We found a 'Ground Zero' cafe for our morning croissants and cappucini... it's Oberholz Cafe prominently standing right on Rosenthalerplatz square just at the corner of our street. It has subtle charm in lighting, flooring, and furniture detail, and is filled with a very eclectic crowd of architects, designers and hipsters on their latest iPads and Mac Book Pros. It goes 24/7 and the atmosphere changes depending on the time of day and day of the week. Late in the evening there can even be concerts, lectures, and exhibitions, so we've been told.
Who's that regular?
We wanted to start the day today by going to Checkpoint Charlie. It's very touristy now, a piece of history now in a dense urban setting, but a must-see since we have the time. It was given its name by the Western Allies, referring to the best known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. It was where unfortunate people were caught up in the struggle to escape the madness of the era, the terror of the Communist regime in Germany and their desperation to get out, and a very tense situation too for the soldiers who stood guard. Now the soldiers standing guard are German actors playing the parts of American servicemen.
OK, been there, done that. Now we are ready to go and see what remains of the Berlin Wall, parts of which are still standing near the Spree River and other areas of the city. We finally figure out the U-Bahn and decide to take the Metro.
Berlin has the underground U-Bahn and the above ground S-Bahn. They both act as a single system and provide amazing, rapid transit throughout the entire city. They are not cheap but they are clean, fast and frequent. There is graffiti all over the city and some on the U-Bahn as well. Amazingly, we have not seen any fare- beaters in Berlin and the system basically runs on honesty. You must, however, validate your ticket or risk a €60 fine. Everyone does it. Hey, it's Germany.
Sometimes the U-Bahn runs above ground. Whatever!
We arrived at our destination and walked over to where large parts of the Wall still remain standing. It's a very colorful sight, although some of the graffiti has ugly serious depictions and slogans of those terrible times when Berlin was divided. The graffiti however is not original any more, and has been re-painted since the wall's downfall. People take humorous photos at the wall, not reflective of its historical representation. There are original pieces and information about the wall everywhere in Berlin, and it's like you can't get enough of it when you are standing where this atrocity once actually existed and affected so many people's lives. It's different now that both sides of what's left of the Wall are accessible. Where once the Eastern side was its original grey concrete and the Western side covered in colorful graffiti, now both sides are painted.
This part of the wall is near the Spree, so we walked along the water, and sat in a cafe and had a beer.
Along the river was an old barge that had been converted I to a hostel...it didn't look too inviting.
Maybe these people were having a business conference on the banks of the Spree.
We were tired and it was time to return to our apartment and get ready for dinner. We passed through some working class areas, as well as a high-rent district with clever advertising. Berlin is a biking crazy city and every sidewalk has a bike lane and everyone respects it. Roads too have bike lanes clearly marked.
Street scene on Frederickstrasse.
European ads are so sexy.
And clever.
After resting a while we arrived at Borchardt Restaurant. It reminded us of La Coupole, one of our favorite restaurants in Paris.
Mushrooms are in season and wonderful!
Baked Dorade....very good.
Filet steak with peppercorn sauce. What can be better?
Creme Brûlée.
And so ends another fabulous day in Berlin. In just a few short days we have gotten our arms around the Mitte....the down town center of the city. It's large, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan, just our kind of town. Yes, we think we could live in Berlin, at least for a short time.
No comments:
Post a Comment