just to let you know

In eight days I'll be off to Berlin to see my home town football team Alemannia Aachen take on the german league champions of Werder Bremen in this year's DFB Pokalfinale (cup final of the german FA) at the Olympic Stadium.

However, it'll be an exciting trip in lots of other ways. You must know that it has been quite a while since I have last been to the german capital city. Or to be exact, the last time I stayed in Berlin (1985) - it wasn't even re-declared to be the german major city (although Bonn was always named as the interims capital). What I do remember though were the VoPos (Volkspolizisten - East german policemen) and the rigid controls when crossing the border. To give you an idea of the context, you must know that I lived in the small town of Aachen back then. Aachen is situated at almost exactly the other end of the country - the west end. In other words, one couldn't be further away from Berlin than living in Aachen. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that Aachen is some sort of ghost town. On the contrary, it is an amazing and flourishing town with a busy and exciting local economy and dedicated people driving cultural aspects forward. However, in a historical context, growing up in Aachen left me slightly aside as far as domestic, inner-german issues were concerned. My other feeble excuse is obviously my age back then - at 14, I'd rather spent my time in front of my newly purchased Commodore 64 than sticking my nose into history books.

So what am I hoping to explore and find out next week? Well, to be perfectly truthful, I'm not entirely sure. I will certainly go and see some of the "old places", the checkpoints, Kreuzberg maybe (I drank my first ever Tequilla there), the Brandenburg gate, the Siegessauele, the Subway - I'm also looking forward to re-discover the refurbished Reichstag.

Back in 1985, we all felt so free and easy. As you are when you're 15 and away from home. Being told off by guards and policemen, having your passports inspected and almost disected was a quite marking experience for all of us.

We thought we were the new radicals.

to be continued