Weird Harold
Opinionated Old Fart
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2000
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- 23,768
This is so simple.
Those on the left are "sinister"
Those on the right are "dextrous"
Those on the left are "sinister"
Those on the right are "dextrous"
The difference between the Left and the Right...
- Thread starter p_p_man
- Start date
p_p_man
The 'Euro' European
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Posts
- 24,253
Re: Re: I try to keep away from American internal politics...
You're right of course I meant 1988. Sometimes I think I did something yesterday when in fact it was 20 years ago!
And yes it was thick with re-enforcing cables running criss-crosswise through it.
I saw the beginning of the crowd gathering on TV back in UK at about 8am and thought that it had to be the only christmas party to go to that year. With some luck I managed to get a flight from London to Frankfurt and a connecting flight from there to Berlin. I had an enforced stopover in Frankfurt for a few hours so I went into the city to a bar, met up with some heavy metal fans and found myself standing at the back of a concert hall next door watching Iron Maiden. Don't ask me how I got in, all I know is that nobody asked for any money! Not my sort of music but the experience was the thing.
Got back to the airport for my flight to Berlin by PanAm where a steward took pity on my, by now fairly inebriated state, and gave me a six-pack with the word "Here sir you look as if you need this more than me". Bless the man.
Finally arrived in Berlin at about 8pm. Took a taxi to the Brandenberg Gate and just joined the crowds. I had left London with no luggage and was wearing a winter coat which was perfectly adequate for the UK but not for a bitterly cold night in Germany, but the alcohol and adrenalin were keeping me warm.
There were hundreds if not thousands of people there from all over the world all hammering away at the concrete with various tools. Someone lent me a sledgehammer but it just bounced off the Wall.
I walked along its length for about three minutes and came across a group who were almost through. One man sqinted through a tiny hole and said Ja which I presimed to mean he could see the other side. I had nothing to use to help with the work, the person who had lent me the sledgehammer had taken it back when he saw me wandering off,
But then one of the group opened the trench coat he was wearing and he had about half a dozen chisels and hammers hanging from little hooks all down the inside. Without a word he handed me a pair and pointed to the Wall.
It was not only thick, it was hard but taking turns to enlarge the tiny eye-hole we finally widened it enough to attract the attention of the border guard I mentioned in the previous post. Poor guy, we could only see his middle, but when we started to thrust our hands through the now widened gap he started shaking them, but it was only by bending almost double could he see through to our side. It was when my turn came to shake his hand that he decided to do just that and I saw a frightened face, completely without animation of any kind, not a grin or a smile. He held his hand out palm open, and we just grabbed it, pumped it a couple of times and moved on.
After that the cold was beginning to creep into my bones and the alcohol was beginning to wear off so I left the area, found a night club which was having a sort of "Bring the Wall Down Party" and stayed there for the rest of the night. In the norning back to London, direct flight this time, and crashed for a long, long sleep.
That year I was very popular amongst family and friends because I gave them all bits of wall, the bits that had graffiti on them, for Christman presents. I know some still have them. One or two actually had them mounted and kept on display as part of their personal memorabillia they like to show people.
Thanks for bringing the mistake on the date to my attention Cheyenne. I enjoyed writing this, it brought back half forgotten memories and let me re-live the experience all over again!
Cheyenne said:
You're right of course I meant 1988. Sometimes I think I did something yesterday when in fact it was 20 years ago!
And yes it was thick with re-enforcing cables running criss-crosswise through it.
I saw the beginning of the crowd gathering on TV back in UK at about 8am and thought that it had to be the only christmas party to go to that year. With some luck I managed to get a flight from London to Frankfurt and a connecting flight from there to Berlin. I had an enforced stopover in Frankfurt for a few hours so I went into the city to a bar, met up with some heavy metal fans and found myself standing at the back of a concert hall next door watching Iron Maiden. Don't ask me how I got in, all I know is that nobody asked for any money! Not my sort of music but the experience was the thing.
