I woke up at o'dark thirty to make my 8 am flight to Berlin. Well, I actually woke at 2 for some reason, but that's just a detail. ;) It's only a five minute walk to the metro, and a 15 minute ride to the airport. Not too bad! Cars come every 10-15 minutes so I was on my way for the less-than-one-hour flight.
The Copenhagen airport is very nice and easy to navigate. Within minutes of arriving I found a Joe and the Juice, a cute little snack place Marie found before she picked me up, and we went there on Saturday. They do thin sandwiches on a crisp bread with ham, tomato and mozzerella among others. I again got a juice with spinach, apple, ginger and this time got a ginger latte. It was very good and not sweetened, which was nice.
The flight was 40 minutes to Berlin, and true to form I snoozed well most of the way. Unlike transatlantic flights where I have 9+ hours and don't sleep a wink. I really needed it this time and appreciated it. It was very cloudy and overcast when I got off the plane, though the weather report didn't say rain. I walked into the terminal (the plane let off and a bus took us there) and easily found the TXL bus stand to get from the Tegel airport to Alexanderplatz.
I was going to drop my bag at the hotel, but this was one of the places with lots of sights to see so I decided instead to get a locker and store my bag for a bit. Easier said than done! I went to two stores to make change for some of the Euro bills I have, and neither would. The second said to go to the ticket counter. I waited for the ten people ahead of me and asked for change. I swear the lady sneered at me, and made change for a 5Euro note. Well, I needed six E for the locker and she waved me on. When I asked again, she said 'NEIN!' and waved me on more forcefully this time. I then went to another ticket counter and went through this exercise again.
The only locker that was open was above my head, but I managed, thankful that my bag isn't too heavy and made my way out of the station. Alexanderplatz is a large public square and transport hub in the center of Berlin in the Mitte district. There is a large shopping mall, a very high tv tower boasting the best views of the city, among other things. I walked towards the Berlin Cathedral and toured the large and gorgeous church and climbed the dome to enjoy some views of the statues at the top, the city and the inside from up high in the dome.
When I left the dome it was pouring outside, and I mean pouring! Drat.. my umbrella was in the locker, and I didn't dare go back with only 4 euros in coins in my pocket! I decided the weather wasn't good for the tv tower so I went towards the Pergamon Museum, only to find a line of around 200 waiting in the rain. Not! So, I walked towards Hackesche Markt. I decided to duck into the station, and nearby found an irish pub. I was soaked and tired of the rain so I went in to warm up and enjoy a latte.
It was still pouring 30 minutes later, so I decided on an early lunch. I got a Magners cider and a country bread with ham (serrano-like), tomatoes, arugula, asparagus and parmesan. Yum! By the time I was done it was sunny out again so off I went. I decided to explore this area a bit having learned about the museum queueing system in Germany, where most people buy in advance and go during a time slot. ok. So German.
So I walked and saw a sign for the new Synagogue and decided to visit. There was a police presence outside, and you had to wait at the door for them to open it for you, then go through a metal detector. The synagogue was built in 1866 after a 7-year construction. It had 3200 seats, less than half required but the largest in the area. A November pogrom in 1938 by the SA set fire to the building and vandalized it. It was protected then by the chief of police, who did not allow it to be used for a while. In 1943 an air raid caused extensive damage. By the end of the war, 7,000 of the 160k Jews were in the area still. In 1958 the main synagogue was blasted and later rebuilt. The synagogue also had the first and only female Rabbi, Regina Jonas, ordained in 1935. She lectured and gave speeches there, but unfortunately in 1942 died at Auschwitz.
I walked through the area and went to the Hackesche Hoefe, a notable courtyard near the Hackesche markt. It consists of 8 interconnected courtyards reached through one main gate.
I stopped at a statue and monument, and took a picture of the plaque on the wall as I was unsure of the German. The statue showed a bunch of very skinny people standing. Turns out it was the site of a Jewish settlement that was raised by the Gestapo and all of the people murdered. It noted that 55,000 Berliners were killed. There was also a jewish cemetary which showed two large tablets with hebrew on them, however, no tombstones. I believe the cemetary was destroyed but memorialized.
i then walked over to the Markt and found that a Markt in Berlin is more of a grouping of stores and restaurants and nothing like the cute little NachtMarkt in Vienna, which I was hoping for. That had some souveniers, and cute little shops with pasties, wine, olives, snack and interesting local things.
