Man oh man... At times what a racket AND three hours to go AND a packed train so nowhere to escape to! It appeared the family in front of us is fomenting a great sibling rivalry; most if not all attention on the baby; periodically the older one would start to scream and throw things at the baby, one time hitting it in the face with a small hardcover book, with little repercussion. Later, after things in the coach had calmed down a bit, one woman who had been cuddling her baby in her arms (and this baby had not made a sound to this point) decided a good thing to do would be to take the baby for a walk. Not to judge whether or not this was a good idea but she had not taken more than about 10 steps before another baby starts to cry which sets off her baby crying, then another... it was like a round of firecrackers going off one after the other!
By this time, the two older women (yes, even older than us) sitting behind us decided the best course of action was to put earphones on and to sing along with whatever was playing on their iPhone, thereby adding to the general cacophony! Thank goodness there were some generous reasonably quiet interludes and soon we rolled into the Berlin hauptbahnhof.
On the positive side, there was one little one whose father walked him up and down the aisle at great length while the little one smiled and waved, like the queen, to everyone as he went. That was quite sweet.
Anyway, we grabbed a taxi to get to our apartment. The taxi driver was a guy from Lebanon who had lived here for about 30 years. Brian asked if he ever longed to go back, his response included the line "... when I get old like you...". What!!! We ended up having a good friendly discussion with him and he promptly dropped us off at our apartment. Elias & Christa were waiting for us and we were quickly all settled, after which we wandered down along the river Spree to the Patio Restaurantschiff, a floating restaurant not far from our place , for a bottle of wine, a couple of excellent pizzas, and to admire the bears on the "bear bridge"...
(Ooops; forgot to put the week 9 marker in the photo album... Look for the bear. It is the first pic for the week).
Tuesday was a shopping day. We decided to head over to a shopping area we had gone to when we were here a few years ago. We bought a couple of 7 day metro passes for about 29 euro each (a good deal) and headed off on the S-Bahn S5 line to Friedrichstrasse where we expected to see a Muji store right outside the S-Bahn station. Hmmm, no Muji store! We must be a bit disoriented, but still sure we were remembering that we were in the right place, we wandered around a bit. Crap, looks like our collective memories have failed us, so time to go back to the apartment and do a bit of research. On the way back to the metro Kris spots a group of young people walking along with Muji shopping bags. Brian runs over and asks, pointing at the bag, "... where is that store?". They tell us that we must go one metro stop to Hackescher Markt. Aha... Ok, so we were off by one metro stop! Back to the S-Bahn, pick the right line and direction and one stop later there we are, right outside Muji. A bit down the street we spotted the Starbucks we had planned to stop in for a coffee, so in we went for a couple of cafe americano. This is a fun shopping area, particularly the inner courtyard complex of Hackesche Hof, with great shops with a wide variety of goods. Kris picked up a very nice pair of Trippen shoes. We had an excellent lunch (burger for Brian and sausage for Kris) at the sidewalk cafe, Restaurant 1840, then jumped on the S-Bahn to the Savigny Platz stop for a walk down into the Ku'damm area. We spent about an hour in the huge Ka De We department store before heading home for the day. After a brief rest we walked to the nearby Kaiser grocery store then stopped again at the patio restaurant for a nice sit out in the evening air overlooking the river.
Wednesday we started off by heading back over to the Hackescher Markt area where Kris had seen a belt she though she would like. We arrived a while before the store opened so we waited it out over a couple of Starbucks americanos. After picking out the buckle and leather we had to wait another half hour or so while it was all put together. We wandered around the neighbourhood checking out some of the neat architectural details...
.... and wondering what it would be like to stay in this area. Likely a bit noisier but might be worth a try on a future visit.
Back to pick up the belt; looks great! Leaving the area, we walked over toward Alexander Platz to catch what we thought was tram M48 with the intent of taking it to Potsdamer Platz and the Gemaldegalerie museum. Turns out M48 is just a bus which we ended up catching going "the wrong way". A couple of stops later the bus reaches the end of it's run (ie, before it goes back the other way). After everyone else left, Brian goes and asks the driver "does this bus go to Potsdamer Platz". The driver motions for us to stay on the bus. A couple of stops later, while we were still the only ones on the bus, another driver gets on and the two of them call and motion Brian to come to the front. They proceed to tell us we have to transfer to the S-Bahn. Somewhat confused Brian pulls out a Berlin map that shows a M48 stop at Potsdamer Platz, points at it and says "M48 doesn't stop here?". The "new" guy laughs and says "Potsdamer Platz? Don't you want to go to Potsdam?"... Well no, but now we see the confusion. M48 does go where we want to go, Potsdamer Platz, so we stay on board. We get off right outside the huge Sony Center.
