Berlin Germany Day 1/2

Our first day in Berlin also happened to be our last day in Copenhagen. As we weren’t keen on lugging our suitcases around the city all morning we spent a relaxing morning in the apartment before heading into the city. We looked around the same market we had been frequenting all weekend for some lunch, and settled on the polish sausages that I had had my eyes on for a while. We took the subway to the airport, with me trying to balance eating the sausage, holding my bag, and standing upright. We arrived at the airport much earlier than our 4pm flight, and since the airport security line was very fast we ended up with a lot of time to kill. Luckily Copenhagen airport was incredibly fancy (caviar and juice bars everywhere) and filled with many bookshops.

Due to a miscommunication during our planning of the trip Mishaela accidentally purchased a specific seat on the flight (for 12 euros no less). Therefore we had to separate for an hour.  We arrived in Berlin around 5pm, and started in our efforts to find our apartment. Figuring out the Berlin subway proved a little harder than expected but eventually we made it to our destination.

Later that night we met up with my brother Scott’s close friend Matt. Matt moved to Berlin from Toronto earlier this year, so I thought it would be nice to see a familiar face from home. We went to a very German restaurant called the Augustiner. Upon my attempt to order my meal the waiter repeatedly told me that the sausages will be boiled! They will be boiled! When I finally convinced him that yes that is indeed what I would like to order he walked away. Once we were served he decided to wait around and watch me attempt to peel the skin off the sausage. Instead of watching he showed me how by doing it himself and then preceded to feed me. Probably the most intimate and awkward moment I’ve ever had with a waiter. The rest of the evening was a little awkward, as he seemed to be watching me every time he passed by. All in all it was a good night with good food and good conversation.

          
On the morning of our first full day in Berlin I awoke with a horrible cold. Feeling terrible, and thinking it must be 6am since Mishaela, the early riser, was not yet up. I checked the clock, turns out we slept in until 10:30! We slowly got ready for the day, which looked very rainy. We took the train into the city and walked around aimlessly searching for a place to have some brunch. We found a cute place and sat in the warmth eating and talking for a long time. Afterwards we bought a map and set out to find some of the tourist destinations that Berlin is famous for.

 First we found the Jewish museum but decided we weren’t interested enough to pay to get in and so we moved on. Next we found checkpoint Charlie.  This was the best-known Berlin wall crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Nearby was the Topography of Terror, which is a sort of outdoor museum chronicling the war and all that happened in Berlin during that time. On our way we accidentally found the Canadian embassy and became way too excited. 
 

 Down the street was the Holocaust Memorial. This memorial was dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and consists of many concrete slabs of varying heights. The memorial was supposed to “create a confusing, uneasy atmosphere, and aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.”
 

 We found our way to the famous Brandenburg Gate, where many many tourists were snapping photos (so of course we had to do the same). We walked along a long empty street which was being set up for a festival for the German football match the next day. At the end of the street we found the Berlin Victory Column. This monument was constructed to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War. The monument was relocated during the Nazi occupation of Germany when Hitler was planning to redesign Berlin.

 

We attempted to find the wall, but instead got caught in a downpour of rain. We back tracked and found ourselves in a cute little restaurant called the Teehaus in Englischer Garten. At this adorable and tasty restaurant we had tomato and French onion soup and schnitzel with asparagus and hollandaise sauce (something that reminded me of Laura). We were a little underdressed in our soaking wet jeans and sweaters for this slightly upscale restaurant.