and we had to return the van by 7PM. It never occurred to me that it would cost 50 Euro to fill the van with diesel! The deal I thought I had gotten that morning suddenly slipped away. Still, the return train ride would have cost us 60 Euro each and most importantly we had the freedom to determine our own trail.

Can you see Berlin in 5 hours? Definitely not. It was a little rushed and definitely not a comprehensive visit but in those 5 hours we experienced some of the most moving and fulfilling moments of our entire trip. In fact, I would have traveled 5 hours just to spend an hour at the Filmmuseum. On return, we even had a few hours to explore the seaside town of Warnemunde, which is a 10-minute walk from the ship through the train station. Picture a seaside resort with beer gardens, beach shops and miles of sandy beach and you'll get the idea. Grabbing a Bratwurst and a couple of Rostocker beers up on deck while sailing out to the enthusiastic waves of German locals was a great way to cap the best day so far of our Baltic trip.