Return to Berlin 27-30 December 2022

 A little culture...

One of my favourite authors is Douglas Kennedy, and he recommended a bookshop and café called Literaturhaus which is near Kurfurstendamm, the main shopping street of Berlin. We decided to visit this morning and use the train ticket from yesterday to get there. We'd validated it at about 10am so we had until then to use it.

Breakfast was slightly better this morning as we were downstairs at 8.30am and it was a lot quieter. After we'd eaten and I'd drunk many coffees, we made our way to the underground and took the U2 line to Zoologischer Garten. From here we could walk to the Literaturhaus on Fasanenstrasse and have a coffee (and cake, I hoped!).

We could see the bombed Kaiser Wilhelm church in the distance and a Christmas market gathered around it - this was the one, sadly, that was targeted by a terrorist attack when we visited in December 2016. This area was busy with people and it was a pleasant walk to the main shopping street. We passed several beautiful shops and saw the other Rheinhard's, a sister restaurant to the one in the Nikolai quarter, on the corner. We'd looked at the menu here but it was tremendously expensive and we would have needed to take a taxi or Uber to get there, adding to the cost.

We found the Literaturhaus, once a private residence, and went in. The bookshop was in the basement and the café on the first floor.

The place was already busy with people having breakfast and drinking coffee. We love how some of the entrance doors in Berlin have heavy curtains behind them, presumably to stop icy draughts from coming into the building. Today certainly wasn't icy, and we were delighted to see blue sky and sunshine.

We were asked if we had a reservation - we hadn't made one - but the young lady serving quickly found us a table in an imposing room with huge paintings on the wall. As we'd had breakfast already, we weren't interested in a meal but we ordered coffee and a muffin. Keith was feeling a bit queasy (too many whiskies last night?) so he stuck to bottled water, which we all welcomed! I made the classic mistake of ordering an Americano coffee without milk, but it was delicious nonetheless! The muffins were also lovely and still warm. Yum!

I wasn't expecting to see Douglas Kennedy (he visits and sits and writes, apparently) but the café was full of learned types who looked as if they were heavily into culture and all things intelligent. The two women on the next table were very demanding of our lovely waitress who put up with their imperious questions superbly, and we gave her a good tip to thank her for her service.

It was lovely to sit and relax in the beautiful surroundings and after we'd paid the bill we went to the bookshop. There were no titles by Douglas Kennedy (do they know he visits, I wonder?) but Keith bought a book to read as he had forgotten the one he was reading at home.

Reluctantly, we left and walked back to an underground station we'd passed, but which was on a different line. We bought another 24-hour ticket and took the train to Wittenburgplatz, a beautiful old station opposite KaDeWe.

Firmly in West Berlin!

We were now firmly in West Berlin and we decided to visit Berlin's equivalent of Harrods, KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westerns). Sophie wanted to treat herself to a couple of Mac lipsticks and also wanted to get her new man a present. We went right up to the sixth floor first to find somewhere Keith could sit while we shopped. Up another escalator was the Wintergarten and we found a quiet area for Keith to relax for a while.

KaDeWe was exceptionally busy and very, very hot. I felt uncomfortable even in the top I was wearing without my winter coat! We went down to the toy department and Sophie bought Lego figures for her beau, before we ventured all the way down to the ground floor and the cosmetics department. Here, it was even busier as people clamoured around the make-up stands. One family were dominating the Mac stand and the son bought make-up for his mum which cost over 200 euros! Blimey!

Sophie chose her lipsticks, she paid for them and then we made our way back up to Keith. I was going to get some chocolates for my Mum, but the temperature of the building was so uncomfortable I couldn't face trawling around in the heat! If they had lowered it by about five degrees they could have saved money and made it more comfortable!

Keith was reading his new book and looked relaxed, so we used the nearby facilities and then left, as the area we were sitting in was attached to a bar and the drinks prices were exorbitant!

Lovely bar, with prices to match!

