Easter Weekend

What an amazing weekend. It is going to be difficult to restrain myself from writing too many details because it was all so great.

I suppose the great chain of events actually started on Wednesday when I got home from the lab and found that a package awaited me at the customs office down the road. I was super excited and knew that I had to get it Thursday because I couldn't possibly wait until after the Easter holiday ended and retrieve the package Tuesday. So, early Thursday morning I rode my bike to Tennenlohe, which is a sleepy little village on the outskirt of Erlangen. The Customs lady required me to open the box in front of her in order to find out if I had to pay a fee for my gift. I was very excited to see my box full of delicious chocolates and other sweets. I headed back to Erlangen on the “bicycle highway”, my name for the awesome path through the woods that is smooth, geographically direct, and surrounded by beautiful scenery. The woods and path were very similar to the ones I visited last weekend. The only time this bicycle highway wouldn't function is after rain.

That afternoon I emailed Stephen, my new American friend, to find out more information about his weekend trip to Berlin to which he had invited me. When I found out that he planned to go out to a bar and see a live rock band perform, and the mode of transportation to get to Berlin was going to be a motorcycle, I got really nervous. I figured I was too uncool to go see a small venue rock band show and Stephen's warning that riding on a motorcycle for an extended period can be tiring made me think that I would only be a troublesome, whining companion. I walked back and forth to the computer and email several times, trying to figure out if I really wanted to go. I really did want to go for a couple of reasons. One important reason was that Stephen had come down to Erlangen and danced with me a couple of times already that week and this was my chance to join him in an activity which was his idea and not mine. But, I worried. I worried I would get tired of Stephen. I worried that I would hate riding on a motorcycle. I worried that I wouldn't have the proper enthusiasm for the rock band show. I worried for naught, as usual. After I had thoroughly thought over the subject, I decided that if I was ever going to learn to have an intimate relationship with someone, which is out of my comfort zone, then I had to take this first baby-step of spending time on activities which weren't in my plans, which is also out of my comfort zone.

Most best-selling books and blockbuster movies have some component of love story in them. My stories, which are incidentally my life, are typically very much lacking in this component. But, as this particular story developed, so did an intimacy which I've never known before.

Friday morning we, meaning Stephen, his army friend Ben Van Buren, and I headed out from Bamberg around 11am. I was Stephen's backseat passenger on his croch-rocket sport motorcycle and boy did I hold on tight for the first stretch. But, as the day wore on, I realized that I wasn't going to fly off the bike as easily as originally thought and my hold relaxed. One of the highlights of traveling to Berlin was an approximately 3km long traffic jam/stop. How can this possibly be a highlight, you might be wondering? Well, we were creeping along like the other motorists when a motorcycle came slinking up along the white line between vehicles. We thought this was a good place to travel, so we joined this stranger. Stephen and I were the third and last motorcycle, which was comforting knowing that if any care doors were to open ,then they probably wouldn't hit us. Most of the people we passed smiled with envy or stuck out their hitchiking thumbs. When we got to the front of the jam, I saw a couple of cars in the ditch. I'm a little baffled at how they got there, with one upside down, when the weather was so incredibly beautiful and friendly. Technicalities of the crash aside, our group was super duper happy at our speedy surpassing of the traffic jam.

When we stopped for lunch at a small village Guesthouse, I found out that I was going to be playing the role of German translator and communicator with the non-English speaking German population. I took on this role with contented pride because it was one more proof to me that all of my hard-earned German education was for a reason.

Stephen had planned for us to stay at a hostel in Berlin, but finding no room in the inn, we took up post next door at a reasonably priced hotel. Being dinnertime, we ventured down the street to a restaurant which Stephen recommended. We actually ended up eating all of our main meals at this restaurant because they had good food. Next it was time for the big event, “the small venue rock concert”. We arrived at the bar, Wild at Heart, a little early, but the concert was worth the wait. There were two pre-show bands before the main show, which was The Texas Terri Bombs. All three acts played good rock music that rocked me deep inside. Texas Terri was one crazy lady and totally thrilling to watch. I left the bar that evening very glad that I had come and excited to try another such event sometime in the future. Stephen was pleased that I liked his choice of musical entertainment.

