East Berlin

We woke up early and decided to take the bus to Checkpoint Charlie and walk over to the East sector. Mistake....

We got on the efficient bus system and after about 15 minutes the bus stopped. And stopped.

And stopped.

Finally, after about 15 minutes we find out what the problem was. Apparently there was some kind of accident and they were landing a helicopter in the middle of the street. Finally we were on our way.

We get to Charlie, and I go in and talk to the American MPs and tell them we wish to go over. They ask for my car license plate number, and we tell then we want to walk.

"You don't want to do that," says the MP.

"Why not?"

"Well, if you walk over, your wife is not protected like you are. If something were to happen you would have to try to make it to the American Embassy. Basically, we really recommend that you drive over there."

So, after the fantastic pep talk by the MPs of the Berlin Brigade, we decided to go back and get the car. So,we jump on the U-Bahn (subway system) and get back to our car. We go back to Charlie, and go back inside. Unfortuantely, we had spent so much time going back and forth that we only had a few hours to really shop.

ASIDE: The previous night, after dinner, we went to an exchange place and decided to exchange some of our US money for some East German Deutschmarks. We had originally asked for $100 but we were told we would never be able to spend that much... so we decided on 50. It still came out to alot of money.

We are reminded that we can purchase limited items of things, as the East Germans rely on the things we American went over to buy. Down comforters for less than $5 and other great deals. Only one comforter per person.

So we leave Charlie and cross into the East. Immediately an EastGerman soldier asks forthe paperwork. As my wife was driving this time, I had to sit at the position of attention and not move my head. The guard walked around the car, then asked for the paperwork. once through their checkpoint, we begin looking for the main shopping areas. Unfortunately, as we took so much time back and forth, we got pretty late to get to the comforter shop. We picked up some fantastic blankets and some other odds and ends, and walked around the central part of East Berlin. As we were getting ready to take a picture of a large radio tower, a woman came into the picture, and began yelling at my wife in agitated German. I told my wife to put the camera down until she passed; these people are paranoid enough, and they do not need to have an American taking their picture. Once she passed, she took the picture.

At one time, the East Berlin Polizei (Police) was the largest police force in the world. I saw an officer almost every 50 meters or so in theshopping area. It was eerie, walking along, in my uniform and having every single police officer look at me with intense suspicion. As I wsa in my uniform, I was considered a diplomat, and was immune to anything. Obviously, we were required to obey all laws and act like a respectable American and diplomat. So, we were polite, and always said "please," and "thank you" whenever we interacted with the locals.

After a while, we realized that it was getting late and we decided to leave. We walked over to the Brandenburg Gate, took some pictures of it, and proceeded to our car. We crossed into the West, and checked back with the MPs at Charlie. I changed out of my uniform (my feet were killing me from walking in my dress shoes - I was in a combat unit and wore that uniform very seldom) and we again went to the steak restaurant for more dead cow.

Now in more comfortable clothes, we again walkedaroundthe Ku Damm and did a lot of window shopping. We were really impressed with the beauty of Berlin; it is a great city. We went to bed relatively early so we could go back to the East the next morning.

When we woke up the next morning, my feet were so swollen from the previous day that we both knew that there was no way I could get them into my shoes, much less walk around for hours in them. We were both very disappointed, as we really wanted to go and find the comforters. So, insted we drove around the west sector and saw a lot of great landmarks.

After that last day of sighseeing, we made our way out of the East Sector, and drove up to asmall town north of Hamburg. One of my cousins was an exchange student there and i asked her if I could have her visit me for a week. The family agreed and I went and picked her up and drove back to Nurnberg.

The trip to Berlin a success, I then went back to working 7 days a week protecting the West from the Commie Horde...

But those missions are not for public knowledge...