Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 5: Berlin

Before we begin the account of the day, a few random observations about Berlin.

Unlike in America where they have completely lost all meaning, people take the walk/don’t walk signals VERY seriously here.  Nobody crosses against the light, even on small side streets where there isn’t a car or bike in sight for miles in any direction.  I’d like some of that in the US, please.

Almost everyone speaks a little bit of English and/or is very patient when I have to communicate with a translator app.  Wo ist die zahnpasta?

As a general rule, the German people I have encountered are polite but reserved.  They ain’t a chatty bunch.  The only conversations I’ve gotten into have been with people from other countries.

Nothing opens until 10am at the earliest unless it’s a breakfast place.

The subway system is fantastic.  As mentioned in a previous post, once you buy a ticket you don’t have to do anything else – no tapping or scanning or turnstiles.  Just get on the train and go.  I’ve taken a dozen different trains and only saw someone checking tickets once and they only asked a few people and then appeared to get bored and wandered off.

Having experienced it has given me more context for Hijack, the Idris Elba series, which takes place on the U-Bahn in season two.

The only issue I’ve had is trusting Google Maps a little too much.  Trains are listed by the final stop on the line, so if you’re going west on the U2 line, Google Maps tells you to look for the train to the Ruhleben station, the end of the line.  The problem is that not all U2 trains go all the way to Ruhleben.  Some end a couple of stops before that and that’s what is listed on the digital signs.  The only thing issue it has caused is missing a train that would’ve taken me where I wanted to go, but I was too unsure to jump on it.  I caught the next one so no big deal.

Okay, on to the day. 

I started by taking a couple of trains to the Berlin Wall Memorial.  It’s about a half mile long with metal posts representing where the outer wall used to be and information placards, audio guides, photography, and video stations along the route that was the no-man’s zone before you got to the inner wall.  Yes, there were two walls, at least here.

The story of it is horrific, with families and neighborhoods separated almost overnight; desperate people digging tunnels and jumping out of windows or from roofs of buildings that were next to the wall before they tore them down; and subway stations and churches that were entirely sealed off and eventually destroyed.

It’s sobering, to say the least, representing both the worst and most hopeful of what humanity has to offer.

From there, I took another subway ride to Museum Island where many of the city’s biergartens are located.  I’m kidding.  Museums.  Lots of museums.

They’re all beautiful so I took a lot of pictures of the outside, but as I have mentioned in previous posts, I’m not big on art museums so I didn’t go into any of them.

I did, however, go inside of the Berliner Dom, a massive Protestant cathedral built between 1893 and 1905.  Those who know me know that I’m not big on organized religion, but say what you will about those God-fearing types, they knew how to build a building.

The bulk of the exterior of the building survived WWII, but a bomb fell through the massive dome and destroyed a bunch of the interior, which was eventually restored in phases between 1975 and 1993.

In addition to being able to visit the nave and balconies surrounding it, you can also wander downstairs through the extensive crypt where a lot of Prussian-era dignitaries are located.  I enjoy visiting scenic cemeteries, but this felt different – very tourist-centric.  I did find it interesting that some of the tombs were simple while others were elaborately designed and that didn’t always coincide with the person’s title.  There was some royalty down there, but they didn’t have the fanciest final resting places.

I headed back to the neighborhood where my hotel is located and visited the restaurant I had planned to hit yesterday before I got distracted by street food and apple strudel.

It’s called Faustus Schnitzelhaus and they serve Korean food.  I’m kidding again.  German specialties abound and I finally tried the currywurst, which you can find in sidewalk stands across the city.  It’s a giant Bavarian sausage slathered in ketchup and sprinkled with curry.  I loved the flavor of it, although the weird side “salad,” which was just a pile of dry lettuce, went untouched.  I also got a side of Black Forest ham, just to say I did.

I went back to the hotel for a break and to do some work and then headed off to meet PluckyMobile.

The vehicle I reserved was a mid-sized SUV, which is what they had waiting for me.  The problem is it had a diesel engine and some of the places I’m going, specifically in Italy and Spain, don’t allow vehicles with diesel engines into areas I needed to drive.  The very nice guy at Europcar had two alternatives for me – an older, down-market Renault SUV or an Audi A6 Avant station wagon.  I’m worried about getting in and out of it – it’s very low to the ground – but it seemed like the better option because it has more safety features and had less mileage, so hopefully it’s in better shape.  If it becomes a problem, I can always exchange it somewhere along the way as there are Europcar locations in every major city.

I came back to the hotel to do as many parking, toll, and pollution registrations as I could but had to stop because it was time to go to dinner and a show.

For dinner I was in the mood for Greek food, so I did some research and found a place called Tavern Athene on the edge of the Kreuzberg neighborhood.  Fresh, grilled pita with oregano and roasted garlic to spread on it, a pork filet skewer, gyros, tzatziki, roasted garlic potatoes, and red onions were my choices, and I couldn’t have been happier.  It was phenomenal and reminded me how much I miss good Greek restaurants.  Sorry, Yia Yia and Olympic Café in Savannah, you don’t qualify.

From there I walked to the Wintergarten Variete theatre to catch their production of “Ahoi!”, a nautical themed variety show with music, dancing, and acrobatic/circus style variety acts.  The theatre is gorgeous, built in 1992 but paying homage to the original that was built in 1887 and destroyed during WWII.

The show itself was hit and miss for me.  The variety acts were fantastic, but there was a lot of singing and big band style music that got tiresome after a while and drove the length to more than two and a half hours.  The host/emcee was a genial sort and very talented – he tap danced, sang, played the drums with the 16-piece orchestra, and talked a lot, but almost exclusively in German so I was lost for most of that.  I think he was telling jokes – it had that kind of cadence – but I wasn’t the only one not laughing.  There were some polite titters, but nobody was rolling in the aisles so I don’t feel like missed much.

A big day tomorrow as I go explore a couple of neighborhoods that seem interesting and see yet another show!  Until then.