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As the sun rose over London, we were served a croissant, blueberry yogurt, and raisins. Our flight path took us right along the Thames, and it was a gorgeously sunny day. We saw the Millennium Dome, the Eye of London, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Big Ben, Parliament...it was a virtual tour of the city. We landed at Heathrow at 7:15 am. The plane didn't arrive at a gate; we had what was called a "standing stop." They made us deplane using a staircase, and then we boarded a bus which took us to terminal 3. Heathrow's tarmac is like a city unto itself; there are all kind of roads, tunnels, vehicles, etc. We didn't have to go through customs since we were just passing through. There was a fairly long security line, but it moved rather quickly. Then we walked to our gate where there was another security check. We were in line and two women walked right past us, cutting to the front of the line as though they were more important. We were at the end of the line, and a nice security bloke came over to us and said he had a bad back today. I made a sympathetic gesture and he told us to follow him and we skipped the line completely. Our flight was British Airways and left right on schedule at 8:55. We were served vanilla peach yogurt, fruit cocktail (which included sharon fruit, whatever that is) and a blueberry muffin.
Berlin is an hour ahead of London, so it was a total of 6 hours ahead of home. When we landed at Tegel we disembarked, went through a short immigration line, and then headed out. This was our first time in a non-English-, non-Spanish-speaking country, and, nonetheless, I found myself automatically trying to speak Spanish. We asked an employee where to catch a bus and I found myself saying "si" in response. A young American man named Jason heard our plight and offered, in English, to help us. He is originally from San Francisco but has lived in Germany for 3 years. We told him that we were trying to get to Banhof Zoo. He said that was where he was headed as well, and we were welcome to join him. He helped us to buy a ticket on the bus (glad we had gotten those Euros in Boston). We sat together and he pointed out sites along the way, such as the Spree river and the Schloss Charlottenburg palace, etc. We passed a street which had been blocked off by police and we saw a group of marchers. The man sitting next to Jason told him in German that there was a Palestinian protest today against Israel. We turned onto the Kurfürstendamm (or "Ku'damm"), which is the major shopping street in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It was starting to be decorated for Christmas, and there were large reindeer sculptures on the median. We were surprised to see a Dunkin Donuts, and Jason told us that they were very common in Berlin. He pointed out the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, a church built in 1891, much of which was destroyed in an Allied air raid in 1943 and never fully restored. It reminded us of a Tom Waits lyric: "such a crumbling beauty". Jason gave us his card in case we needed anything while in the city. The three of us got off the train at Banhof Zoo (Zoo Station) and said goodbye to Jason. We wandered down Budapester Straße past some antique shops and gift shops. We got some pictures of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. There was a small area next to it which was being turned into a Christmas village, but it was not yet completed. We were trying to find our hotel, the Savoy, and realized that we were on the correct street but were going in the wrong direction. We headed back in the other direction past the Beate-Uhse Erotik Museum (which had some rather provocative advertisiing in the window, proving that as a whole Germany is a lot less uptight than the U.S.). Before we knew it, we were in front of the gorgeous Theater des Westens, where Tom Waits would be playing on Monday night. The Savoy Hotel was literally right around the corner. When we checked in, we had a note from Julia and Richard. It made us feel right at home immediately. They said that they had gone sightseeing and would be back later in the afternoon. We dropped our stuff in our room (#523), which was very nice. The bed was two twin mattreses side by side. There was a fitted bottom sheet and we each had an individual down comforter and a large square down pillow. The headboard was upholstered with a rich, bright fabric with images of Mongolian people on it. The same fabric uphostered a wall panel near the door where coat racks were hung. The room had a TV and a private bath. There was a mini bar in case of snack emergencies but we never touched it. The ceilings were very high, and there was huge crown moulding. The window was open when we arrived to get some fresh air. We closed it before we left the room, however, lest it get too cold. We left a note for Julia and Richard saying we'd be back before dark and headed out at 1:15 pm. We headed out onto Kantsraße and noticed a police presence. It seemed that the Palestinian demonstration would be coming down the street. Feeling a bit daring and interested in the political climate, we headed up the street toward Savigny Platz. There were more police (in uniforms which Americans would consider militaristic) and throngs of Palestinian supporters of all ages. There was a small stage area with loudspeakers. The demonstration was breaking up, but we managed to get a few photos. Some police were wearing yellow vests emblazoned with "Anti Konflikt Team". Next we walked down Kantstraße past the Theater des Westens. After taking a few pictures of the building and its sculptures out front (some nude goddesses holding a replica of the theater), we headed back to Budapester Straße. We were starting to get hungry, so we stopped at Maximilian's, an Imbiss (fast food stall), for currywurst. We wanted to try currywurst since it had been recommended to us by Tom and Sabine from the Tom Waits Raindogs email discussion group. We each got a currywurst and pommes frites. The currywurst was a sausage which was cut into bite-sized pieces and covered with ketchup and curry powder. You eat it with tiny (toothpick-sized) plastic forks. It was delicious and really hit the spot. We ate it standing at an outdoor table. We looked at the antiques and gift items which were being displayed on the sidewalks. We walked past the zoo and aquarium (very interesting buildings, shaped like Japanese pagodas with statues of elephants and sculptures of fish on the sides of the building. The aquarium had a fish tank embedded in the wall so that you could see the goldfish. Right next to the zoo was a little park with a big pile of jagged rocks on which children were climbing. It looked like the kind of thing that would be a lawsuit nightmare in the United States, but here families were just enjoying the outdoors while their preschoolers hopped from rock to rock. Next we headed to the Tiergarten (park which used to be a royal hunting ground) in search of the Siegessäule, a monument built in 1871 to commemorate Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria, and