While my last post had me exploring deep into the ground, this time I unexpectedly found myself shaking uncontrollably, more scared than I have ever been, and wide open with close to nothing around me. My common sense kept telling me it was a stupid idea, but I continued, almost ready to break out into tears of fear.
Welcome to Berlin, aside from waiting for a series of packages to be sent to me, I wanted to discover the slightly less seen parts of the city and do some urban exploring. Berlin has numerous abandoned buildings that have been transformed into destruction zones and urban canvases of graffiti for squatters and adventurous wanderers. With so many locations to chose from, it became difficult to decide where to go first.
Less than 24 hours after arriving, I was walking through the shattered glass of an abandoned water park resort with my CouchSurfing host Giuseppe. It was like nothing I had seen before, yet oddly reminiscent of a first person shooter video game. Random debris; pool accessories, glass and overgrown vegetation, was scattered around the main building. Doors had been ripped off their hinges, fire extinguishers long depleted for the fun of it, and water slide sections laid thrown about. I entered the main water park building via a huge drained outdoor pool that was connected to the one indoors. The place was massive as I discovered the spa, wave pool, and offices. Everything was completely trashed, yet it didn't look all that long ago. The offices were still littered with paper documents; invoices, contracts, brochures and the likes. Oddly enough, nothing had been burned by arsonists. Curious, I searched around a smashed scanner looking for clues as to what might have lead to the demise of the business. I came across German documents dating from 1985, all the way to as recent as 2007. Whatever it was, my lack of German wasn't solving any James Bond mission today.
It was a unique feeling standing in what must have been a lively place full of laughter and energetic swimmers only a few years ago. Now, nothing but silence amongst the destruction remains, yet a certain level of preservation (or more so a lack of complete destruction) can be found. Not ready to leave and wanting to continue to be submerged in an imaginary spy movie, I spotted a smashed out sky roof. After stacking some unstable office furniture, I pulled onto a hanging rope to reach the roof, and an entire new level of exploration. My host had knocked down the cabinet on his way up, so getting off the roof became a bit of a challenge, and luckily only a bruised elbow came as a result of this.
Limiting the details of this last adventure for the sake of space, I also spent an afternoon jumping a fence to descend into an abandoned brewery. While scary in its own right for the need of a flashlight to explore the seven story building, including a bowling alley and pool, it was nothing compared to what I felt at the abandoned children's hospital.
Towards the outskirts of Berlin, a group of French people I had met through CouchSurfing led me to a large decaying building. It was so bad that large sections of the roof had fallen in, steps were missing on the stairs, and the second story floor dropped into the first. Everything was cool and creepy in it's own right, but the stupid idea I got next was beyond anything I had done before.
I was going to climb the building's chimney!
I didn't know how I was going to do it, but that was the whole reason and adventure for doing it. It wasn't easy to begin with, as a visible ladder attached to the 15-20 meter chimney began from the 3rd floor. I climbed the steps to the 2nd floor, sometimes two at time to avoid falling through the gap. Once on the 3rd floor, I was confused how I could go any further. A cement wall separated me from the chimney that was situated at the other end of the building. Not deterred, and still with a few of the French, I noticed a tiny hole that had been dug out of the wall. My caving experience helped me here as I went through, one shoulder at a time. Now alone on the other side, the sun setting only moments ago, I cautiously made my way to the other side of the room, fearful that each step would send me falling into the floors below. I had enough reason for this fear, as one half of the room had already collapsed.
Now at the base of the chimney, I was still too low to be able to reach the first ladder rung. Prepared to start climbing the exposed roof, my first fear came from being startled by a spider the size of a deck of cards. Sure, only one more thing for me to worry about.
Clinging to the roof by the wooden frame with the durability of a broom, I was now in position to grab onto the first metal ladder rung. The entire caged ladder was unsettling to hold onto from the beginning. It wasn't attached to the brick chimney until further up, and I could notice the metal had already begun to rust and decay away. It was the beginning of a rapidly advancing panic, yet I continued. A more sturdy, perhaps 1 inch thick uncaged series of metal rungs were situated next to where I climbed. I clung to this other support in honest fear the ladder I was climbing was going to come ripping out from the chimney. I then hears the voice of Giuseppe, an experienced urban explorer, in my head, 'if it looks, it probably is'.
