It was hot again on our drive, and long. 6 hours. It was interesting to see the fields and fields of hops by the side of the road. I have never seen them before, and there were lots and lots of them. Yummy beer...
We arrive in Berlin, or at least in Charlottenburg, which is Northwest of the city centre. It's definitely a swanky part of town, and our Hotel-Pension Dittberner is nestled between fancy shops like Sonia Rykiel and nice little restaurants with sidewalk seating. The grand buildings remind me of Paris steets. The Hotel-Pension Dittberner was a beautiful little place in an old building with an elevator you needed a key for and a marble-filled lobby. It reminded me of 1920's Berlin, or what I imagine it looked like, anyway.
We shower, unpack, and head out for a beer at a great bar with 50 beers or something ridiculous. Did I say I loved Germany already? We enjoy watching the people walk by and playing one of my favorite games, Tourist or Local. After our beer, it's time for dinner at a place called Julep's, an American-type joint where we have burgers and fries. Yeah! Then we head to Diener, an old-style place that really did feel like 1920's, but we could really tell we were no longer in Southern Germany--the friendliness was absent, at least in this place. Packed with locals, we really felt like we didn't fit in. Or at least I felt that way. The air was humid and thick when we came out of the bar, and we were ready for bed. So off we went.
The next day, we wake up refreshed and ready for breakfast, which is in a beautiful room packed with more staring Germans saying "morgen" when I just want a coffee. The German breakfast goes as follows: self-serve muësli, fruit salad, yogurt, and juice; an attendee brings you coffee/tea, buns, and a plate of cheese and meat, and an egg if you want it. Hearty, which is nice, but I really just wanted some toast. I think, more than toast, I was yearning, at this point, for familiarity. When you travel for a while, and stay away from what you know, you start to crave feeling comfortable, feeling safe. I wish I could say that traveling continues to be exciting, day after day. The truth is, it is exciting, but alternating with periods of fear and insecurity. Which is why we do it, right?
After breakfast, off to roam around Berlin. We hit the Brandenburger Tor first, just to check it off the list. An icon of the city and of reunification. Right next to a big ol' Starbucks. ha ha. Which, of COURSE, we had to visit for a real, strong, coffee. Man, talk about good people watching. Shoot.
After the Tor and our caffeine jolt, it was to the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, or the Monument for the murdered Jews of Europe. This monument had 2711 concrete blocks, each with their own foundation, tilting in different ways and at different heights. It's very somber and a tad creepy, and definitely makes an impact.
After taking a look at what was left of the Wall, it's time to head to the Museum of German History, which just reopened. Usually, I can only handle a couple of hours in a museum before my fragile brain is full to the brim, but I was able to hang in for aver 4 hours at this place, it was so fascinating. It spanned German history from the time of the Romans through WWI, WWII, and the Cold War to the present day. Xander and I both really enjoyed learning about periods in German history we didn't know much about--he really liked the part between WWI and WWII, the Weimar Republic. It was very interesting to see the conditions after WWI which allowed WWII and Hitler to happen. And scary. I was fascinated by the propaganda that was used, both by the Allies and Germany, and in both big wars. I am amazed at the psychological manipulation that was executed, and how it worked. Would that work now? Did it work when we went into Iraq after 9/11? It seems like it did. One looks at those posters from the 1940's and thinks that consumers are so much savvier now, and we won't fall for the government's propoganda. But we did, didn't we?
Off to look at some shops in Mitte, where the hipsters hang out. Another observation: hipsters are the same around the world. You could plop one from Mitte, Berlin in the Lower East Side, New York and noone would be the wiser. The neighborhoods they hang in are just as self-important everywhere, too...maybe I don't have the patience for it now that I'm older, and I really don't care to keep up anymore. The shops there tired me, though they were "cool", whatever that means.
