Monday
We left quite a pleasant morning in Glasgow for the airport in the radio cab. The driver was really nice and friendly, and helped us with our luggage. The wait at the airport took a while. I feel I know why they are called terminals...I did a last bit of souvenir shopping and found what I was looking for.
The flight went smoothly enough, though I think I slept through most of it. Our arrival at Berlin was grey and chilly, the passport man was a bit scary though...
Negotiating Berlin's public transport consumed us for the next hour or so - now there is a really efficient public tranport system - fairly cheap too. It was a bit wet when we arrived at the hostel we are staying at. The owner Ralph sat us down and gave us a fantastic overview of a city that can be rather confusing: with about four city centres in the recent past, it was good to have someone point out the sights and areas of a city that is possibly about the size of Sydney.
We went up the road to a Croatian and International Cuisine Restaurant, where they have really good Specials. I had a Hungarian Goulash, which came with potatoes and salad, and a Russian Hot Chocolate (with rrrrrrrrrum) - all good, tasty, hearty stuff. Polishing it off left me stuffed. The waitress then presented us with dessert - I'm not sure whether it came with the meal, complimentary, or a Monday night deal - a chocolate moussy, custardy thing that was also good. With the bill, she offered us a taste of a Croatian liquer - I can't pronounce or spell what it was called - it came chilled, yellow, with overtones of banana in smell and taste. I can recommend the place highly, although I don't think I'll be having such strong alcoholic drinks again soon. I only wanted to sleep after we had gone to the supermarket to get some food for the next day.
******
Tuesday
The breakfast buffet at our accommodation was continental, but very fresh and plentiful. We bought a Berlin WelcomeCard - which allows unlimited public transport on the trains, underground, buses and trams within the zones purchased, as well as some museum discounts. Got off at Unter den Linden to meet up with the free walking tour of the historical part of Berlin.
This was fantastic. Our tour guide was Swedish/Japanese Maria, who was enthusiastic, entertaining and really knew her stuff. We saw most of the sights of Berlin on this tour: including the Brandenburg Gate, The Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Hitler's Bunker, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Gendarmenmarkt, Pariser Platz, the Book Burning Memorial, Humbolt University, palaces, ending on Museum Island. We learnt a lot about Germany's and in particular, Berlin's history and its place in world events - often tragic and confronting, but with a happy ending culminating in the fall of the wall.
After the tour, we visited the Pergamon Museum, one of the best antiquities museum in the world apparently. It has reconstructed parts of massive building structures, including the Pergamon Altar from Turkey which takes pride of place in the first gallery room. There was so much to see that we didn't manage to see everything beforre closing time.
We headed back to Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Markets - the more traditional Christmas Market in Berlin - to mingle with the crowds there. Lots of interesting stalls of goods, gifts and traditional crafts interspersed with really nice smelling food cooking, with cathedrals surrounding the square. By this time, our feet were protesting, so we got some German food and tried some Gluhwien - mulled wine, which is heated and spiced and smells like a rich fruit cake.
After the long day out in the cold mostly and on our feet, we made it back and called it a night.
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