Berlin in the Rain

Photo by Mike PowersJuly.2004It was raining yet somehow venturing out into the icy wetness of the night seemed more enjoyable than sitting in my flat listening to Brad recall another of his army days stationed in Bamberg, Vin talk about porn or having to weather another of Tabia’s severe mood swings. Jean-Phillipe, the traveling professor from Paris (and one of my only stable flatmates) had since disappeared from Zehlendorf and set up shop in a less yuppie more artistic corner of Berlin. I didn’t know much about my other flatmate Michael except that he was Peruvian and in Berlin taking a photography course so I told him to grab and umbrella and we headed for the S-Bahn at Mexikoplatz. We got off the train at Potsdamer Platz, a sea of drab coloured umbrellas washed past us while the sky was set ablaze by the flashbulbs of hurried Japanese tourist and the occasional bolt of lightning. Down Eberstraße to the Brandenburger Tor and Unter den Linden we hopped in every puddle. I had only been in Berlin for a couple of weeks at this point and save for the scattered few running for cover in the closest U-Bahn station, it was the first time I had seen Pariser Platz completely emptied of people. We took advantage of having the streets of Berlin to ourselves and miscalculating the distance began the (long) walk to the Großer Stern.After about a 1500 metre trek we reached the roundabout on which the Großer Stern is situated. Since the roundabout is a high traffic area, there are various subterranean tunnels connecting opposite sides of the street and the Großer Stern. The entrance to the tunnel on our side of the street was obscured by darkness but being rather convinced that the crime in Berlin was nil (compared to crime in major cities in the US) we began our descent underground. The lights in the tunnel flickered and bounced off the shadows, as we slinked quietly through the passage we heard voices from behind us talking, and then the echoing sound of footsteps growing increasingly louder. Mike and I took off running in a full sprint; the footsteps became louder and louder as we desperately searched for an exit. We finally found a staircase facing up into the cloudy night sky and stumbled up it to find ourselves in the middle of the roundabout. Resting against the base of the Stern trying to catch our breath, we watched the opening of the tunnel apprehensively, waiting for the voices to emerge at any second. It wasn’t until a few minutes of sitting, waiting that we decided to go back and investigate. Almost holding onto each other we crept back down into the tunnel, the footsteps began almost immediately once we landed at the bottom of the stairs. I yelled a voice yelled back and that’s when we realised that footsteps and the words we had heard before were our own. It was getting late at this point and knowing that the closest S-Bahn station was at the end of the Tiergarten we continued our path down Straße des.17.Juni.That night Mike saw his first Trabant, we were solicited by a couple of 80’sed out prostitutes, a man who emerged from the bushes with his fly down approached us and after getting a quick shot of espresso we boarded a train headed back to sleepy Zehlendorf.