Today we spent our second jam-packed day in Berlin (and barely had a thought left for our classmates trotting off to class back in St. Louis)!
We left the hostel at 9 and headed off to Hohenshoenhausen, a Stasi prison for political dissidents deep in the heart of the former East Berlin. First, Cliewe, our guide, showed us around the old building (called the "U-Boot"/ submarine, because all of the cells were underground). It was dank and dark, and the torture instruments and tiny cells used for solitary confinement (this gruesome atmosphere might explain why not even the most camera-happy members of our group took very few photos...) He also guided us through the slightly better lighted and less depressing newer prison, which had interregation chambers instead of torture machines (he even explained a few of the methods of psychological torture used). Cliewe, like all guides at Hohenshoenhausen, had been a prisoner of the Stasi. He told us about his failed attempt to escape from East Berlin in 1984 (at age 18), and how he had been sentenced to one year of prison because of "suspicion of an attempt to escape". After 10 months in prison, the West German government paid for his release.
I liked Cliewe. His English was amusing but understandable, and he bonded with Frau Russell about their childhood furniture (apparently communist regimes in the CCCP and the DDR issued the same models of furniture, and the linoleum in the government buildings smelled the same. weird.)
We went out for a quick (but very satisfying) lunch, and Frau Russell showed us briefly around the old Jewish quarter before we caught the street car back East. We rented bikes and took a bike tour of Berlin (the waterproof bike capes provided by the company helped us stoicly ignore the cold and the light rain). During the first half of the tour, we were lead along the place where Berlin wall used to stand. Our tour guide, Sascha, who grew up in West Berlin, taught us a lot about attempted escapes from the East, the fall of the Wall, and various features about the buildings on each side of the wall (East vs West). It was very interesting, but when we rode back up to the bike shop four hours later, we were all much relieved (Some of us were particularly happy to see that the bike company had a bathroom we could use...)
Since then, we've eaten dinner and paid a visit to Frau Russell's favorite ice cream cafe (where we were served delicious and beautifully arranged frozen treats). Supposedly, the hostel's offered activity tonight is karaoke, and Grace and Carly were going to sing...but we haven't seen anyone singing yet. I'll keep you posted.
Tschao! Sophia
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