scuba066
Joined: 03 Oct 2010
Posts: 34
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 Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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I had a chance to go to East Berlin before the wall came down. The East Germans would make civilian tourist exchange there West German marks one for one with East Germans marks. We would go through the checkpoint in uniform and the guards could not hassle us in any way. So, we would exchange our West German marks or East German marks before crossing over. At the time, one US dollar exchanged for about 1.8 West German marks, and, each West German mark exchanged for about 13 East German marks. We exchanged money on the west side then crossed the border and lived like kings. The food was great but, it was hit or miss finding items to purchase. I tried twice to purchase Zeiss rifle scopes and binoculars but no luck.
Passing through Checkpoint Charlie was one of the most memorable events of my life. On the west side, different makes of cars and the cars did not belch smoke, very few police, bright lights, fresh paint and stores that actually had items on the shelves. With one step through the checkpoint, it all changed. All the cars were the same and they looked like they ran more on oil than gasoline. Almost everywhere you look either a policeman or soldier. Everything was painted a similar off color white. And, in the stores, more bare shelves than items to purchase.
I have been back and, it was nice to see an undivided Berlin. |
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