It was time for Xander to be initiated into the sushi lovers' club. I mean, the guy eats raw herring by holding the tail and dropping it, covered in raw onions, into his mouth. He'll certainly like a spicy tuna roll. And he did, and he liked the sake very much as well. A very cute little place. We head back to Charlottenburg on the Metro for one more drink. The metro, incidentally, is dirtier than New York but not as crappy as Milan. And the people are more mixed, even, than I think New York is. Or maybe I'm just used to the mix in New York, and not in Berlin. I always find subways necessary if you want to really get a city. At the bar, I bite Xander's head off for saying something about women not having it any harder after/during WWI/WWII than men. Clearly, the Manhattan woman is still there in me, and she's tired, or she wouldn't have been nasty to her sweet, unsuspecting boyfriend who doesn't mean any harm. And it's time for bed.
The next day, we both feel general malaise. I'm being a pain in the ass, and Xander is tired (partially of me, I'm sure) and very quiet. We shop for a bit, first stop KaDeWe, which claims to be the largest store on the continent. A strange name, which is an abbreviation of Kaufhas Des Westens, "The Department Store of the West". X and I split up, so we can have some alone time, and I do my best shopping this way anyway. I immediately succumb to a Miss Sixty jacket for €220 that I could probably buy for $220 in NYC, but whatever. I can't think about that anymore. Anyway, it's cute. And I need a new jacket. So there.
And X and I meet back up and we're still fed up, and have lunch. Then I sort of coerce him into coming to the Bauhaus Archiv. Well, not coerce, but he didn't really want to go to a museum...but I told him this was a design museum, and we wouldn't be able to see it anywhere else in the world. So we go, and it's super-duper interesting. I mean, if you like Bauhaus or not, it's an interesting concept. I can't really put it in a nutshell here, but look to the tubular chairs of Marcel Breuer, known as the "Wassily Chair" for a well-known example of the furniture produced by the Bauhaus. And, of course, one can't forget Mies van der Rohe, the final director of the Bauhaus school. So we enjoyed this and headed for a drink to celebrate and do some people watching. We needed a snack, though, and stopped by the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church where all the street vendors were for some of the famous Berliner snack, currywurst.
The remains of Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church, bombed in a 1943 air raid
Originally uploaded by sarahjanenyc1
Which is essentially sausage with curry sauce. And Xander brought two servings back to our seat on a bench under a tree: "with skin" and "without skin". Which put me off of any wurst, skin or not, for though one knows that sausage is made of quite unsavory ingredients, it is one of the many things one forgets about because one enjoys it so much--much like one forgets how much the rest of the world pays for apartment rent because one enjoys New York City so much. But I ate it. Success.
And then for a drink at a very Parisian cafe, with all of the tables and woven seats facing out. We played, of course, Tourist or Local, and also, spot the Italian tourist. Which was fun. Then back to the hotel to change and relax a bit, and watch CNN and compare the US mine disaster to the Chinese one. Which was revealing.
Then to dinner at an Italian restaurant in our neighborhood, which was exceedingly enjoyable. Wine, delicious food, lots of it, dessert, liqueur, cappucino. Yum. I realize that long, indulgent dinners are missed in my life right now, and this hits the spot, big-time. Ah, New York. I love you. it's the kind of Italian restaurant where the waiters are Italian and yell their orders across the restaurant. And they are friendly. And they bought us a drink at the end of our meal! Hurrah. A great end to our visit in Germany. And the next day, we rise, eat breakfast (you know what that comprises) and pack and check out.
I doze off at some point on the drive home, and wake up in Holland. I can tell immediately by the roads--they are somehow more spacious and the drivers are slower. Not as many big German cars, more small Skodas and Seats, etc (although Xander would argue the Seat is really German as it is made by Volkswagen, but you know what I mean). But more than that, I feel the difference. It's interesting how initially when I arrived in Europe this summer, I would never imagine that I could have noticed the difference between a Dutch road and a German one, but I have become aware of the beat, the rhythm, the personality of Holland. And it felt good to be back--even better to walk into Xander's apartment. Isn't it interesting how coming home is the best part of a holiday? And the benefits of a holiday usually come later, when you synthesize your experiences into your life, allowing them to enrich your life and widen your horizons. I'm still soaking up and processing Germany. I loved it, and will continue to. Thank you, Germany.
