October 24, 2024
Yesterday was a long travel day – following an overnight flight leaving DC on the 22nd. We had a very quick stop to change planes in Lisbon, with a quick dash to make our gate. We landed in Berlin and headed towards the city and our flat.
There were train problems and a cancellation that sent us on a wild goose chase. We asked fellow passengers if the next stop was the train station we were looking for. Seems the responders also didn’t know. It wasn’t. so, we took another 20 minutes to go past where we wanted to be and then a half hour cab ride to get from that train station to our flat. We had a bit of trouble identifying the address once we got near our flat. It was dark and I thought there was construction barriers along the street. I spotted an opening with the correct address and the driver made a uturn to get us to the entrance. Turns out, in the light of day, that the “construction barrier” I thought I had seen was actually the old Berlin Wall! We are very close to the Berlin Wall memorial.
After getting settled in, we asked Elena in reception where the nearest market was and we found a great store, Rewe, to get our milk, coffee, yogurt, muesli, etc. I’d forgotten how wonderful the seedy German dense breads can be.
We picked up some great stuff from the food/salad bar and headed for some real sleep in a real bed around 10pm. It was nice… woke up feeling much better.
With only a hint of what to do we decided that walking was a good priority to recover from jet lag, and we headed to a 1hr boat ride to see the Spree. It was sunny and clear and fall-like. There was a chance to get off the boat at the halfway point. We go off and walked back the 3 miles to the flat. It was great as we were able to walk by a number a sites that were on a walking tour I had put together on gpsmycity.com.
We found a little pub for a great lunch of smoked sausage, schnitzel, and goulash soup. We continued walking back to the flat along the river and stopped at another Rewe for some salad stuff, sushi, and a few other items.
Great day for our first day here.
October 25, 2024
It was another pretty fall day and we headed out to see some of the key sites and then go to a market to see what might be good for lunch and some take away for a light supper. We are trying to have our main meal out, and enjoy the great treats offered here in Berlin, and then get some greens for a salad and a light something else.
Our first stop was Alexanderplatz and the world clock. It was bustling. Thom recalled how it’s a location for many cold war movies. Next stop was a 1.5 mile walk to Checkpoint Charlie. That was a quick view!!! It’s probably the most famous checkpoint between East Berlin and the American sector. It too shows up in a lot of movies.
We headed off to our last stop of the day that was Markthalle Neun. There are several markets that we know of and we hope top see another tomorrow, Saturday. But today it was 2 more miles and a much-needed lunch of a very nice buckwheat galette with ham and cheese. The kiosk team preparing the various galettes and crepes were from Paris which made for a fun chat.
We enjoyed a sit and good food before wandering around the market. Lots of various foods, fresh produce, and many treats!! We couldn’t resist the baklava and some baked yummies – an almond tart and a double chocolate tarte. And for snacks we got some beautiful camembert cheese and some wursts.. general fare around here!!!
A bit more of a walk back to our flat. Along the way, there seemed to be lots of people out on a Friday afternoon. Many were sitting in the grassy areas near the river with beer and wine as the sun headed to the west. We got to our balcony to enjoy the view. Early in the day we had spotted a tethered balloon not far from Checkpoint Charlie. It was advertising for Welt and could be seen during dusk from out balcony. We might look into getting a ride to see the views!
October 26, 2024
Another day just like the previous. Everyone is saying we are lucky to be having such beautiful weather. It’s clear, sunny, low 60s during mid-day and beautiful foliage here and there. There are lots of people and many languages on the street but it doesn’t feel too crowded.
Today we tried again to sort out the metro system. It’s vast. There are U trains that I think mostly stay underground. There are S trains that maybe mostly surface, but not sure. There are many others but it seems when we get on a RE train, we don’t go where we want to go. That happened on arrival Wednesday and again yesterday. We got closer yesterday! The RE8 went one stop past Tiergarten to the Zoo park and Kurfürstendamm, so we got on an S train to go one stop back, a mile away. We were headed to the Kurfürstendamm later.
On Saturdays, year-round, there is a good sized flea market just near the Tiergarten stop. Many fleas!!! You could furnish an entire flat with china, silverware, glasses, knick knacks, art work and lovely oriental rugs. When I’m in a place for the first time I like to get earrings as my souvenir. I found a pair of lovely blue sparklies in a silver setting. Thom found a cool sparklie anchor pin for his travel hat. Everyone notices his hat!!
From there we walked back to Kurfürstendamm passing by a nice little lagoon that seemed too small to get in and out of but there were a number of great looking boats with liveaboards and at least one with a large solar panel up off the roof. Wouldn’t it be great to get a boat and cruise all the rivers and canals in Europe?
After about 20 minutes we ended up back at the Zoo stop and wandered around it to a very busy part of Kurfürstendamm. Lots of food places and people moving in every direction. We headed towards the street and then along it for a long ways. Every conceivable shop, brand, and designer is found along this street. We stopped at the Steiff store but didn’t dare go in!! This street is where the rich and famous shop but we weren’t aware of any as we wandered along.
We had been given two recommendations for Turkish food that could be found in this area. Apparently, Berlin is known for great Turkish restaurants, as well as all other sorts of cuisine. We looked at the menu for the first one we went by and decided to move on to the next one, Tugra. It was great!! The waiter was from Anatoly and spoke very good English. He advised Thom on getting the mixed grill. I saw “saddle of lamb steak with pepper sauce, served with vegetables and salad” and couldn’t help myself. It was delicious, tho I realized I should have requested it “rare” as medium rare wasn’t quite what I prefer. It was still a terrific meal and served as our main meal for the day.
We walked back along Kurfürstendamm to the Zoo stop and navigated, successfully, to get the correct train to our stop without finding out we’d gone the wrong way! As we headed back to the flat we saw a number of young people dressed in dirndls and lederhosen and thought some event must be underway somewhere in our neighborhood. We were too tired to get more information.
Another long day!!! 18000 steps
