Day: 11
Countries: 3 Cities:
6
Berlin, Germany
Another brick in the wall…
Wednesday 30 December 2015
(Please excuse the cheesy pun which functions as this day’s
blog post…)
Today has been a better day in Berlin. I like you a little
more, Berlin. But it is so freaking cold!! We are literally freezing. To the
point where we choose routes that take us to warmth over routes that take us to
sightseeing points. Meh, I see where it is, let's keep walking. I'll come back
in the summer sometime and spend more time looking at it. But even still we've done quite a lot today.
And still more to do and see. (oh my goodness as I reread this now I almost
want to delete it because I sound so whiny.
And coming from Wisconsin I should be used to the cold. But I guess this is how I was feeling and
writing in the moment so I’ll just have to take it as it is—with all my faults
and shortcomings…).
Currently, it is 8:22 pm and we are sitting in the lobby of
the big TV tower, staring alternately at phones that are connected to wifi that
won't really load and a TV screen with the wait times and queues, desperately willing
our ticket numbers to come up next. But instead of just staring and growing
more and more frustrated by the second, I should do something at least half way
productive and write about the day. That way when I get back to the hotel
tonight I can just go to bed instead of trying to type it all while battling
tired eyes, dumb Internet, and gunshot fireworks.
Anyway. We got a bit of a later start today, had a rather
slow, easy, albeit semi-productive morning. Got out of bed around 9. Then did a
few things before heading down for breakfast which was fine. No plates but it
worked. Then we went back up and got dressed and did a load of laundry in the
sink to hopefully help us make it through the last half of the trip without
smelling too poorly... And now all those articles of clothing are drying on a
towel on the floor. So we put up the “no housekeeping necessary” sign on the
door, lest some poor housekeeper come into our room to see both London and
France.
Anyway. Last night I slept okay. Not great. A bit
restless. Both Gracie and I woke up
about the same time positively dying of thirst. Anyway. So we came back from
breakfast did sink laundry made a game plan for the day and mapped it out and
then headed out for the day. We were greeted with slightly better temps and the
sun, and were thusly deceived into thinking today would be better weather wise.
We were wrong.
As the day wore on it got progressively colder. The wind bit
deeper. Our cheeks grew rosier. Our scarves wrapped tighter. And our pace
quickened. But we are surviving. Though we are wondering how in the world we
are going to make it through all tomorrow night outside in the cold. Layer up
and cross that bridge when we come to it.
This morning, we walked and passed through a cute little
park with mini trampolines built into the ground and little kids bundled up in
snowsuits just a-jumping-away on them. So cute! Then we passed this bunker and
almost walked into the horror story part of it. Then were corrected by the
friendly, red-coated greeter who directed us back down the stairs to the
correct floor/door. We looked in the gift shop and then snuck back out deciding
not to stay (and pay).
Then we walked to Checkpoint Charlie where people would try
to escape from the east to west side through the wall. The first person to
escape did so through a hot air balloon. All through the city, wherever the
wall was they have the bricks still inlaid in the ground to mark it. It's crazy
to think that it only came down 26 years ago. Barely longer than we've been
alive. And it first went up the year dad was born in 1961. It's so weird to
think about. I feel almost as if I've been stuck in ancient history for so long
it's kinda hard to wrap my mind around this more recent upheaval in history.
There was just a wall. People died trying to get to the other side of it. There
was so much hate. There still is…
After Checkpoint Charlie we kept walking, stopping in a
little convenience store to get water and a snack. Then we walked till we got
to the Gardner Square (?) with the church and the other building and the opera
house occupying its area…
[Sometime later] Well, so much for getting all caught up. Oh
well. We finally got to go up and just saw 720 degrees of Berlin (we walked
around the circular lookout twice, in case you were having trouble with that
math). The lit up city is beautiful and it was really neat to see. But hard to
take pictures. It would be cool to come up during the day. Extra cool if you
could time it for sunset. But we came, we saw. And that's that.
Ya know, sometimes, there are just some people who you end up
having to stand near that can be rather annoying. Like the girls standing in
our personal space while we were waiting for our burgers and like these
annoying, accented, drunk, British people talking in the queue from the
restaurant next to us as we were waiting for the elevator next to us to go back
down. And ohhhh the people you meet.
Anyway. Back to earlier. We stopped at this famous Fassbender
and Rausch Chocolatier place where they had all these crazy chocolate statues
(a plane and a Santa and the Brandenburg Gate, all solid chocolate!). We got
some chocolate for later and were going to go to the big Ritter chocolate store
but found it to be closed.
So we just kept walking. And right about now is when it
started getting colder.
We walked by the Brandenburg Gate where they are starting to
set up for tomorrow's festivities. [Interrupt to update current status] Now,
currently sitting in the second German movie theater in two days. It was a bit
of a scramble to get here though. We literally ran around in a circle, in the
same area we were yesterday at first, to the wrong movie theater initially, and
they had to tell us where the one we wanted was and which was exactly where we
first started our search, and then running across the street at least half a
dozen times. But we made it. 7 minutes late but Just in time for all the ads
and previews. Settle in to enjoy the Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 3. In
English. Wooo!
Okay. Back to where we left off at the Brandenburg Gate. Very
cold. Continue walking, head tucked down into your chin, feet picking up the
pace. Past the huge German Parliament
building. And keep walk walk walking...to the nearest metro station. Take the S75
to the Berlin Wall Memorial. Stand there on one side then the other. Cross
easily through from side to side, though just a couple decades ago they
couldn't. Ghost Stations where the train would round its way through east
Germany to get back to the next stop in west…
And then metro and navigate our way to Alexanderplatz and
the TV tower. Where we got our tickets. Number 1558 and 1559, but the queue was
still just taking tickets in the 500s. This was around 3 in the afternoon. So we came back 5 hours later. (which is when I started this meandering
journey back through the day).
In the meantime we navigated our way over to the east
gallery and Burger Meister. Stepped off the train into the freezing tundra.
Walked past the East Wall Gallery and decided it wasn't that pressing to see.
Made it to the burger place we'd heard was really good only to find out we were
literally a block from it last night and that it was this little shack with a
long line. But it was well worth the wait.
After the burger place (which was really our first meal of
the day and sufficiently atisfied our hunger) we went in search of warmth and a
place to charge our phones. And after deciding to pass on the place our app
recommended we stumbled upon this neat, tree house, eclectic, hipster-esque
space instead. Warmed up and woke up and
charged up. And made a plan on how we could fairly warmly make our way back to
the TV tower.
Then we crossed to the metro. Went the wrong way. Got off
the next stop. Were confused but figured out how to get back there. And then we
were at the TV tower and that's where the journaling today started. And now the
movie is starting. Well. At least the previews are. Okay. Bye for now.
~
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