Got back to the airport for my flight to Berlin by PanAm where a steward took pity on my, by now fairly inebriated state, and gave me a six-pack with the word "Here sir you look as if you need this more than me". Bless the man.
Finally arrived in Berlin at about 8pm. Took a taxi to the Brandenberg Gate and just joined the crowds. I had left London with no luggage and was wearing a winter coat which was perfectly adequate for the UK but not for a bitterly cold night in Germany, but the alcohol and adrenalin were keeping me warm.
There were hundreds if not thousands of people there from all over the world all hammering away at the concrete with various tools. Someone lent me a sledgehammer but it just bounced off the Wall.
I walked along its length for about three minutes and came across a group who were almost through. One man sqinted through a tiny hole and said Ja which I presimed to mean he could see the other side. I had nothing to use to help with the work, the person who had lent me the sledgehammer had taken it back when he saw me wandering off,
But then one of the group opened the trench coat he was wearing and he had about half a dozen chisels and hammers hanging from little hooks all down the inside. Without a word he handed me a pair and pointed to the Wall.
It was not only thick, it was hard but taking turns to enlarge the tiny eye-hole we finally widened it enough to attract the attention of the border guard I mentioned in the previous post. Poor guy, we could only see his middle, but when we started to thrust our hands through the now widened gap he started shaking them, but it was only by bending almost double could he see through to our side. It was when my turn came to shake his hand that he decided to do just that and I saw a frightened face, completely without animation of any kind, not a grin or a smile. He held his hand out palm open, and we just grabbed it, pumped it a couple of times and moved on.
After that the cold was beginning to creep into my bones and the alcohol was beginning to wear off so I left the area, found a night club which was having a sort of "Bring the Wall Down Party" and stayed there for the rest of the night. In the norning back to London, direct flight this time, and crashed for a long, long sleep.
That year I was very popular amongst family and friends because I gave them all bits of wall, the bits that had graffiti on them, for Christman presents. I know some still have them. One or two actually had them mounted and kept on display as part of their personal memorabillia they like to show people.
Thanks for bringing the mistake on the date to my attention Cheyenne. I enjoyed writing this, it brought back half forgotten memories and let me re-live the experience all over again!
p_p_man
The 'Euro' European
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Posts
- 24,253
Jeez the date's still not right...
I wrote the above from memory as a quick reply to Cheyenne's post but now I've looked at my ticket (I keep these sort of things!) from that trip.
Left London on 23 December 1989
Arrived London 24 December 1989
I wrote the above from memory as a quick reply to Cheyenne's post but now I've looked at my ticket (I keep these sort of things!) from that trip.
Left London on 23 December 1989
Arrived London 24 December 1989
Andra_Jenny
Mentally Divergent
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2000
- Posts
- 2,865
That's okay. I'm pleasantly confused all of the time.
Gleam?
The libertarians are above the right and the left.
Gleam?
The libertarians are above the right and the left.
Cheyenne
Ms. Smarty Pantsless
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2000
- Posts
- 59,555
Re: Jeez the date's still not right...
It was November 9, 1989 when the wall fell.
[url]http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/archive/dui/html/germany_wall991109.html
http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/November_1999_01.htm[/url]
Brandenburg gate opened December 22, 1989- that's when the dancing on the wall happened and the Brandenburg gate opened for all the little East German cars to stream through to the West.
I remember watching it on TV and knowing I had to get there myself before all the history of it was gone. I was afraid to visit it before the wall fell. The guards scared me.
Most places on the wall, at least in Berlin proper, the wall was really a double wall. Like at Brandenburg gate. The center section was a baren zone where attack dogs ran (were gone by December, I'm sure.) Then there was another wall quite a distance away. There were guard towers with guards up high watching that center zone for people running across to get to the wall on the west side. It was easy shooting to stop them.
There is a great museum at the old Checkpoint Charlie about the history of the wall. It has on exhibit many of the contraptions used to smuggle people out of the East and very moving displays about the people who tried but never made it across.
p_p_man said:
It was November 9, 1989 when the wall fell.
