TWENTY YEARS?

Good gawd, where does the time go? Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, and all hell broke loose.

I was fortunate enough to go out there ten days later, and visit with friends. I'd been to Berlin several times before, and it was an amazing place to be, even with the wall. It was vibrant, and there was this electric feel in the air, always. I loved the West Berliners... they are the closest thing to the Viennese you can imagine. Funny, sarcastic, and they never took any shit from anyone. I visited East Berlin a few times as well, and nearly got in trouble with the Vopo (Volkspolizei) for aiming my camera in the wrong direction at a section of the Wall that some people had escaped over the week before. East Berlin was dreary, run down, and at that time, you could still see the scars of the battle at the end of WWII.

Bullet riddled facades much? I have since heard that everything improved muchly there. But I do think they should retain some as they were to remind people.

And went through the famous 'Check-Point Charlie' to cross over, as well as the Friedrichstrasse if I was with a Berliner. East Berlin was a downer for someone from the West, believe me.

So ok, am going ON... but I have a huge attachment to that place, and all the people there, ok?

Twenty years ago it all changed when the Wall came down. And as above, I went there ten days later for a week. It was so fucking amazing! And so damned cold I thought I would get frost-bite. (Take a note---you do NOT want to be in Berlin in November...)

But it was so historic, and there was so much joy, indescribable. Every morning the radio would report that a new entry into the East had been opened, and my friend would drag me off to her car, and away we would go, looking at what had been hidden from us for decades. I remember driving through the district of Pankow. That was where all the biggies lived, supposedly in unbelievable luxury...

I'm not underplaying this here, but you know what it looked like? Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives, and I so kid you not. But for the rest it looked like palaces.

I remember going to Potsdam, where we watched a botched Steven King film and practically froze to death because they had no heat.

Gawd, it was fun....

And yeah, I picked up pieces of the Wall, and sent them to friends and family... it was a wonderful week there.

But what really got under my skin, and made me so sad were the East Berliners. They were absolutly fucking shell-shocked. Their whole world had changed in 24 hours, and they weren't good with it. I spoke with so many on the Ku'damm, and they weren't able to grasp what that street offered.... if you had money. And I spoke with them in other places in the city, and they were so clueless.... And that was sad for the moment. I expected that they would catch their collective breath, and move on.

And they have for the most part.

So... and sorry for going on about this, I experienced something very important twenty years ago... and am sort of surprised, because it seems like yesterday. Where the hell did the time go?

And yes, if you give me a choice between Berlin and New York... Berlin would be my choice. I know, I can go on about Venice Italy, which is my second heart-beat, but Berlin is the most wonderful city I have visited. Brash, sassy, everyone has a 'lip', but good-hearted.

Hmm. Haven't been back since. But it was a 'hammer', as we say...