By now it is time for some lunch so we go into the plaza and stop at Lindenbrau restaurant for some sausages for Kris and a burger for Brian. Then we got back on a M48 to go one stop (it was about a km down the road) for our planned visit to the Gemaldgalerie. It has an excellent, large collection of 13th to 18th century masterpieces...
After a couple of hours we exited the main gallery to find we were now in the midst of a thunderstorm. Time to stay inside for a while. We asked if our pass was good for the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Arts museum) in the same building complex. Yes, but too bad, it is closed for renovations! We went upstairs to the cafeteria for a cappucino each while we waited out the downpour. Eventually the rain stopped and we headed off. Caught a M48 bus back to Potsdamer Platz, a S-bahn train to Friedrichstrasse and another S-Bahn train to the hauptbahnhof. When we made our reservations through RailEurope the agent booked our trip from Berlin to Paris with a transfer, partway, at Mannheim, but the transfer time is only 16 minutes. We decided it might be wiser to book an earlier train to Mannheim. The agent at the hauptbahnhof concurred... "You are smart to do this!". We also decided to book tickets to Dresden for tomorrow so booked the 8:46 am to Dresden and the 5:04 pm back to Berlin. With the trip being a little over 2 hours each way that leaves us with about 5.5 hours in Dresden. Allowing for transit times, some lunch and getting back to the station we're down to about 4 hours max museum time with a bit left for sightseeing.
Our past years experience with German trains has left us with the feeling that these trains are so reliable on their departure times that you could set your watch by them. What has happened? Our 8:46 am departure to Dresden didn't leave Berlin until about 9:15. Coming back our 5:04 departure was delayed by more than an hour!
So, Thursday morning, anticipating an on-time departure we arrive early enough to pick up some sandwiches and coffee to have on the train. Well, the coffee ended up being pretty well gone by the time the train even arrived! When the train did finally arrive there was an older couple sitting in our seats so we had to ask them to move. No problem. Arriving in Dresden we stopped at the information desk for a transit map, found out we can catch the #8 tram right outside the station to near the museum. At the tram stop we bought a 4 ride tcket which gets us both to the museum area and back to the hauptbahnhof. Good deal over single ride tickets.
First up in Dresden was the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (no photos allowed), followed by a lunch break at a Paulaner pub, a quick stop in the cathedral...
... then on to the Galerie Neue Meister where Kris specifically wanted to see a Van Gogh but as it seems to often be the case for us... "Sorry, not available, out on loan"! After that it was a quick coffee break and time to head back to the train station not yet knowing that we'd sit there an extra hour! While waiting on the platform, Brian struck up a conversation with a Chinese couple using the standard "Do you speak English?" line. "Of course...". Turns out they are from New York and he is a professor, of political science, teaching in Berlin for a semester. They also have a Eurail Pass and use it to do day or weekend trips out of Berlin. Had a nice chat to kill the extra hour wait. Also took one pic of an approaching train, not ours though, so here's a typical view from a platform in a large station (many more tracks not visible in this pic)...
When the train arrives we find our reserved seats. Guess What? In this 6 seat compartment is a young couple with two very small children. Yikes, is it the Munich train all over again? And yes, this train is full as well! Anyway, to make a long two hour story short, this couple had the "best behaved kids". No yelling or screaming. Only happy baby sounds which are ok, even with the odd happy baby scream thrown in for good luck. Also joining us in the compartment was a youngish (maybe mid to late 30s) business guy on his way home after a day of consulting in Dresden. He works for KPMG and is on the road close to 180 nights a year. He does work all over Europe and the Middle East with the odd foray to the USA. Hasn't been to Canada yet though. He recently took a 20% pay cut, to go to a 4 day week, so now has an extra day to spend with his 2 young children, although he admitted he still spends too much time "on the coputer working from home on those days". Sounds a tad familiar! Both he and the other couple spoke English so we had good chats on the trip back to Berlin.
They didn't want to talk about Bayern Munich's 1-0 loss to Real Madrid in Tuesday's first leg Champions League semi-final match though! The second leg next Tuesday, in Munich, should be interesting! One thing we asked about was the small garden plots we have seen along the railway in or near virtually every German town we have ever gone through on the train. They explained that these are a part of German culture, going back many generations, meant to provide people who live in apartments an ability to grow some of their own food. Once you have one of these the annual rent is quite small, around 100 euro and your right to it can be passed to the next generation. You can't sell it but when you let it go the next owner has to pay for the little house/shed you have constructed on it. Lots of rules about how much of it must be garden, how much can be shed and/or grass etc. you can't live in it but some likely do and if you become a homeowner with your own garden space you must (are supposed to anyway) give it up. Very interesting. Maybe next train ride we'll try to get a few pics of some.
