Flicktastic or what? In this pic I was 14, it was the summer holidays and we were on a train from Hannover to Berlin (me, Mum and a friend of mine). Mum had a friend who lived in West Berlin (a friend of her first husband - the two men had met in a POW camp after WW2 I think) and he was a friend to Mum right to the end and sent me a lovely letter and photos when she died last month. The journey was quite exciting - all through the East German countryside with lots of sniffer dogs patrolling the train at every stop. And then of course we got to Berlin...and in 1981 quite a lot of that city looked like this:
In my teenage diary I describe East Germany as 'bare and dreary'...and heck, I lived in a Middlesbrough suburb at the time...
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17 comments:
Yes, flicktastic!
Hard to believe sometimes that really significant history is so close to us. Incredible photograph of Berlin.
I remember there were huge protests in the streets while we were staying in (West) Berlin. And we certainly knew we were somewhere very different from home. Cakes were great too.
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I love that shot of you! That must have been quite a trip for a 14 year old. As Titus has said, that is such a fantastic photo of Berlin. (Don't you love those round-edged photos too?)
(verification is: "glugga" - how apt for me right now)
Maybe I should stick up the rest of the Berlin trip photos...
Certainly haven't done any Poetry Bus homework yet this week. I keep forgetting to look for signs when I'm out. Not surprising...
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Must be great to be able to read back over things like that now. I never was any good at keeping a journal but regret it as I grow older. I had my head stuck in a nappy bucket for most of the eighties I seem to remember.
Oh, they're not very well-written diaries... far too many details about boys. I have a little diary poem - back here.
Considering some of the '80s hairstyles, Frances, I think the head-in-a-nappy-bucket look would certainly not have been the worst do of the decade...
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Silly double comment...
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What an adventure! Yes please post your Berlin pics.
OK, maybe next week.
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Yes - at least Middlesbrough didn't have a dividing wall though.
No wall but it did have an invisible line called the 'border' (don't know if it still 'exists'). 'Over the border' meant 'in the area with all the prostitutes' as far as I remember.
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Does it say Es lebe die Freiheit (long live freedom) on that wall? I can't quite make it out. If it does, then it definitely isn't Middlesborough.
Yes, I think it does say that. And there was freedom in the boro when I lived there but it mostly involved driving too fast, loud music and heavy drinking (universal favourites really I suppose).
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Yes, please keep sharing. I like strolling down someone else's Memory Lane.
In 1980, I got married...which was my choice and one I never regretted. But it wasn't like we went somewhere exotic on our honeymoon...just 2 hours away, at the beach.
These are fun!
Love the pic of your hair! Without wishing to sound rude - woman, you were the oldest looking 14 year old t'other side of the nineties! Don't think you've aged since though - perhaps you'll just look thirty all your life. Lucky beggar.
I shall never post photographs of my teendom - ever!
Berlin wall looks awesome - amazing to think all this in our lifetime and close enough to touch.
You two sound like such lovebirds, Hope, that I'm sure it didn't matter at all where you were for that honeymoon!
Yes, Rachel, I was a grown-up, no-one-can-tell-me-anything, know-it-all youth... totally tiresome I'm sure! Much more immature now than I was then...
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