Berlin gave me an intro to my German heritage, and now I can’t wait to go back. I hear Berlin is unique within Germany and the rest of the country is less of a city, more fairytale like, but I would love to explore the rest of the country some day.
My flight was delayed, but luckily Eleanor patiently waited for me at the arrival gate with a giant chocolate bar and a hug. We hopped on a bus to get into the city. From the bus stop, the tram wouldn’t arrive for an hour so we popped into a local bar for a glass of wine and some live German music. The band included an accordion and a guitar, and reminded me of my grandfather and his brother’s band, the Weber Brothers.
We caught the tram, another bus, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. El is living in an apartment in East Berlin. It’s in a communist development, but centrally located. Everything surrounding it is block-like and identical. Exactly what you picture when you think Soviet landscaping.
El had class on Friday, so we got up fairly early and grabbed Starbucks on our way. When we woke up about an inch of snow covered her balcony, but by the time we left it was just a flurrying-rainy mix. I’ve yet to find a city without a Starbucks: it’s always a sign of comfort from home. In London, they’re literally on every corner, and 3 within a 15-minute walk of my dorm.
I wandered for a little while in the neighborhood of El’s school until I found the original Haagen-Daz. Amazing. I had a huge hot waffle sundae and continued on my way until I found a few shops and purchased postcards. I settled in at a local coffee shop to write them out. El met me there when her class ended and we walked to the National Gallery and Berlin Dom (Cathedral).
The National Gallery, above, and Berlin Dom, below.
That night we went to a hip area for dinner at a German pub. I had a steak sandwich with cheese and a curry- mayonnaise sauce, a local specialty. It was delicious! After dinner, we met her friends from school. She is attending a German university, and the students are a wide mix of nationalities. They did their best to speak English for me, with a mixture of German, the other common language, thrown in. We went to a fun cocktails bar and I met another Andrea, a German girl, who even pronounces it very similar. I can still count on one hand the other Andrea’s I have met. It was a really great night, and on the way home we stopped at a street vendor for a pita pizza, a cheap midnight snack, and rode the U-Bon (underground metro system) back to El’s apartment.
On Saturday, we got up and grabbed coffee and a flaky, pretzel like pastry half-dipped in chocolate. So yummy, it melted in your mouth. We joined a free walking tour and for over 3 hours Max, our ½ British ½ German tour guide, showed us around.
We saw the Brandenburg Gate.
The Berlin Wall, above, and Check Point Charlie, below.
Below is the Jewish Holocaust Memorial.
It rained off and on but when we were near the German and French Catholic Churches and the Opera house, the sun broke threw the clouds. Exhausted, El and I returned to her apartment, took quick naps, and gathered my stuff to leave for the airport.
On the way, we stopped for lamb pita sandwiches with that same delicious curry mayonnaise sauce. We quickly ate and I purchased a bag of gummy bears (invented in Germany!) for the plane ride. Catching the tram, we had a quick tourist visit to the East Side Gallery, a separate section of the Berlin wall from what we saw earlier in the day. It has been covered in murals, recently repainted for the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down. The wall stood from August 13, 1961- November 9, 1989. Easy dates for me to remember due to the days and years! The East Side Gallery was beautiful and my favorite thing in Berlin.
El was nice enough to go back to the airport with me, and we left directly from the East Side Gallery. After another delayed flight, I got on a train back into London. On each of the 4 flights I took last week, I was amazed by how thick the clouds are when you fly in or out of London. It looks like a wall of computer paper has been pasted on your windows- the thickest clouds I’d ever seen. On the flight, I was dreaming of my dorm bed and shower, so happy to come back to London. Over 15 hours in the airport in less then 6 days was too much. I landed and hoped on a train back into London. Unfortunately, due to delays, by the time I arrived London’s buses and tube were shut off for the night but I hailed a taxi. It was a wonderful spring break, and went way too fast!
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