We woke up in plenty of time for me to get my run in and for us to have breakfast with Andrea and Peter before we had to wrap up packing our suitcases for our next destination, Berlin, and get some more tips about what to see there. Mark even got the chance to capture Andrea and Peter’s blooming cactus (as per their claim, a product of complete benign neglect for many years).
It was more than bittersweet to leave, because the original plan had been to go to Berlin with Andrea and Peter for at least part of the time, but her wrist was not cooperating and they decided to stay home. We are all sad about this, but agree that it is for the best.
We made our way to the train station on the familiar pathways and boarded our train just before noon. The trip to Berlin with regional trains takes just over four hours and requires two changes in towns that I had never been to (Uelzen and Stendal), but our only delay (about 15 minutes) was when it didn’t matter anymore, on the last train into Berlin’s main station. It was quite hot and humid when we got there, and the short (20-minute) bus ride to our Air B n B was pretty toasty. There was a sweet teenage boy sitting across from us who was evidently in charge of getting his little brother home from daycare. The brother looked to be about 3 and was curled up in the seat next to him dead asleep, with his head against his brother’s hip, completely wiped out from the heat and his daycare day. Even when a fire engine with sirens blaring drove past the bus, he didn’t wake up, deep belly breaths the whole way. When they got to their stop, the big kid scooped up the little kid and carried him out of the bus. It was so cute.
The bus got us within 30 meters (less than 100 feet) of our place for the week, and the owner’s spouse, an Irishman named Guy who was super friendly and showed us the ropes, and immediately talked cameras and electronics with Mark,. The apartment is a former business (so no “stealing” of apartment space, which was important to the owner) and quite spacious, since above what is now the living room/kitchen area (and was clearly formerly the store–the door now functioning as a window), there is a tiny mezzanine with a sofabed. Everything is very practical (kitchen is fully stocked with plates and such, and I appreciate the presence of teabags, basic spices, and even some oil and vinegar), the location is wonderful (bus, tram and subway are all less than 5 minutes away, and there are five restaurants and two grocery stores just about that close). And it’s also got some style, with the 1890s (?) apartment building still showing through in spots, especially in the hallway to the staircase and the backyard area (which has the trash bins, but also a full-fledged garden). All thanks to Peter, who found the place (for all of us, so now it feels excessively spacious and makes us imagine our friends here with us. Sniff.).
We went out in search of nearby dinner and groceries, and found a Vietnamese corner cafe with excellent pad thai and udon noodles, and a discount grocery store to grab some breakfast and picnic items. The skies had cleared by the time we got home, and even though it was already almost 8, we set out to explore a little. The original plan, as recommended by a local friend, was to go to a free outdoor techno music event, but as we got into the tram and looked it up once more, it became clear it was cancelled because of the weather (good call, even though the storm blew through very quickly–it was intense!). So we opted to check some tourist boxes that also allowed for a much-needed long walk. We got out near the main station and walked along the banks of the Spree (often crossing the all-important cobblestone line that indicates where the Berlin wall used to be–always a good reminder) toward the parliament (Reichstag) and the Brandenburg gate, just as the sun was going down. Then we walked along the main “Prunkstrasse,” the broad avenue Unter den Linden, along which all the big hotels, official buildings, the main building of the Humboldt University, the opera, and a couple of the museums etc. are, ending up at the Berliner Dom. We’ve been to all these places before and here is my repeat confession: I love so many architectural styles, but big pompous neoclassical buildings bore the crap out of me, especially when they all come in a row. In this case, the additional absurdity is that one of them is brand new, a recreation of the palace that was razed after the war. We went years ago when it had just opened (and quite controversial: so much money spent on recreating it “as it was”) but now it just looks like it’s been there for 150 years, except suspiciously clean and with a copper dome that has no patina yet. So we didn’t take a lot of photos, but the state library (Staatsbibliothek) peaked my interest and we may go again when it is open and check out the interior and the exhibit on its history–because: library!
We walked as far as the Red Town Hall (Rotes Rathaus), and got into the subway there. 15 minutes took us within a few hundred meters of our apartment, and we called it a day–it was after ten, had gotten nice and cool, and we were sure tired! Also, may the record show that my Apple Watch fitness app gave me a big award today, so I’ll close with that (for fellow fanatics: these are NEARLY a streak, with only a few days at the very beginning of my watch ownership where I didn’t close all rings). Now that Mark is also getting into this ring-closing business, we will compete fiercely (not).
