Well, it is tragic to have to admit this, but Titchy and I are getting on a little bit.
We are at that tricky age where we don’t want or need anything for Christmas and so, rather than getting caught up in the orgy of consumerism, we decided that we would book ourselves a mini break and we settled on Berlin.
As with all of our trips, it involved an early start at the airport and, as we had plans that required a quick getaway from the airport on our return, we parked up in the airport. That nearly cost us as much as the hotel for the three nights we were away! It’s expensive to get dropped off there due to drop off charges and the metro wasn’t running at that time of morning, so it really is like the airports don’t like you to actually be there!
The Jet2 flights were spot on, a kindly chap helped Titchy to put her bags in the overhead lockers with a smile and a ‘good morning’ which really set the tone for the day….it was going to be a good one.
The transfer from the airport into Berlin city centre was very straightforward; we bought tickets for the train, walked right onto the platform and we were in the city centre within half an hour, for the paltry sum of around £3.
We got off the train at Friedrichstrasse as, according to Google maps, it was a half hour walk to our hotel and we thought we could take in the sights and get a feel for Berlin on the way. We bought a bottle of water and a snack and then made our way out of the station.
In a city that is dripping with its past and wears it like a heavy jacket it was no surprise that we found our first site of interest as soon as we stepped out of the station. The bronze statue called ‘Trains to Life – Trains to Death’ is a monument to the children who left Berlin from this station in the 1930s and 40s.
The story of the ‘lucky’ children in the earlier stages of the war and pre-war years was told in the recent film ‘One Life’. Nicolas Winton, and others, helped to bring vulnerable and at risk children to the UK and it is thought that 10,000 children were rescued on the Kindertransport Trains to Life.
Tragically, as the national socialist regime tightened its grip on Europe, more than two million children went on to lose their lives, with many being shipped to concentration camps from stations like this. This monument to these Trains to Death was a tragic reminder of the past and the fact that young children were today playing on the bronze statue, smiling and laughing innocently, made it all the more poignant.
We set off towards our hotel and I, Itchy, took control of the route planning. On reflection, this was a terrible decision! Instead of heading directly south down the street, handily called Friedrichstrasse to keep things easy, I decided to head north and add a frisson of excitement to the day and a lot of confusion to Google maps who couldn’t work out why I thought I knew better than it.
We eventually handed over map reading responsibilities to Titchy and were very quickly back on track. I followed her sheepishly as, by this stage, she was moving towards ‘hangry’ territory. She picked a snazzy looking place called the Quartier Zukunf for lunch and it wasn’t until we got in there and settled did we realise that we were in a shared office space supported by Deutsche Bank and we were in the middle of the start-up scene in Berlin! It turned out that they were also very good at making burgers and salads and so all was not lost.
Fed and watered, we made our way past the famous Checkpoint Charlie but, as it was cold and starting to rain by this point, we took a quick photo on the run as we knew we would be back again soon. We made our way into the former East German side of the wall to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Berlin City Centre. I have a credit card that build up points for their regular traveller programme and, despite never having been to a Holiday Inn in years, we were told that we were on their private members top floor and also had a free breakfast included for the duration of our stay. Happy days!
We showered, unpacked and got ready for our night out. We, well Titchy, had been very organised and had pre-booked us tickets for the Reichstag Building. Regular readers will know of my strong interest in World War Two so this was a really exciting excursion for me, the Yang to Ying of our recent visit to the Churchill War Rooms in many ways. We used the U-Bahn to make our way back to the centre of town and briefly followed this guy through the streets…..I hope he didn’t take offence……a fence……oooooh, you know it’s funny!
We terminated at Unter den Linden station and made our way through the Brandenburg Gate that was, very disappointingly, covered in scaffolding. It didn’t take away from the gravity of the place, it felt like history was hanging from the arches and you could almost close your eyes and take yourself back in time to much darker and dangerous times. It was late November, late afternoon and we were in Eastern Europe so it was the sort of cold that catches your breath when you breathe in which added to the heavy and oppressive atmosphere. The puffs of visible breath coming from all wrapped up heads gave the feeling of being in a tense spy drama.
