"Cocktails While You Wait?"

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I knew our trip to Central Europe was off to an excellent start when we arrived at the United Red Carpet Club at San Francisco Airport. The receptionist at the entrance graciously asked "cocktails while you wait?" and handed us each two free drink tickets to enjoy in the lounge. My Premier Executive frequent flier status comes in handy on international trips. We get free entry to the Red Carpet Club and extra legroom for the long flight in the Economy Plus section of the plane. We toasted our trip with a glass of sparkling wine and before we knew it, we were winging our way from San Francisco to Frankfurt for almost two weeks of vacation bliss. We planned to visit Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna as part of our latest adventure.

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Layover in Frankfurt

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Friday May 22, 2009

We arrived in Frankfurt right on time and breezed through Customs. Our passports were stamped and we were out in the Arrivals Hall in less than 10 minutes -- miraculous! We had about a 5 hour layover before our short flight to Berlin so we had the opportunity to catch up with some old friends from graduate school. Our friends met us at the airport and escorted us to downtown Frankfurt (Hauptwache Station) for a quick tour of the City. One of our friends claimed that Frankfurt is the ugliest city in Germany. I actually thought it was quite lovely. We took in panoramic views from the top of a local shopping mall and then strolled the pedestrian-only walkways into the Old Town Square.

En route, we saw a shopping center designed with a hole in the middle.

We also saw this delightful frankfurter vendor with an umbrella and hot dog warmer strapped to him.

How can you have a hot dog without fries? The Kartoffelhaus touted delicious potato treats marketed by cute cartoon spuds.

Right before we crossed the street into the town square, we saw this interesting juxtaposition of old and new. Classic buildings flanked one side of the avenue with modern glass skyscrapers on the other. A gentleman peddles his bicycle in front of the local tram.

The Old Town Square and City Hall were very traditional and beautiful and gleamed on a gorgeous sunny afternoon.

We took a quick walk across the Main River before heading back into town for a quick lunch.

We were very excited to find a store that specialized in gummy candy on the way.

We enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, a latte macchiato, and a sweet rhubarb cake at a cafe along a pedestrian thoroughfare. We were extremely tired from the long journey so sugar and caffeine were of utmost importance.

We soon returned to the U-bahn to make our way back to the airport and our onward flight to Berlin. This station happened to be in front of the Frankfurt Opera House -- one of three opera houses we saw on this trip. We bid our friends farewell and boarded our Air Berlin flight to Berlin.

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Air Berlin

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This was our first journey on Air Berlin. Even though it was just a quick flight (about an hour), they served a sweet or savory snack along with free beer. When in Germany... Germany is dubbed "the land of chocolate" in a popular Simpsons episode. Air Berlin did not disappoint. They offered a large, foiled, milk chocolate heart to each of us as we exited the plane. Now that's showing us the love :-) Unfortunately, they didn't show as much love to our baggage. We arrived at the Berlin airport through a jet way oddly lined with barbed wire. We slowly watched our plane-mates depart from baggage claim and soon found ourselves the only ones left. Our bags missed the connection from Frankfurt to Berlin -- not what we wanted to hear after an extremely long journey. Fortunately, we had the sense to pack our toothbrushes and a change of underwear in our carry on bag so we weren't as poorly off as we could have been.

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First Night in Berlin

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We took a taxi from the Berlin Tegel Airport to Hotel Otto in the Charlottenburg neighborhood. We immediately noticed that there was something unusual in the air. It almost seemed to be snowing, yet it was actually quite warm. I soon realized what it was when my eyes started itching. There was simply a ton of pollen in Berlin at this time of year. Fortunately, I brought some Claritin with me to help ease my allergies. After quickly settling in, we took a walk to the Kurfürstendamm shopping district. We had a few hours before the shops were scheduled to close and thought we would look for some clothing to tide us over until our luggage arrived. We passed block after block of swanky and expensive boutiques. Finally, we stumbled onto C&A. Their clothing was super affordable and casual. Scott and I each picked out a couple t-shirts and some socks for rock bottom prices. Lost luggage? C&A to the rescue!

From here we passed the famous bombed church of Berlin -- Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. The church was partially destroyed during World War II and the ruins were left in place as a memorial and reminder of that dark time. (Note: I had to borrow a few pictures from the web. As we'll discuss later, my camera was lost (stolen?) in Prague and with it, many pictures from Frankfurt and Berlin. Fortunately, we had a second camera with us so it wasn't a total loss).

