Hanne

Potsdam

This part of the tale involves a big-people sized playground, ginger-chocolate icecream, ‘The Brandenburger’ burger bar, a concentration camp and a Stasi prison. Given that the playgrounds and icrecream came first and the prisons second, you could say that upon moving to Berlin my innocence was shattered and I will never again return to those carefree days on the giant piratical climbing frame. But that might be taking things a bit too far.

Let’s start with Potsdam. Potsdam for me began with a kiwibiker PM to Twinkle, asking if he was still on the Germany side of the world. Indeed he was, and invited me to come and visit if I was up Berlin way. Berlin was already on my list, so we corresponded and he met me at the main bus station when I arrived. After locking my bags at the train station we went for a walk, casually strolling past such attractions as Alexanderplatz, the Bundestag and Brandenburger Tor. As it turned out the World Championship Athletics were being held in Berlin that week, so everything was buzzing and the Brandenburger Tor was surrounded by music stages and beer tents. And portaloos. I was busting, so yay for the free pee! In Germany, the phrase ‘spend a penny’ has also been subject to inflation over the years. As in most of Europe, public toilets generally have an entry fee of 50 cents. Although when I returned a few days later and didn’t have the right change to use the bathrooms the attendant said ‘ist doch gut, Mädel’ waved me through anyway…

After our walk we had thai food for dinner, which looked very pretty but tasted only of soy sauce. Then it was time to train out to Potsdam, where we spent the weekend cycling, swimming and chilling out. Although there are special FKK (Freie Körper Kultur) beaches about, it is actually allowed to skinny dip just about anywhere, which is exactly what people did. Coming from New Zealand, where a German acquaintance was recently chided for swimming topless, this was a new experience. I will never forget the feeling of floating in black water, staring up at a wide wide night sky and feeling like a jigsaw puzzle that had just slotted into place. Magic!

I already knew that Potsdam and I just clicked, but the park James and I visited on my last evening there really sealed the deal. First he showed me the park behind his apartment, which had a tilted round about designed for running on. You could spin this thing really fast then jump on, and unless you landed right in the middle you would be spun right off again. Yay for the sand surrounding it, we spent about an hour being dizzy and trying not to break any bones. Then he mentioned the BUGA park. And this was jaw droopingly cool. Big people sized slides, almost like those at Waiwera, a pond with pirate boats and sun chairs and a giant obstacle course shaped like a pirate ship. I was in heaven! For the first time since I was 8 a playground was not only fun but challenging. I think we need one back in New Zealand, a Peter Pan land where the serious grown ups can play Frisbee golf and beach volleyball and the babies can paddle in the fountains. Did I mention this park was awesome?

Anyway, Potsdam provided a welcome opportunity to rest and chillax for a few days before continuing on to bigger cities. In fact the chillaxing effect was so great that come Monday morning I really was in no hurry to leave. After a delicious breakfast of fresh scones and fruit wine (ribena-y, yum) we went for one last swim. 10am and already stinking hot, I was not too keen on confronting the tarmac of Berlin! Still, that was where I was headed, and after cycling to the train station with 28kg worth of tramping pack and laptop strapped to my back, it was nice to sit down for a bit. And maybe a teency bit exciting to be rushing towards the big smoke I had heard so much about. In Year 7 we used to watch a series of language videos starring ‘Rolli und Rita’. These cartoon characters walked us through the basic steps of German. In fact the first sentence I remember learning is ‘Ich bin Rolli. Ich komme aus Berlin’. Rolli’s assertion that he was from Berlin was where my love of the language started, and finally I was to tread his home streets…