We made our way through the arches of the Brandenburg Gate and cut across the corner of the Tiergarden Park over to the Reichstag. With a little time to spare we were drawn into the small but perfectly presented memorial garden for the half a million Sinta and Roma people who were murdered by the Nazi regime at an industrial level. Reading the stories of some of the victims, and survivors for that matter, you could only scratch the surface of the horrors. Within a mile of this, in any direction, were countless other memorials and commemorations to various other groups that had faced persecution. You couldn’t avoid history, wherever you looked or whichever path you chose to walk.
The Reichstag is the home of the German parliament and so, as could be expected, security was very tight. If you are thinking of a visit, you need to prebook slots and be ready for security lines before you get into the grounds which, I am never sure if it is a little bit worrying or a little bit comforting, maybe both can be true. Once through security you get shown to a lift and taken to the upper floors where you pick up an audio guide and we then spent around 2 hours taking panoramic pictures of Berlin that was, by this time, covered in both darkness and rain clouds. At one point, as I was taking in my history lesson, a chap that was standing just behind me sneezed and I got a heck of a shock. I decided to prove to him that I was English by turning to him and apologising, even though I had done nothing wrong, much to the amusement of Titchy.
It was a great tour and we learnt a lot about the building, its history and its current uses. We also took some amazing photographs of Berlin at the same time as getting a feel for the various landmarks in the city and where they were in relation to each other, a very useful visual aid for the days to come.
We needed a brew to warm up our cold old bones and headed off to find a café. We made our way through what turned out to be an office building with some lovely art works. It looked like it was going to be more interesting to be honest but it was still a lovely little find, before stepping out on Pariser Platz in the shadow of the gate. The first place we found, other than a Starbucks that Titchy refuses to enter as their tea is rubbish, was Dunkin Donuts (incorrect spelling). Not exactly culturally enriching, but a bloody lovely doughnut (correct spelling) none the less. We took advantage of their Wi-Fi and made our plans for the night ahead.
We decided to Google ‘Cool areas for a night out in Berlin’ which I assume Google understood to mean ‘Places for middle aged folks to go for a night out in Berlin’ as there were no sex bars or super clubs being recommended which was a relief. The area that we were pushed towards was Mehringdamm a street in the Kreuzberg district and, apparently, a lively old spot for a night out. We hit the U-Bahn and got off at Mehringdamn and set off to find our drinking station for the evening. By this point it was pissing down and we were living out, again, Titchy’s nightmares as we were aimlessly wandering about in the freezing rain, hoping to stumble on somewhere nice with her getting more and more annoyed as we got colder and wetter with every step.
In the end, after a few dead ends and wrong turns, we hit the jackpot. The Destille Kreuzberg was a lovely little spot that was pretty quiet when we got in but very quickly filled up. It had an old fashioned feel to the place and they proudly boasted that all sorts of folks had been coming here for over 140 years. I assume not the same people but it was worth having a few ales to find out. There was what can only be described as tatt all over the walls and many shelves which made the place look like it could do with a good polish and solid dusting, but that just added to the charm (in my view at least). We had a few ‘normal’ drinks before getting involved in the wall of flavoured schnapps in glass dispensers. It was pretty strong stuff and I have no idea which flavours I picked but I certainly left the place feeling warmer than when I went in!
We were so ‘relaxed’ that I had persuaded Titchy to try the street food rather than having something ‘nice’ and we stopped at a place that turned out to be quite famous, Curry 36. I had curry wurst and chips and Titchy went for a pork schnitzel and chips…..it was just the job. I was so ‘relaxed’ that I offered to buy a homeless man a meal and, when he said that he had already eaten, gave him €10 for a meal on the condition that he promised not to spend it on drugs or booze……I am sure he was compliant with that.
We were having such a laugh and such a happy night we decided that we had a few more drinks in us and popped in next door to Vogt’s Bierexpress. It was much brighter and more modern that the last spot, it had the feel of a sports bar and I could imagine that it would be filled on a match day! No idea which team, I was hammered by then. Another pint and a little cheeky Baileys to get the Christmas spirit moving and that was us done for the night.
We could have walked, we could have got a taxi or we might have floated home on the back of a mystical dragon…..but I think the most likely was that we got the U-bahn. It was a great night and great way to start our trip to Berlin.
PROST!
I18,790 steps, 13.62km, 1,307 calories
Itchy Feet and Titchy Feet 