We continued down Ku'Damm until we reached KaDaWe, a mega-department store. I picked up a notebook that I could use to jot notes about our trip and inspire this travelogue. The best part about KaDaWe was the rooftop food concession. The seating area had panoramic views of the city and there were numerous food choices. Do you want to know what impressed me the most? Customers could pour themselves a decanter of wine or tap out a liter of beer and pay at the checkout counter. It's too bad that we were tired, jet-lagged, and not at all hungry, so we didn't partake of the selbstbedinung (self-service) culinary delights.

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A New Day, Another Donut

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Saturday May 23, 2009

We awoke on Saturday morning -- refreshed. We went to breakfast at Hotel Otto's breakfast buffet on the rooftop of the hotel. The service included amazing fresh breads, a variety of fancy jams and Nutella, cured meats and cheeses, and the fixin's for mimosas. What a great way to start the day! Even better...our luggage arrived in the hotel lobby right after breakfast so we were able to change into fresh clothes before hitting the town.

As you'll see, we covered a lot of ground today.

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We walked from our hotel to the Zoologischer Garten S-Bahn station. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the Dunkin' Donuts along the concourse. I took a picture, but alas, that one was lost along with my camera in Prague so you'll have to take my word that it was there. It's no surprise that Germans like doughnuts. The city even has one named after it -- the Berliner. I was just surprised that they had wholeheartedly embraced the American franchise.

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Unter den Linden

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We took the train from Zoologischer Garten to Friedrichstraße station. Scott and I really enjoyed the movie Gotcha!, a spy-fantasy movie starring Anthony Edwards that came out in the 1980s. A young college student is touring Europe with his more worldly friend when he meets an exotic woman from Czechoslovakia at a cafe. An attraction and affair ensues before he learns that she's a spy. The pair soon find their way into Berlin and then East Berlin! Their secret code should anything go wrong was "Meet me at the Cafe Fredrichstraße". We just had to go to Friedrichstraße station as a tribute to our love for a good old fashion camp flick.

On a more serious note, Friedrichstraße station, was the first stop for the subways in East Berlin during the Cold War. The station was utilized by two West Berlin S-Bahn lines and the U-Bahn U6 line. The station served as a lone transfer point for westerners within East Berlin. West Berlin passengers could transfer from one platform to another but could not leave the station without the appropriate papers. All other stations that ran between the East and West sectors of the city were sealed-off and known as ghost stations (Geisterbahnhof). This was our first taste of the World War II and Cold War history that is so rich and ever present in this part of the world.

From the Friedrichstraße station, we walked to the head of Unter den Linden to check out the Brandenburg Gate. Criss-crossing the road for many blocks were a series of big blue pipes.

I was fascinated by this feature of the city and was incredibly curious about what they were for. A quick internet search tells me they are used for transferring thermal energy to nearby homes. Our tour guide from the 3rd Reich walking tour that I'll tell you about shortly says that Berlin has a high water table and as such it is challenging to displace enough earth to allow the water pipes to reside underground.

Germany was celebrating the 60th Birthday (Geburtstag) of its post-World War II federal republic and the area was swarming with people enjoying the festivities. There were concerts and other celebrations planned for the entire weekend.

We strolled along Unter den Linden. We chanced upon a set of churches that seemed to be mirror images of each other (Französischer Dom and Deutscher Dom).

On our walk, we also encountered some fantastic architectural details including this cat and mouse door.

I also felt the love from this giant bear outside a souvenir shop on the Unter den Linden. Bears were prevalent throughout the city and seem to be a kind of local mascot.

Humboldt University, the oldest university in Berlin, was the next stop on our walk. Founded in 1810, the university has matriculated a range of prominent students including Albert Einstein. Vendors set-up shop outside the University along Unter den Linden to sell books. This seems quite symbolic given that Nazis burned almost 20,000 books during World War II in the plaza across the street. Thankfully, times have changed.

We turned up along the Spree River when we chanced upon a craft and flea market near the university. We found some great buys including a necklace made of plexiglas with different colored felt circles that could be swapped into the center. This really appealed to the polymer scientist in me! The chain was actually pretty shoddy and fell off my neck in less than an hour and was lost forever. Thankfully, the plexiglas got caught in my scarf and was saved. I had the perfect chain to hang it on at home. We also found some great art prints including a whimsical portrait of Einstein.

