Maren &
Simon had earned a sleep in after a full on week at work so Bray got to catch
up on his old addiction – a technology update show on BBC called Click – as well as seeing some world
news in English for the first time in ages. A cute discovery outside our
apartment building – in a window there were four tabby cats keeping warm above
the heater. After communicating with them through the glass for some time our
hunger drove us onwards...
Transport proved
more complex than first expected - went to
catch the U, it was replaced by buses so walked back to whence we came and
jumped on a bus...to jump on a couple of trains... From which we managed to see
a fair amount of cool graf and mural work. Weather fine and sunny too – bonus!
Made it to
Friedrichstrasse eventually and wandered past the redevelopment of Belle
Alliance Platz and the Path of Visionaries. This area is currently undergoing
change but still has big marble tiles with poetry extracts from all over the
world set in the pavement – very cool. After a bite to eat we split up – Maren &
Simon to relax in the sun while we two spent a few hours at the Jewish Museum.
The
architecture of this place blew us away, the installations were striking and
the whole experience left us a bit overwhelmed. We learnt about ancient Jewish
history and cultural roots as well as their heritage in Europe, the long and
horrible history of anti-Semitism in that part of the world, impact of WWI
& II and more. Our time there ended with a special exhibition called How German is it? Thirty artists look at
Germany. They were all very different (though many based in or connected to
Berlin someway) in media, style, message and heritage but we really enjoyed
that part of the experience too.
As usual we
exceeded the 2 hour timeframe but still did not get to see all the museum had
to offer!
Simon and
Maren met us outside after we reclaimed our coats from the coat-check and we
set off for Checkpoint Charlie. HORDES! So many tourists, souvenir shops, gimmicky
offers plus the usual scams... We looked past all that to see some of the
history, cool bits of art from on the wall itself and the big walk-by displays
gave us a timeline of pre-during-post wall Berlin.
Time for a quick coffee break and browse of a
funky bookstore we happened upon before back on the pavement. Past many cool
buildings, bier-bikes and shops on our way to the Mitte district. Here we
ooh-ed and aah-ed over the ‘French Dom’, opera house and imposing platz before
getting a group-lion-hongi photo. An unsuspecting tourist took it for us and
seemed rather bewildered by the fact we were all touching noses with lions on a
pole...understandably!
Next stop,
currywurst – something not to be missed while in Berlin! Then on to
Brandenburger Tor – a definite highlight despite the fading sunlight! Many
photographs later (plus witnessing a protest march) we walked up the road to
the Reichstag. Had a good look around the outside but queues, time constraints,
paperwork and the fact Maren & Simon had already been inside a number of
time deterred us from going inside.
Darkness was
falling now so we headed off in search of food. Simon had been trying to get
hold of his old flattie Phil without success though we intended eating with him
so we were a little unsure what to do.
As we waited
to cross the road by Brandenburger Tor...Phil pulled up at the lights on his
bicycle!! Shocked out of his reverie by the wild yelling from Simon & Maren
he came over. SUCH a coincidence! He doesn’t even live near that area and
Berlin is a BIG city!
We passed by
the Holocaust Memorial (great design and quite moving), Sony Centre (Bray got a
PS3 fix) and Neue Nationalgalerie (amazing architecture) on our way to the next
bus. Phil left us to collect his partner Annie and cycle to our dinner
destination.
The
Vietnamese place decided on was DELICIOUS. Even after Vietnamese kai in Viet
Nam it was not a disappointment – very rare! Good chat and yummy food before we
headed off to sample a couple of small bars in the vicinity. Eventually ended
up outside a kiosk drinking our beer as the smoke in the bars got a bit much
for some...
Went our separate
ways after 12 as it was getting chilly – train and bus home for us while Phil
& Annie cycled off home. Simon and Maren went straight to bed but we stayed
up for a bit discussing the day, looking at pics, playing cards and unwinding.
