I am a doughnut

Theta Aeterna said

Orson Carter said

Ich esse, aber ich komme nicht aus Essen.

:)

I lived super close to Essen for several years.

There are far worse city names which you can use the same way

Ich pisse aber komme nicht aus Pissen,

:)

And nobody wants to know what you do at home in Wankeheim.

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin said

I served in Berlin in the Royal Military Police, before, during and after The Wall and regularly worked in Checkpoint Charlie. It was a special place and a historic time to work there...

...[snipped]... 

Understood.

I worked in Berlin several times in the 1970s, so I've seen the wall and Checkpoint Charlie (and I also passed through checkpoints Alpha and Bravo). At the time it felt like an adventure, and nowadays I realise that I saw a slice of history.   

I did work in Bravo too and had a month long stint in Helmstedt on Alpha and patrolling the ‘corridor.’ 

There was always secret squirrel stuff going on in the background. A Russian soldier went on a joyride in West Berlin in an armoured vehicle and then begged and cried when handed back to the Soviets at the ‘Bridge of Spies’ as he told the team that he was facing a firing squad for what he done. A Russian KGB officer strolled into Checkpoint Charlie one day and declared he wished to defect to the West. He was taken away as were the pages of my police notebook where details had been recorded. Lucky I never needed it for court. There were monthly meetings of all the Allied Occupation Forces in Berlin. The Russians never turned up but regularly bugged the meeting. We had to use devices to see if the bugs could be detected before the meetings. We also had a police post at Tiergarten which was at the rear of the Soviet War Memorial and escorted daily busses to and from the East so they could guard the memorial. Often in the evening we’d trade with the Soviet soldiers at the gate to the facility for bits of their kit in exchange for Western Deutchmarks. Some of the German dramas are spot on with the characters. The British spies, under a nondescript administration name, were all like characters in John le Carré’s Smiley’s People. What a time and place to be alive and present. 

GDSandy Photography said

Theta Aeterna said

Orson Carter said

Ich esse, aber ich komme nicht aus Essen.

:)

I lived super close to Essen for several years.

There are far worse city names which you can use the same way

Ich pisse aber komme nicht aus Pissen,

:)

And nobody wants to know what you do at home in Wankeheim.

Hahahah :)

Orson Carter said

Theta Aeterna said

Orson Carter said

Theta Aeterna said

Orson Carter said

Ich esse, aber ich komme nicht aus Essen.

:)

I lived super close to Essen for several years.

There are far worse city names which you can use the same way

Ich pisse aber komme nicht aus Pissen,

:)

My knowledge of German is very limited (very, very, very limited!), and Essen was the only word/city that I could come up with. :)

I worked the Essen Festival a couple of times many years ago. I believe the festival still happens, doesn't it?   

Essen is a big city with an important Venue/Trade show centre. Also Essen is big on Carnival.

Pissen is a real place and it means to "piss" :)

Carnival... That's Fasching, isn't it?  The festival - I seem to remember it was held in a huge sports hall. 

EDIT: Looked at a map and found Pissen. Looks like it was in the old east. Is that right?  

Yes it is. Close to Leipzig.

Theta Aeterna said

Orson Carter said

Ich esse, aber ich komme nicht aus Essen.

:)

I lived super close to Essen for several years.

There are far worse city names which you can use the same way

Ich pisse aber komme nicht aus Pissen,

:)

I dunno, the community of Essen is never referred to in the archaic form, although I can't see what's wrong with Essen Meinschaft ;-)

OriginalSin said

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin said

I served in Berlin in the Royal Military Police, before, during and after The Wall and regularly worked in Checkpoint Charlie. It was a special place and a historic time to work there...

...[snipped]... 

Understood.

I worked in Berlin several times in the 1970s, so I've seen the wall and Checkpoint Charlie (and I also passed through checkpoints Alpha and Bravo). At the time it felt like an adventure, and nowadays I realise that I saw a slice of history.   

I did work in Bravo too and had a month long stint in Helmstedt on Alpha and patrolling the ‘corridor.’ 

There was always secret squirrel stuff going on in the background. A Russian soldier went on a joyride in West Berlin in an armoured vehicle and then begged and cried when handed back to the Soviets at the ‘Bridge of Spies’ as he told the team that he was facing a firing squad for what he done. A Russian KGB officer strolled into Checkpoint Charlie one day and declared he wished to defect to the West. He was taken away as were the pages of my police notebook where details had been recorded. Lucky I never needed it for court. There were monthly meetings of all the Allied Occupation Forces in Berlin. The Russians never turned up but regularly bugged the meeting. We had to use devices to see if the bugs could be detected before the meetings. We also had a police post at Tiergarten which was at the rear of the Soviet War Memorial and escorted daily busses to and from the East so they could guard the memorial. Often in the evening we’d trade with the Soviet soldiers at the gate to the facility for bits of their kit in exchange for Western Deutchmarks. Some of the German dramas are spot on with the characters. The British spies, under a nondescript administration name, were all like characters in John le Carré’s Smiley’s People. What a time and place to be alive and present. 

Interesting! 

On one occasion I somehow managed to take a wrong turning on the corridor road (how on earth???) and found myself in Magdeburg. Driving a British registered truck around Magdeburg at 2am... Couldn't get out of there quickly enough! (Haven't a clue how I did it, and haven't a clue how I got away with it.)  

