We're rejuvenated again and get up early to give us a good start on today's plan. Our street is slowly waking up.
Our first mission is to get Marty a haircut. He likes to do this wherever we travel...it's another more intimate way to sense and feel the local ambiance, and the salons always get a kick out of it too. So far we've always sniffed out good ones, and we're very satisfied with the results. Here in Berlin we've tried to get an appointment in several shops, we finally got one with what looked to be a cool guy, but he got sick and so wasn't there when we arrived. As our time in Berlin was getting short, we pretty much gave up on the haircut idea for this trip, and Marty would just wait and go back to our regular, wonderful hairdresser, Paula, who we've both been going to for years. And she's a stunner.
But we took one more chance and walked into Licht Blick where a sole practitioner was just finishing up a customer.
We walked in and discovered Tina, the proprietor, who was able to take Marty immediately. She spoke pretty good English and was absolutely delightful.
Tina explained that she was the third generation of her family to own the shop, and she was very proud of that.
Tina did a superb job, and we were both very happy with the results. She is one of the best hair stylists we've ever found and we nearly missed her talent.
If you ever need a haircut in Berlin, go to see Tina! Marty may just fly to Berlin for his next one.
Now that we've finally gotten Marty's hair coiffed, we just want to spend the day walking around and poking our noses into whatever looks interesting.
The courtyard, which was pitch black the other night, now reveals that you can actually dine out there if the weather is right.
We venture inside, and the place looks so different...at least you can see the room that was thumping and throbbing with humanity the other night.
Here's the stage where the rock and roll band was playing. It would be fun to come back and see Tango.
As we walk further through the neighborhood we come across what looks like an old fashioned American diner.
We look at the menu and, sure enough, it's the German version of American diner food.
Now we're going under a bridge as we get closer to the Spree River.
And there it is.
As we turn the corner along the bank of the river, there is one of many lovely cafes where you can relax and watch the tourist boats go by.
And as we walk further east along the northern bank of the river, we begin to approach some of the magnificent palaces across the river on Museumsinsel, Museum Island, in the middle of the river Spree.
Museumsinsel is a unique ensemble of five museums built between 1824 and 1930. It received UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1999, and its collections span six thousand years of human artistic history.
We decide that because these five museums are each so immense, and we have been to so many museums containing similar artifacts and paintings, we just want to savor the architecture and settings of the whole area. We do not want to stress over what to see and when...we just want to relax and enjoy ourselves today, and we'll go to some smaller museums on another day.
Everyone is out basking in the nice weather, along with the mermaids.
Including guess who?
We cross a bridge over the Spree and find this guy who has his own self-contained one-man stand selling what other than, you got it...Curry Wurst...yummm! Pure dynamite.
As we leave the area we begin to get a little hungry.
We wend our way over to the famous Hackescher Markt.
It was originally a marsh north of the city fortifications, it was laid out as a market square in 1750. Once a rather neglected area, Hackescher Markt, with its old buildings, has developed into a cultural and commercial center after German unification, and is now famous for its nightlife.
I had to have the lunch special...what else but Curry Wurst again.
As we left the market area we came across a very old cemetery, the Grosse Hamberger Strasse Cemetery. This is the oldest of Berlin's Jewish cemeteries, and was in use between 1672 and 1827. Berlin's first Jewish home for the aged, as well as a Jewish Boys School were located adjacent to the property. During the National Socialist period the Gestapo confiscated both buildings and converted them into internment centers, veritable prisons, floodlit with barred windows, holding Jews prior to their deportation. More than 55,000 Jews were deported from there to the concentration camps. In 1943 the Jewish cemetery was destroyed on orders of the Gestapo. Today symbolic tombstones and sarcophagi are the only concrete reminders of the cemetery's history.
In 1985 a sculptural group of figures was installed next to one of the memorial stones to honor those people deported. This sculpture was originally intended for the Ravensbruck death camp memorial.
After we left this very sad but beautiful memorial, we came back to reality with scenes from the local neighborhood.
We came upon a lovely cafe...
And we just had to stop for a,quick pick-me-up...some of the best pastries we've had on this trip yet...little nuggets packed with delicious thick crema and chocolate fillings. We wanted to come back here another time, but never passed by this way again...too bad! Our mouths are watering just looking at this!
Hallo Berlin is their version of the Zip Car.
As we got closer and closer to our apartment, we saw the old familiar sights...the local cafes right in front of our place, the Gorki.
After a little home break, we set out on foot for our dinner reservation at Pauly Saal. We had the address on Auguststrasse, the same street as the Ballhaus, but couldn't find it. First because address numbers are not consistent since some parts used to be in East Berlin and some in West Berlin, and the numbers were never coordinated or systematic since unification. And second, there is no restaurant moniker outside...it's got more cache when it's hidden and secret and you just have to know about it and where it is on the street.
The story is that the building backs up to the Neue Synagogue, the main synagogue of Berlin, and was a former Jewish girls' school and gymnasium. It was built in 1928 and taken over by the Nazis as early as 1930. The courtyard was used for deportations until 1941.
The facade and entry are unadorned, just as it looked when it was a girls' school and gymnasium.
Inside it is sophisticated and warm.
The restaurant room (saal) is named after Pauly, the Venetian glass designer commissioned to create the six large, stunning and magnificent chandeliers from Murano, Italy, specifically for this space.
The minimal art is eclectic, such as this rocket which was made to fit in that space perfectly...it is what it is....a conversion piece.
Marty got distracted on the way to the 'toilettin.'
It was time to leave through the gym doors.
They told us that when we went outside, the most spectacular view of all the lighted chandeliers was from across the street through the windows, and they were right.
As we walked back toward home, we did pass the Ballhaus, and of course we had to peek in and see how the Tango night was going.
It was a really charming atmosphere this time, with no loud thumping like the other night.
And the people were very serious about their Tango, some of them quite good...a very sexy dance.
This guy was having a lesson.
We watched for a while, totally mesmerized.
And then it was time to go home. It was a long and interesting day...we covered a lot of territory.
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