[url]http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/archive/dui/html/germany_wall991109.html
http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/November_1999_01.htm[/url]
Brandenburg gate opened December 22, 1989- that's when the dancing on the wall happened and the Brandenburg gate opened for all the little East German cars to stream through to the West.
I remember watching it on TV and knowing I had to get there myself before all the history of it was gone. I was afraid to visit it before the wall fell. The guards scared me.
Most places on the wall, at least in Berlin proper, the wall was really a double wall. Like at Brandenburg gate. The center section was a baren zone where attack dogs ran (were gone by December, I'm sure.) Then there was another wall quite a distance away. There were guard towers with guards up high watching that center zone for people running across to get to the wall on the west side. It was easy shooting to stop them.
There is a great museum at the old Checkpoint Charlie about the history of the wall. It has on exhibit many of the contraptions used to smuggle people out of the East and very moving displays about the people who tried but never made it across.
Last edited:
p_p_man
The 'Euro' European
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Posts
- 24,253
Re: Re: Jeez the date's still not right...
I didn't know the wall fell on Dec 22, a day before I got there, but the date I arrived fits in with the Brandenburg Gate being open.
I didn't speak German and just repeated Brandenburg Gate to the taxi driver who eventualy realised where I wanted to go.
When he dropped me off their were people everywhere, it was a definite party atmosphere, and I remember walking through the gate to get to the wall. It's probable, now that I've read your post, it was ithe inner wall I eventually arrived at , hold on I'm thinking aloud here without bothering to edit this post...if it was the inner wall it would be highly unlikely to have graffiti on it on the West Berlin side.
I had walked about 100 metres to the left of the slegehammer attempt so it could be some parts of the outer wall were still standing.
It was a very confused night, no lights to speak of, people from all over the world taking photographs, offering drinks to anyone they met, even food in some cases (I could have eaten the first true global meal of my life if I'd wanted to!) and all that people wanted to do was chip out a souvenier, or in my case souveniers, to take home.
Like you Cheyenne when I saw it on TV on the morning of Dec 23 in London I just knew I had to get there just to be part of a slice of history.
Glad I went.
Cheyenne said:
I didn't know the wall fell on Dec 22, a day before I got there, but the date I arrived fits in with the Brandenburg Gate being open.
I didn't speak German and just repeated Brandenburg Gate to the taxi driver who eventualy realised where I wanted to go.
When he dropped me off their were people everywhere, it was a definite party atmosphere, and I remember walking through the gate to get to the wall. It's probable, now that I've read your post, it was ithe inner wall I eventually arrived at , hold on I'm thinking aloud here without bothering to edit this post...if it was the inner wall it would be highly unlikely to have graffiti on it on the West Berlin side.
I had walked about 100 metres to the left of the slegehammer attempt so it could be some parts of the outer wall were still standing.
It was a very confused night, no lights to speak of, people from all over the world taking photographs, offering drinks to anyone they met, even food in some cases (I could have eaten the first true global meal of my life if I'd wanted to!) and all that people wanted to do was chip out a souvenier, or in my case souveniers, to take home.
Like you Cheyenne when I saw it on TV on the morning of Dec 23 in London I just knew I had to get there just to be part of a slice of history.
Glad I went.
pabloback
Literotica Guru
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- Posts
- 8,255
tariq ali was a marxist spy
peter tatchell is a bitter and twisted left winger that believes that sexuality is the be all and end all of life , like many politically correct spokesmen he practises his own form of nazism hounding people who hold beliefs different to his own
everyone has the right to free speech
everyone should have the right to disagree with others no matter how extreme or biased their views are
the european parliament is a dangerous non elected police state in the making
peter tatchell is a bitter and twisted left winger that believes that sexuality is the be all and end all of life , like many politically correct spokesmen he practises his own form of nazism hounding people who hold beliefs different to his own
everyone has the right to free speech
everyone should have the right to disagree with others no matter how extreme or biased their views are
the european parliament is a dangerous non elected police state in the making