Saturday arrived and we headed out to explore Berlin on motorcycles. Our first stop was the Eastside Gallery, which is a segment of the old Berlin Wall still standing along the river but covered in murals, and graffiti. The murals were painted by professional artists back in the 1990s, but segments of the gallery are in the process of being repainted due to deterioration.

When I looked at the old Berlin wall, I was astounded at how small it was. After seeing the humongous Israeli wall running through the Palestinian West Bank, the Berlin Wall seems so insignificant. But, Ben reminded me that there were armed guard towers very closely situated along the Berlin Wall, which is not the case in the West Bank.

Our next stop was an old American checkpoint called “Checkpoint Charlie”, which used to control the traffic passing between the American and Russian sectors of Berlin. This place is a huge tourist destination and we didn't stay long because there wasn't really much to see except the old checkpoint house and reading a few placards on the history of the location.

So, away we rode to the famous Brandenburger Tor, which is a huge Romanesque gate built in something like the 1600s. Just down the road is the famous Siegessaule, which is a monument I learned about in a German course at Calvin College. If memory serves correctly, the monument represents victory, but victory over what I don't recall. (Fact update: Completed in 1873, the Victory Column represents German victory over the French in the Battle of Sedan in 1864.)

We zoomed over to a big cathedral on Museum Island and peeked through the door cracks to get a glimpse inside of the sanctuary. I, for one, was completely satisfied with my peek through the crack. Amazing as it was, it wasn't worth it to us to pay to see inside.

Located next door to the cathedral was an antique museum, so we decided to check it out. We spent a couple of hours perusing ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts. I liked the size of the collections because they were just big enough to be interesting without being too boringly extensive. We were still kind of tired after all of our zooming and viewing, so we headed back to the hostel, which we did manage to secure for Saturday night, and took naps. We met some fun-loving Kiwis at the hostel and had a good time hanging out with them Saturday evening.

The plan was to drive home Sunday, but along our way a new adventure presented itself. While I was in the bathroom at a gas station, unbeknown to me were Stephen and Ben outside fixing a motorcycle which belonged to a couple of German women and when I came out, I was asked by one of the women if I wanted to accompany the ladies to a motorcycle tour in Weissenfels. I was shocked by the question because for one, I had just walked out of the bathroom and didn't know what Stephen and Ben had been up to, and for another thing because it was just one of the women who asked me the question in German while Stephen and Ben looked on. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I figured the boys would get a kick out of a motorcycle gathering, so I said “yes”. And away we went to Weissenfels!

We first accompanied the ladies to the Dragon Bikers clubhouse where we were warmly welcomed by the members, and then we drove down the road to meet up with the big tour group at a gas station. There were tons of bikes in all varieties. The tour traveled a distance of about 100 kilometers and passed through quaint villages and across beautiful hills full of springtime bloom. There was a break in the middle which my rear end greatly appreciated. As pleasant as motorcycling is because of the nearness to nature I have riding out there in the open, it is a pain in the butt, literally.

We were invited to remain at the clubhouse for the evening's Easter Fire (bonfire) party and spend the night. We accepted the offer. I felt very confident and safe with my two army protectors. I had a great time chatting with the people and doing some translating for the boys. I also learned a lot about motorcycles and motorcycle culture. It was a very educational evening. There was also a tiny little boy who randomly took a liking to me, so that was fun playing with him. It's always nice to have positive interaction with children because it reassures me that I could actually raise my own children someday.

So, you're probably wondering where the love story came in. Do you think you missed it? Well, you didn't. I'm just not good at weaving it into the rest of the story because, as I said, I'm not used to doing so. On Friday, I permitted a little bit of hand holding with Stephen, Saturday a peck on the cheek, and by Sunday I had progressed to snuggling in his lap by the bonfire. I feel that I have spent a good portion of my life fulfilling my need for body to body contact through hugging dogs, but I am ready to progress to humans. Humans are a lot more complicated and finicky than dogs, but I think I am prepared to face the challenge.

Monday we finally returned home, completely exhausted from our glorious weekend. I had seen some of Berlin, indulged in some spontaneity, and finally allowed another human being to begin entering into my iron-clad heart.