A third of the way up I had the most unique fear and realization of my life. I was absolutely terrified, sensing the possibility of the ladder breaking away and me falling backwards. My legs started to shake with the frequency of a woodpecker on a tree trunk. My tremors began to shake the ladder, only causing me to be more worried of it coming loose. Until this moment, all my fears could always be reassured with a higher realization that either a scary movie or creepy sound in my house was just a part of my imagination. Here, it was evident my fear was real and not a part of my imagination - no logical thoughts could make it better. I stopped as a huge wave of emotion caused me to panic. I felt the urge to burst into tears. I felt so unsafe, threatened, and forced by that voice in my head telling me to continue, but everything else telling me to turn back right away. My relentless sense of adventure took my body captive, as though I was a prisoner in my own body. That's what I needed though, mindless motion for me to continue.
Two thirds of a way up, the sturdy additional support rings became half the size, then stopped all together. The only thing that I had to hold on to was worth nothing more than scrap metal. My breathing was heavy and I was incredibly cautious with each step I took.
It wasn't time for stalling as I made my way up the final few rungs allowing me to see over the chimney. To come this far though, I couldn't go back yet, I wanted to stand on it.
A weak fence with the structural stability of a dominos set surrounded the top of the square meter chimney. I took my last few steps placing all my weight on one rung. If now was my time to go in life, this action would be the one to seal the deal. Finally, pulling myself to the top, I had made it!
Having said that, with adrenaline still rushing through my body, my feet bounced with an uncontrollable shake. I took a few pictures and videos, although most of them were blurry due to the fact image stabilization hadn't advanced as far as I needed it to counter the effects of the fear shown in my unsteady hands.
I stayed up there for a few minutes as it slowly got darker, full moon rising in the sky, and yelled down a few nervous jokes to the French waiting below. What crossed my mind was the fact it was only a matter of time before the ladder would become weak enough to fall off. Coming down was oddly much less terrifying than I would've expected, yet the same dangers were still there: the corroding ladder, the weak roof frame, and the collapsing floors and staircase. It was the most terrifying event of my life, although the UFO and millennium old cemetery event in Turkey 6 years ago is a close second. In any case, I've left the temptations of urban exploring in Germany, and now I'm well into Eastern Europe, curious what will get the best of me next.
Welcome to Berlin, aside from waiting for a series of packages to be sent to me, I wanted to discover the slightly less seen parts of the city and do some urban exploring. Berlin has numerous abandoned buildings that have been transformed into destruction zones and urban canvases of graffiti for squatters and adventurous wanderers. With so many locations to chose from, it became difficult to decide where to go first.
Less than 24 hours after arriving, I was walking through the shattered glass of an abandoned water park resort with my CouchSurfing host Giuseppe. It was like nothing I had seen before, yet oddly reminiscent of a first person shooter video game. Random debris; pool accessories, glass and overgrown vegetation, was scattered around the main building. Doors had been ripped off their hinges, fire extinguishers long depleted for the fun of it, and water slide sections laid thrown about. I entered the main water park building via a huge drained outdoor pool that was connected to the one indoors. The place was massive as I discovered the spa, wave pool, and offices. Everything was completely trashed, yet it didn't look all that long ago. The offices were still littered with paper documents; invoices, contracts, brochures and the likes. Oddly enough, nothing had been burned by arsonists. Curious, I searched around a smashed scanner looking for clues as to what might have lead to the demise of the business. I came across German documents dating from 1985, all the way to as recent as 2007. Whatever it was, my lack of German wasn't solving any James Bond mission today.
It was a unique feeling standing in what must have been a lively place full of laughter and energetic swimmers only a few years ago. Now, nothing but silence amongst the destruction remains, yet a certain level of preservation (or more so a lack of complete destruction) can be found. Not ready to leave and wanting to continue to be submerged in an imaginary spy movie, I spotted a smashed out sky roof. After stacking some unstable office furniture, I pulled onto a hanging rope to reach the roof, and an entire new level of exploration. My host had knocked down the cabinet on his way up, so getting off the roof became a bit of a challenge, and luckily only a bruised elbow came as a result of this.
Limiting the details of this last adventure for the sake of space, I also spent an afternoon jumping a fence to descend into an abandoned brewery. While scary in its own right for the need of a flashlight to explore the seven story building, including a bowling alley and pool, it was nothing compared to what I felt at the abandoned children's hospital.