Our next stop was the Rotes Rathaus followed by a stroll through Nikolaiviertel, a pedestrian enclave with quaint shops including a hat seller and a mini-book dealer. We found a great little restaurant, Gaststätte Zum Nußbaum‎ for lunch where we were able to dine outside next to a white picket fence. The sausage with lentils and beer that I had really hit the spot after a morning of walking.

After lunch we continued our walk to Alexanderplatz, the heart of the former East Berlin. The Fernsehturm Berlin (TV Tower) stood out as a beacon to keep us oriented.

Capitalism has definitely infiltrated the old East Berlin. Note the KFC banner on the train bridge.

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3rd Reich Walking Tour

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We spent the afternoon trekking around the city as part of the 3rd Reich Walking Tour which delves into the cautionary tale of Nazi history. The tour was led by Edo, a history student from the Netherlands who came to Berlin six years ago and never left.

The first interesting fact he told us was that most hills surrounding Berlin were actually built upon debris piles from the war. 70% of Berlin was destroyed during World War II.

We took the train from Zoologischer Garten station to Mohrenstrasse station. The station features extravagant red marble that was purportedly salvaged from Hitler's Reich Chancellery.

The tour pointed out some typical Nazi-era architecture...

...as well as some of the buildings that evolved from there. For example, Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin is now a Chinese restaurant.

The tour discussed the Nazi propaganda machine led by Joseph Goebbels who interestingly was rarely photographed because one of his legs was shorter than the other, an imperfection that would not normally be overlooked by the Nazi war machine. The walk included a stop at the border between the former East and West Berlin where a section of the Berlin Wall still stands. Nearby, the "Topography of Terror" exhibit provides a sobering view into that dark time.

We passed the haunting Anhalter Bahnhof. Once a major train station in the city, it remains a bombed out shell and another reminder of the ravages of war.

This stood in stark contrast to Potsdamer Platz. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the strip of land where Potsdamer Platz stands today was completely undeveloped. It is a shining example of urban renewal and growth.


The tour ended on the site of the bunker where Hitler ultimately committed suicide (Führerbunker). There is a parking lot there now. It was only recently that a sign was put in place to mark the spot. Edo pointed out how the Germans are still grappling with this difficult part of their past and were reluctant to memorialize the Nazi era in any way. We continued down the street after the tour ended to pay our respects at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

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Lighter Fare

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Our day also included some (mentally) lighter fare. We stopped for a strudel and espresso at the flea market near Hackescher Markt station. We also stopped at a local grocery store, a favorite pastime when we travel internationally.

We love looking for treats that we can't find at home. Corny Bars and jarred sausage caught our eye. Our favorite snack was a candy bar sized sleeve of chocolate covered nutella balls dipped in hazelnuts. Yum!

For dinner we returned to Charlottenburg for a Turkish meal before retiring for the evening.

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Berliners Who Brunch

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Sunday May 24, 2009

One of my colleagues spent a year in Berlin during college. He strongly suggested that we go out for brunch if we happened to be in Berlin on a Sunday. Indeed we were, so off we went. We went to Jules Verne, a cafe that my colleague recommended. It was interesting to have brunch internationally and observe the etiquette. In the US, you basically go up the buffet, pile a plate high and maybe go back for seconds once. In Berlin, people seem to take a small plate of food, starting with breads, jams, and cheeses. They then leisurely go up for some savory salads, quiches, etc. Only at the end of the meal do they tackle the sweets. We had a hard time restraining ourselves because the desserts looked so good! We also noticed that the chefs kept bringing out different dishes during the course of the morning. If we had more time to sit and luxuriate in Sunday brunch, I'm sure we could have sampled a lot more!

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Victory Memorial and Historical Sites

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We took the train from Charlottenburg to the Tiergarten after brunch and hiked to the top of the Berlin Victory Column. At the top, we enjoyed panoramic views of the City.

We walked along the Spree River to the Reichstag. Because of the 60th Geburtstag celebrations, the lines were too long and we weren't able to go inside. We learned on our 3rd Reich walking tour that Hitler had originally proposed plans for a dome so grand that it would dwarf the Reichstag by an order of magnitude. This proposed dome would be so large that it was expected to generate its own indoor weather! Hitler fell before his narcissistic goal was realized. The Reichstag was a spectacular site from the outside. We also enjoyed seeing the Paul-Löbe-Haus which is one of the government buildings in Berlin and is perched along the river.

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