just to let you know

Thu, 27/05/04, 9am (on the GNER train from Edinburgh to Newcastle) It's funny how modern times and low cost airlines transformed traveling for all of us. Return flight fares from Newcastle are way cheaper than a connection flight from Edinburgh to Berlin. I therefore decided to catch the train to Newcastle Central and from there make my way to the airport. Door-to-door the journey shouldn't last more than 7 hours - which I don't mind. To speak with Goethe: 'Man reist nicht, um anzukommen, sondern um auf dem Weg zu sein.' (One does not travel to arrive, but to be on one's way.).

The first leg of my journey takes me through the beautiful Scottish Borders and north english countryside. Blue sky, rich green fields and spots of shiny yellow raps all over the place. This makes me wonder if blue, green and yellow go well because of blue sky, green fields and yellow raps looking pretty damn good when put together. Or do we think they go well together because we know that they are all linked as they compliment each other?

Thu, 27/05/04, 13pm (on plane to Berlin)
... and now for the final stretch. It's been 19 years since I visited Berlin last.

When I was there in May 1985, it was still divided - swimming in a socialistic sea. Back then, I had to see it to believe it. I think my whole school class had to. A split city, the Wall, a different economic system, yet still the same language and heritage. It was weird. Growing up next to the western borders with the Netherlands and Belgium, I remembered the long queues at customs when crossing borders. In the 70ies and early eighties, things were far from amicable between us and our western neighbours, so I was somehow used to borders and territory. But nothing was as despicably mind blowing as the inner-german border was back then.

After the wall fell, I couldn't quite understand all the talk about the importance of Germany to be reunited. Much to the anger of my father, I questioned and challenged every statement that was made (and believe me, there were lots of statements made in the media during 1989 - 1991!). I couldn't see the reason why we should be reunited straight away. Blame my youth or my fairly unhistorical upbringing, but I thought that economically we would be heading for a disaster by trying to save the East out of its financial misery. Up to then, I had grown up in a country that was called "West Germany" - I obviously realised that there was an "East Germany" and that a famous german tabloid always put the letters "DDR" (GDR) in quotation marks - as if to say that this country is not for real and Germany should be one.

To be continued...