Towards the outskirts of Berlin, a group of French people I had met through CouchSurfing led me to a large decaying building. It was so bad that large sections of the roof had fallen in, steps were missing on the stairs, and the second story floor dropped into the first. Everything was cool and creepy in it's own right, but the stupid idea I got next was beyond anything I had done before.
I was going to climb the building's chimney!
I didn't know how I was going to do it, but that was the whole reason and adventure for doing it. It wasn't easy to begin with, as a visible ladder attached to the 15-20 meter chimney began from the 3rd floor. I climbed the steps to the 2nd floor, sometimes two at time to avoid falling through the gap. Once on the 3rd floor, I was confused how I could go any further. A cement wall separated me from the chimney that was situated at the other end of the building. Not deterred, and still with a few of the French, I noticed a tiny hole that had been dug out of the wall. My caving experience helped me here as I went through, one shoulder at a time. Now alone on the other side, the sun setting only moments ago, I cautiously made my way to the other side of the room, fearful that each step would send me falling into the floors below. I had enough reason for this fear, as one half of the room had already collapsed.
Now at the base of the chimney, I was still too low to be able to reach the first ladder rung. Prepared to start climbing the exposed roof, my first fear came from being startled by a spider the size of a deck of cards. Sure, only one more thing for me to worry about.
Clinging to the roof by the wooden frame with the durability of a broom, I was now in position to grab onto the first metal ladder rung. The entire caged ladder was unsettling to hold onto from the beginning. It wasn't attached to the brick chimney until further up, and I could notice the metal had already begun to rust and decay away. It was the beginning of a rapidly advancing panic, yet I continued. A more sturdy, perhaps 1 inch thick uncaged series of metal rungs were situated next to where I climbed. I clung to this other support in honest fear the ladder I was climbing was going to come ripping out from the chimney. I then hears the voice of Giuseppe, an experienced urban explorer, in my head, 'if it looks, it probably is'.
A third of the way up I had the most unique fear and realization of my life. I was absolutely terrified, sensing the possibility of the ladder breaking away and me falling backwards. My legs started to shake with the frequency of a woodpecker on a tree trunk. My tremors began to shake the ladder, only causing me to be more worried of it coming loose. Until this moment, all my fears could always be reassured with a higher realization that either a scary movie or creepy sound in my house was just a part of my imagination. Here, it was evident my fear was real and not a part of my imagination - no logical thoughts could make it better. I stopped as a huge wave of emotion caused me to panic. I felt the urge to burst into tears. I felt so unsafe, threatened, and forced by that voice in my head telling me to continue, but everything else telling me to turn back right away. My relentless sense of adventure took my body captive, as though I was a prisoner in my own body. That's what I needed though, mindless motion for me to continue.
Two thirds of a way up, the sturdy additional support rings became half the size, then stopped all together. The only thing that I had to hold on to was worth nothing more than scrap metal. My breathing was heavy and I was incredibly cautious with each step I took.
It wasn't time for stalling as I made my way up the final few rungs allowing me to see over the chimney. To come this far though, I couldn't go back yet, I wanted to stand on it.
A weak fence with the structural stability of a dominos set surrounded the top of the square meter chimney. I took my last few steps placing all my weight on one rung. If now was my time to go in life, this action would be the one to seal the deal. Finally, pulling myself to the top, I had made it!
Having said that, with adrenaline still rushing through my body, my feet bounced with an uncontrollable shake. I took a few pictures and videos, although most of them were blurry due to the fact image stabilization hadn't advanced as far as I needed it to counter the effects of the fear shown in my unsteady hands.
I stayed up there for a few minutes as it slowly got darker, full moon rising in the sky, and yelled down a few nervous jokes to the French waiting below. What crossed my mind was the fact it was only a matter of time before the ladder would become weak enough to fall off. Coming down was oddly much less terrifying than I would've expected, yet the same dangers were still there: the corroding ladder, the weak roof frame, and the collapsing floors and staircase. It was the most terrifying event of my life, although the UFO and millennium old cemetery event in Turkey 6 years ago is a close second. In any case, I've left the temptations of urban exploring in Germany, and now I'm well into Eastern Europe, curious what will get the best of me next.