France. The 26-foot golden Goddess of Victory at the top of the monument is featured prominently in Wim Wenders' movies "Wings of Desire" and "Faraway, So Close." The Siegessäule now stands at Großer Stern (or the "Great Star") which is a roundabout at the intersection of five streets. It was moved to this location in 1938 from its original location at the Königsplatz in front of the Reichstag by the Nazi government. When we arrived at Großer Stern, we could see the monument at the center of the roundabout, but there was no obvious way to get to it. There were no crosswalks which led to the center, only around the perimeter. I could totally envision a "Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!" situation as we endlessly circled the roundabout looking for a way across. But Craig saw a sign for "Tunnel to Siegessäule". We headed down the steps into the tunnel which crossed underneath the road. There was a busker playing his electric guitar, and the walls were covered in graffiti. The acoustics of the tunnel were great, and we considered tipping him as we were the only ones in the tunnel at the time, but his penchant for playing '70's pop tunes turned us off to that idea. As we ascended the stairs at the other end of the tunnel and saw the Siegessäule looming above us against a blue sky, the busker started to play "Stairway to Heaven." We laughed. One thing we noticed right away is that the base of the monument is pockmarked with bulletholes. There are bronze relief sculptures on the walls depicting military victories. At street level there was an entracnce to the Siegessäule. We paid 2.20 Euros each to enter. There was a small gift shop and several exhibit areas. There was a wall of photographs of the Siegessäule, mostly showcasing the Millennium Celebration where it was lit up and fireworks were launched. The whole base area of the Siegessäule smelled like sewage. The culprit, we learned later, was an out-of-order men's room. There is a spiral concrete staircase of 285 steps that leads to the top, just below the statue. We climbed the first set of stairs and emerged on a viewing platform. Here the walls of the monument were decorated with intricate mosaics, and the way the sunlight played off of them was brilliant. The columns cast shadows on the mosiacs, leading to a gorgeous contrast of light and dark. We could tell that a rain shower was moving in. The skies were starting to darken and we could see rain in the distance. We climbed the rest of the stairs (the interior walls were absolutely covered in graffiti) and popped out at the top viewing platform, right beneath the angel. Being able to see her up close was amazing. She was covered with small squares of gold leaf, and we could see the name of her sculptor, Friedrich Drake, on the hem of her robe. The view was fantastic. You could see the streets converging on Große Stern, you could see the autumnal leaves of the trees in the Tiergarten, and off in the distance down Straße des 17 Juni, you could see the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), Berliner Dom, and Fernsehturm (television tower) in former East Berlin. The Fernsehturm was built in the late 1960's by the East Germans, as a symbol of their modernity. Ironically, such television towers were a West German invention, and this one in particular was built by Swedes. After its completion, the Communists were displeased when they realized that the shadow cast by the tower resembled a cross. But it became synonymous with East Berlin, and today, after reunification, is still used in a lot of German advertising (we saw posters where beer bottles cast the shadow of the tower, etc.). We walked around the Siegessäule viewing platform, taking in the gorgeous view in all directions. It was perfect timing, because we saw a rainbow to the north. We made one more round, and Craig suggested taking another picture down Straße des 17 Juni. I looked over that way and noticed another rainbow, this one directly over the Brandenburger Tor. It was amazing, and we got a couple of photos. Then it started to rain, and we headed back inside. We then descended back to the base of the monument. We looked in several exhibit rooms, where they displayed some models and drawings of the Siegessäule and other German landmarks. There were also some placards in English which described the history of the monument. We went back into the tunnel and crossed underneath the street again. The busker was still there, only this time he was playing "Sweet Home Alabama." Once again, this did not warrant a tip. It was no longer really raining, and we walked back through the Tiergarten. There were a lot of statues depicting very violent hunts. We saw a lot of people walking with hiking poles through the park. The city of Berlin is incredibly flat, but this seemed to be the new trend, as I noticed one woman with a windbreaker which said "Nordic Walking." We also saw a big line of bicyclists. We walked along the canal around the back side of the zoo, and saw some birds, llamas, and camels through the fences. We popped out at Banhof Zoo and then walked back to the hotel. As the elevator doors were closing, Julia came running up to greet us. We hopped out of the elevator and happily said hello to her and Richard. It was the first time we had seen them since we visited them in London in February of 2000. They had just gotten back from a museum and Julia was quite tired. We chatted with them for a while and then went back to our respective rooms. If they didn't take a nap they were going to call us to make dinner plans. We hung around the room until 6 o'clock (I journaled and Craig read the guide books). When we hadn't heard from them we assumed they were asleep, so we headed out to dinner. We walked down Kanstraße in search of food. We found many ethnic restuarants (Thai, Italian, Mexican, Indian) and laughed at the thought of trying to order Thai or Mexican food in German. We ended up at an Italian place that had an English menu posted in the window. It was called Ristorante Brunello. It had a nice Tuscan decor, was very quiet, and we sat at a table for two near the window. We were served bread and olive oil, and we got bruschetta as an appetizer. I ordered penne all'arrabbiata (penne pasta with spicy tomato sauce, pecorino cheese, garlic, chilies, and basil). Craig ordered tagliatelle al filetto (flat noodles with strips of beef filet in a cream sauce with parmesan cheese). I ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio and Craig had a Heffeweisen. The waitress spoke a little bit of English, but we had a misunderstanding. She brought Craig a pasta dish with mussels. When we explained that he had ordered the beef, she was very apologetic and brought a replacement meal within ten minutes. For dessert Craig got panna cotta, a creme brulee type of thing with a strong vanilla flavor that was served with wild berries. It was delicious. I got tiramisu. We left the restaurant at around 8:30 and headed straight back to the hotel. Having been basically awake for close to 33 hours, we were asleep by 9:00 pm. |
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