Since we got home later than expected we headed directly to a restaurant we really liked the last time we were here, the 12 Apostel Restaurant at Savigny Platz. By the time we got there it was going on 9:00 pm so the guy seating us said there were two things 1) they close at 10:30 pm - No problem for us; and 2) they don't take credit cards - crap, forgot about that part... we only have about 30 euro on us, not enough for pizza and wine! So, off we go deciding to try a newer place closer to our apartment. When we get there we notice a guy paying with a credit card so no problem. Have a decent dinner, call for the check, and ... you got it... "We don't take credit cards"... but, wait, what about that other guy... turns out they only take some obscure "diner" card. Crap. At least the 12 Apostel folks have the decency to tell you before you sit down! After some argument the only recourse ended up with Kris sitting there while Brian hoofed it back to the apartment for the required cash. Cross those idiots off our list!
Friday was a sort of do nothing day. To start the day we caught the S-Bahn over to Savigny Platz and walked down to the Ku'damm for a stroll along with many other people. We stopped in at the Starbucks beside the Karstadt for coffee and a whack of "people watching" as we sat on the sidewalk out front. While we were there a city worker came by to patch up a part of the cobblestone sidewalk out front of Starbucks. Brian thoroughly enjoyed watching the guy dig up a bunch of the coblestones, prepare the dirt for replacement, stick in the new stones, tamp it all down, wet it with some swept in sand/concrete mix and voila... done. We spent the day wandering the area only stopping for an excellent lunch in an old pub. On the way home we stopped in the Karstadt for some groceries then at a local Paulaner's for a couple of glasses of wine and a really good Bavarian cheese sampler plate.
Saturday was an attempt at a museum day. We took the S-bahn to Friedrichstrasse then walked the 5 blocks or so to Museum Island. The lineups for the Pergamon and Neues Museums were quite long so we opted for the much less popular Alte Nationalgalerie.
There was a special exhibit of sculptures by Rembrandt Bugatti (yes of the car family fame). This man, totally self taught with an obvious natural talent produced a fabulous array of sculptures, mostly animal, from the time of his first international show, at age 16, to the time of his suicide a mere 15 years later at the age of 31...
The rest of the museum was quite interestng but the best, for us, was the central gallery room featuring Impressionists such as Monet and Manet, and where, in this place, photos are allowed...
Leaving the museum we checked out a sidewalk arts & crafts sale, had an abyssmal lunch at a sidewalk restaurant, wandered through a flea market then made our way to the Checkpoint Charlie area on Friedrichstrasse. We've been through the Checkpoint Charlie museum before and today being a Saturday with a lot of tourists we decided to not go into the museum today. This is a fascinating area nonetheless with numerous street billboards outlining significant events during the life of the "wall". We have lots of info and pics from our trip here a few years ago.
Later we thought we'd like a coffee and some nice cake which we'd like to sit and draw then eat. We picked a place on Unter den Linden. The cakes looked delicious so we ordered a cake for Brian and an Apple Strudel for Kris along with a couple of cappucino. The cofee was good and the pastries were good to draw but that's about it, not really all that tasty. Leaving the area we thought we'd take the circular bus route 100 back to near our place. Well we had to wait forever then the bus was sooooo slow it was hard to stay awake. When the bus stopped at Alexandrplatz and the driver turned off the engine we decided to abandon that idea and opted for the much quicker S-Bahn home. For dinner we made sure we had the cash and went back to the 12 Apostel Restaurant at Savigny Platz and had a wonderfully delicious salmon and fresh cream pizza along with some very nice chardonnay for dinner. Paid in cash!
Sunday we did a day trip out to Potsdam about 40 minutes away on the S-Bahn. Wow, what a wonderful place. The gardens at the Sanssouci Palace are out in full colour and the walk through the park is just so pleasant....
At one point there were some young folks joking around and this one fellow wearing a "crown" of dandelions who jumped up onto a pedestal to pose as if a statue (los of fun)...
We didn't go into the palaces. Been there, done that too many times so don't really need to spend the 25 euros or so just to see much of the same.
Later, we walked down the hill into the historical centre of Potsdam. What a neat place in which to wander. Most businesses were closed but restaurants were open. We stopped in at La Maison du Chocolat for an absolutely divine cup of hot chocolate each and a couple of equally divine pastries. Yummmmmm!...
... did we mention Yummmmmm?
Returning to Berlin, we took the S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse to walk across the river bridge for a couple of glasses of wine at a sidewalk/riverfront restaurant to pass a lovely evening. Very nice way to wrap up the week!
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