The Dackel Princess

The first week we were in Berlin we stayed at The Intercontinental Hotel. Each day we would meet our crew in the lobby and off we would go. Hubby was our guide, as he had lived in Berlin on and off for many years. He showed us the places he’d lived with other pilots, took us on river tours of the city and then down to Check Point Charlie, where we observed the most famous border crossing, while it was still functioning.

I loved everything about Germany. The people, the food…THE BEER!!! Those first few days were a wonderful introduction to the city.
Then the day came when the guys had to go to work and I was left on my own. A little scary when you think about it. Not speaking the language, or knowing the customs, well, it was all a bit overwhelming. I was determined, however, to make the most of it.
I dressed and went out to get myself something to eat. I walked down to the train station to get a newspaper and then stopped at the grocery store to get some supplies for the guys (they left me a list), and then to get some rolls for breakfast.
I wish I could tell you how nervous I was when I got to the bakery to get my breakfast rolls. In my best (worst), German I told the shop woman what I wanted and she put it in a bag and I paid and left. I got coffee at another shop and sat down to eat.
My roll was filled. It was a surprise, but it tasted a little like ham salad so I just ate it, as I was very hungry. I was walking back to the hotel, when all of a sudden I felt ill. Very ill. I ran into a public rest room and got violently sick. A very kind female bathroom attendant helped me. She told me in very good English where the pharmacy was. She suggested I had gotten food poisoning.
I stopped at the Apoteke (Pharmacy) and the wizened old Pharmacist gave me some medication for the sickness. I struggled, but made it back to our room, where I began to pray for death!
Hubby arrived home in the evening and as best as we could figure I had eaten Steak Tartar inside the roll, and apparently it had been bad.
Luckily, by the next morning I was fine and this time when I went out, I took the paper that Hubby had given me with the name of a good breakfast roll on it, and off I went.
Only that morning I was walking past another bakery when I saw “sweet treats”. Oh my goodness! The Germans sure do know how to bake the most wonderful confections! Would I risk another roll? I think not. I sat with my coffee and a couple of yummy delights. This was to become my routine breakfast meal while Hubby was at work.
I wandered around the down town area. I went in shops and bought a few things. Mostly I stayed close to the hotel, because I was nervous.
Finally Hubby gave me directions. He wanted a certain beer and it was only sold one place. It required me to take the U-Bahn and then a bus, and then walk to the shop. I carried my basket and off I went.
I got my U-Bahn ticket, and paid for my bus fare and got all the way out to get Hubby’s beer. It was hot and I was tired, so I stopped at a little outside beer stand and had a tall one! Then I retraced my steps carrying 6 bottles of Andecks beer. Not little bottles, no, half liter bottles! But I did it and with that trip, my fear of traveling around Berlin ended. After that I did things every day.
But that is for the next installment.

In late May of 1989 Hubby was awarded a temporary assignment over in Berlin, Germany. The start of this assignment saw him, with two other crewmen, ferrying an A-300 Airbus from New York to Berlin. The A-300 is not a long range airplane, so due to fuel restrictions, the plane had to be flown without passengers. After it’s arrival it would be used for summertime charters out of the still closed city of Berlin (meaning that the Wall had not come down, and the easiest way in and out of the city was by air.)
I was given permission to go along on the flight. What a thrill to experience both take off and landing in the cockpit of a commercial aircraft! As I watched Hubby and our friend George performing both take off and landing check lists, and well, doing all that stuff that pilots do, I was overwhelmed with appreciation for what Hubby did every day at work.
How odd it was to fly in an empty plane. Walking through the isles, helping myself in the galley and then ultimately fixing the meals for the crew was actually a lot of fun.
At one point I had started to fall asleep when the flight engineer came out and told me to come into the cockpit for a moment. I did and I saw the most awesome sight. St. Elmo’s Fire (static electricity going everywhere on the outside of the windshield). It is a sight I will likely never see again, but on that May night over the Atlantic there it was.
I sat in the cockpit more than anyplace else once the sun came up. The guys pointed out all the cities of Europe as we passed over them. This was my first trip to Germany and I could hardly wait to land and see the country of my Grandfather’s birth.
During the landing of the plane I sat in the jump seat of the cockpit and watched. Down, down, down we went. I kept feeling like we weren’t going to have enough runway to land on when all of a sudden I felt the wheels touch. I let out a startled exclamation! “Oh!”
They guys laughed because they knew my perspective made me feel we had far more time before we landed. They knew, of course what they were doing! Good thing I wasn’t flying the plane because I would have literally planted it on the runway.
I had arrived in Berlin!

End of part one.