I raised the blind a couple of inches and looked out onto the gray street. The Berlin twilight was as gray as the road. The only splash of color was some hastily sprayed graffiti on the opposite wall. I took a deep breath and walked out of the bar towards the checkpoint.
The wall was behind me and to the left. Three miles back was Space Beach where the disco lights were beginning to sparkle and the sound of Bob Marley was beginning to start the evening’s movement. I didn’t look back though.
Out of well-trained habit I observed what was happening around me without appearing to move my head in any direction. No one was following me. The only person walking towards me was a Slavic looking tourist who was examining the new Checkpoint Charlie stamp in his passport. It had cost him five Euros.
I kept walking at a steady pace across the crossroad and towards the taxi rank on the corner of the street opposite me. It was maybe a hundred yards away. The light from the small café shone into the solitary taxicab. Sitting inside the cab was a large man reading a newspaper. I was now fifteen feet from the passenger door.
I arrived at the taxi, opened the door, got inside and used my mangled German to request the driver take me to the Zoo railway station. As we drove away I looked around to see if we were being followed. We weren’t. As the cab pulled away I breathed a sigh of relief in three hours I would be back in Warnemunde onboard the ship.
When I arrived back on the ship I had one more question; how long before I could come in from the cold.