I was quite tired by then, so decided to get my bag and make my way to the hotel, which was easy enough. The hotel is really nice! It's the Adina Apartment Hotel in Checkpoint Charlie. I didn't expect much though tripadvisor had good reviews, due to the price. Well, that was wrong! The lobby and halls are very nice. There is a mini-kitchen area, a small round dining room table, a living room area, a desk area, and a separate bedroom, all of which well appointed. And the kitchen is well stocked with everything you can need on a trip including a french press! Yay. There is even a washer and dryer in the bathroom! There is a gym, pool and jacuzzi. My body aches from the weather and all of the walking so I may partake tomorrow.. I'm too tired tonight!
I took a short nap then got ready to meet Klaus, a friend of a friend I was recently introduced to. What a nice guy! Turns out he works a block from my hotel (how amazing is that!?) We walked down the Charlottestrassen and saw a couple of gorgeous churches. Then went down Under den Linden, which is a main street with shops but is undergoing construction. I should mention that the city appears to be under construction! When I was in the Berlin cathedral dome, I was amazed by the numbers of cranes towering over the city!
We then walked the the Brandenberg Gate, a former city gate commissioned by King Frederick William of Prussia as a sign of peace. It underwent extensive damage during WWII and was renovated in 2002. During the Partition of Berlin, it was located right next to the wall and was inaccessible. Today is it considered a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany, as well as a symbol of European unity and peace.
We then walked to the Bundestag, or Reichstag, the Parliament Building. Klaus had checked if there are any tours, but none open until Saturday or Sunday, which is too late for me. Dang the German queue system! We went to the Hoptbahnhof Train Station in the northern part of Berlin, and caught the u-Bahn subway down to the East Side Gallery.
This is a 1.3 km section of the Berlin wall near the enter of Berlin, painted by artists from around the world with 105 paintings. It may be the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world. How beautiful to take something like the Berlin Wall and make it into art to stand as an international memorial for freedom! It is located on the so-called 'hinterland mauer' which closed the border to East Berlin. My only disappointment was the volume of graffiti on the wall. Klaus said it's not allowed, but..
We walked a bit along the river taking it in, then went to the area right next to the wall to look for a dinner option. There are a TON of places here, and the waitress at the Irish pub (Kilkenny) that I went to said she lives here and there are great cheap eats. We settled on a place offering traditional German food, amongst the middle eastern (there is a HUGE turkish population here), indian, asian among others. The restaurant was called Frau Rauscher. We sat outside on a picnic table bench. I ordered frankfurter with bread (brown) and sauerkraut, and Klaus got wienerschnitzel with potatoes. I also got an aepler, which was similar to a hard cider but mixed with soda water. Interesting (a bit watered down so may have been good without the water!)
The frankfurter was a piece of cooked pork, and was a little dry but good. The sauerkraut and bread were good, and I asked for a side of a green gravy that the menu noted was traditional in Frankfurt. It had 7 herbs but tasted strongly of dill.
After dinner we were both tired. Klaus lives in Dresden, around 2-3 hours by train away, and commutes to Berlin three days a week. He left his house around 5 am, so by 9:30 we were both tired! We made our way back home via a different u-bahn stop, so got to see more of this area. The restaurants were never-ending!
Apparently there was an exit off the subway stop that I missed earlier in the day, as we got out right on the street of my hotel! We are going to meet tomorrow for lunch, so I'm going to spend a few minutes to figure what I'll do in the morning and go to bed! I would like to hit the Pergamom Museum and tv tower tomorrow so will buy tickets in advance and the hotel said they can print them for me. Hopefully I can keep my hands on them (I'm notorious for losing tickets!) Maybe I'll walk a bit and will see the Checkpoint Charlie museum, only a few minutes away. A slower morning sounds my speed right around now.. hopefully tonight I will sleep! I'm quite exhausted after three days of this.
Night all!
s
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