It was 25 years ago this week. I was in London with my longtime friend Maggie Parker when the call came in from my cousin Sean. “It’s happening,” he said, “and we’ve got to get there right way.”
IT was the Berlin Wall, and it was on the verge of being breached by thousands of East Germans. Sean managed to get us tickets on a fast charter flight from Gatwick to Berlin, and on the way, we made one essential stop—a hardware store.
Our purchases? Hammers and chisels.When we got on the plane, we started to laugh. We weren’t the only ones who had that idea. Network crews were scrambling onto the flight, and they, too had made the tool purchase.
After a short flight, it was a race to the wall. When we got there, it was a scene I’ll never forget. It was a celebration that bordered on mirroring Fellini’s Satyricon…high energy. Music blasting. People dancing. Someone mistook me for an East German and hugged me, screaming in German. A friend gave me a simultaneous translation: “Welcome to your freedom. Welcome to the West.”
As you can see, I went right to work on that wall—talk about a historical photo op. On the return flight, the German authorities were quick to confiscate all the hammers and chisels, and we never saw them again. But the chunks of that wall I hammered and chiseled out survived the trip, and I proudly brought them home. They are now framed on my wall.
Thank you, Maggie, for sending me the picture!
For more from Peter Greenberg, the Travel Detective, check out:
- A Joan Rivers Story You Haven’t Heard
- Peter’s Personal Thailand Advisory
- Why TSA PreCheck Isn’t Working
By Peter Greenberg for PeterGreenberg.com