Apologies if this is going off topic, but the police post at Tiergarten... One day in West Berlin I was walking along the side of the wall (in a big park, IIRC) and I saw what looked like some sort of military changeover. Russian soldiers disembarked from a bus and disappeared through a gateway or similar, and American soldiers emerged from the gateway and ambled away. If that was at Tiergarten, could I have been watching what you describe?    

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin said

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin said

I served in Berlin in the Royal Military Police, before, during and after The Wall and regularly worked in Checkpoint Charlie. It was a special place and a historic time to work there...

...[snipped]... 

Understood.

I worked in Berlin several times in the 1970s, so I've seen the wall and Checkpoint Charlie (and I also passed through checkpoints Alpha and Bravo). At the time it felt like an adventure, and nowadays I realise that I saw a slice of history.   

I did work in Bravo too and had a month long stint in Helmstedt on Alpha and patrolling the ‘corridor.’ 

There was always secret squirrel stuff going on in the background. A Russian soldier went on a joyride in West Berlin in an armoured vehicle and then begged and cried when handed back to the Soviets at the ‘Bridge of Spies’ as he told the team that he was facing a firing squad for what he done. A Russian KGB officer strolled into Checkpoint Charlie one day and declared he wished to defect to the West. He was taken away as were the pages of my police notebook where details had been recorded. Lucky I never needed it for court. There were monthly meetings of all the Allied Occupation Forces in Berlin. The Russians never turned up but regularly bugged the meeting. We had to use devices to see if the bugs could be detected before the meetings. We also had a police post at Tiergarten which was at the rear of the Soviet War Memorial and escorted daily busses to and from the East so they could guard the memorial. Often in the evening we’d trade with the Soviet soldiers at the gate to the facility for bits of their kit in exchange for Western Deutchmarks. Some of the German dramas are spot on with the characters. The British spies, under a nondescript administration name, were all like characters in John le Carré’s Smiley’s People. What a time and place to be alive and present. 

Interesting! 

On one occasion I somehow managed to take a wrong turning on the corridor road (how on earth???) and found myself in Magdeburg. Driving a British registered truck around Magdeburg at 2am... Couldn't get out of there quickly enough! (Haven't a clue how I did it, and haven't a clue how I got away with it.)  

Apologies if this is going off topic, but the police post at Tiergarten... One day in West Berlin I was walking along the side of the wall (in a big park, IIRC) and I saw what looked like some sort of military changeover. Russian soldiers disembarked from a bus and disappeared through a gateway or similar, and American soldiers emerged from the gateway and ambled away. If that was at Tiergarten, could I have been watching what you describe?    

Quite possibly, although the Soviet War Memorial and the police post were in the British sector. Possibly they were visiting the Soviets at the Memorial. Posted some photos below. Sorry for hijacking the thread! 

Checkpoint Bravo

Tiergarten Police Post. The gate to the left leads  into the Soviet War Memorial

Soviet bus arriving at the memorial.

OriginalSin - many thanks for all that. Given that I'm quick to moan about people hijacking threads, I feel a tad guilty. :) 

So I'll just say thanks again for the info.

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin - many thanks for all that. Given that I'm quick to moan about people hijacking threads, I feel a tad guilty. :) 

So I'll just say thanks again for the info.

No worries. It might make you feel better but countless travellers ended up in Magdeberg! The Soviets had a big presence there from what I recall. If you arrived within the time limit and didn’t ‘cough’ to going off route then you were safe. I’ve actually still got parts of the old travel packs somewhere including the easy to read images of the only turnings needed to not get lost on the route!

OriginalSin said

Orson Carter said

OriginalSin - many thanks for all that. Given that I'm quick to moan about people hijacking threads, I feel a tad guilty. :) 

So I'll just say thanks again for the info.

No worries. It might make you feel better but countless travellers ended up in Magdeberg! The Soviets had a big presence there from what I recall. If you arrived within the time limit and didn’t ‘cough’ to going off route then you were safe. I’ve actually still got parts of the old travel packs somewhere including the easy to read images of the only turnings needed to not get lost on the route!

My thread but I am not upset at the hijacking.  

bad john said

mskeetphoto said

Not strictly speaking a drama I thoroughly enjoyed Kleo on Netflix for a different view of the time period

Yes, that was fun.  

Second series out now.  Can’t wait.  How is it not a drama?

Carlos I think that I have seen it but I can't check as my Netflix subscription has expired.

The remake of The Ipcress File is partly there. As is the original with Michael Caine.

Some of Slow Horses, which I've only seen as books, is flashbacks or set in Berlin.

Two slightly different takes from Le Carre.

The semi-posthumous le Carre infill - Karla's Choice - is likely to appear, I'd think.

MidgePhoto I know the original Ipcress File and I like it.

Generally, I find remakes disappointing but I'll give it a go. For example, the original Italian Job is great but the remake is not.

bad john said

 the original Ipcress File and I like it.

Generally, I find remakes disappointing but I'll give it a go.

For example, the... Italian Job.

The Ipcress File in 4 episodes is an expansion, and amplification, losing I think nothing of the original without being slavishly copied. 

The Italian Job has aged, but the Hollywood section heist caper version I agree, is a waste of some good performers.