We took the U2 line again to Stadtmitte, as we wanted to visit the Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt. When we emerged from the station, we hadn't a clue as to how to get to the market and the whole of the area was undergoing construction work. After wandering around for a while, we learned that because of the work going on, the Christmas market was located in Babelmarkt instead, which was only a short walk away.

The Gendarmenmarkt market seemed to be a lot posher than the one situated near the Neptune fountain, and all the stalls had white pointed roofs. We fancied a drink so we dived into a large tent and found a table in a crowded area. They only did platters of meat and cheese or cakes, so we ordered beers and decided to eat currywurst at one of the many stalls outside.

The beer was very welcome, and before we'd finished our drinks, Sophie and I went to have a look at the stalls inside the tent. There were lots of different things for sale but sadly no rings for Sophie. Some of the prices were very high, and the stalls were a lot different to the other market we'd visited.

Give us the grub!

We made our way back to Keith, finished our beers and went off in search of food. Lots of people were drinking Gluhwein and eating sausages in buns, but we wanted currywurst... and we found it! Another huge tent was warm and crowded with people eating and drinking. Keith sat down at a long bench and Sophie and I ordered currywurst with fried potatoes. Delicious!

There was a lovely atmosphere in the tent and behind us was a big spit holding pork knuckles. The choice of food was astounding... as long as you like pork!

After we'd eaten we wandered around and looked at the stalls.

Lovely Christmas decorations

Berliner bear

Sophie bought two beautiful decorations - a gorgeous Christmas tree and a crescent-shaped moon for her room.

For our Scandi tree

From Gendarmenmarkt we decided to walk back to the hotel, passing the Humboldt Forum on the way. We walked up Unter Den Linden amongst crowds of tourists and noticed a bus stop with transport going to Alexanderplatz, so we decided to take the bus and ease the work for our feet! We didn't have long to wait and soon boarded a bus for two stops, getting off at the Neptune fountain market so Sophie could have another look for a ring. Nobody asked us to show our tickets and nobody, over the course of four days, ever asked us to produce proof we'd paid!

It was even busier than Tuesday and after a circuit with no luck on the jewellery front, we decided to call it a day. We walked back through the Nikolai quarter and tried in vain to book a table at Mutter Hoppe (no) and Zur Gerichtslaube (no). We attempted to book a table at the KaffeeStube restaurant and we were ignored by the horrible chef who, when eventually deigning to notice us, said the kitchen closed at 8pm. He was so rude that we told him to forget it and booked Ephraim's instead.

Back at the hotel, it was definitely time for a nap, but Keith and I were woken by loud firecrackers being let off. Well, we think they were firecrackers but they could have been gunshots! This continued to happen for the rest of the late afternoon and evening, so the residents of Berlin were evidently getting ready for New Year's Eve!

Homely dining.

After showering and getting ready for dinner, we went down to the bar and I enjoyed a couple of Negronis. Sophie had a Moscow Mule and then a special Chrizz invention - Herbalicious. All the drinks were delicious but Keith stuck with his trusty beer!

We enjoyed our cocktails and then walked the short distance to Ephraim's, just over the other side of the busy road and right next to the river. We had eaten here once before, ages ago, and it's like dining in someone's house. It was very cosy and inviting and I remembered, as we were perusing the menu, that they don't accept any form of card payment, just cash... this caused us a little alarm as we had about 170 euros in cash on us - perfectly sufficient for the meal, but we wanted to have some leftover for tomorrow, and we knew we'd have to put any drinks after dinner on our room.

We were seated in what looked like an old-fashioned living room with net curtains at the windows and lovely Christmas decorations. A table in front of us was set for ten, with some of the seats being squishy sofas. It's definitely a quirky place!

One of my favourite dark beers - Kostritzer

We skipped starters, Keith and Sophie drank beer while I had my first glass of wine of the holiday, a carafe of Riesling. Sophie and I chose the pork loin with mushroom sauce and potatoes, while Keith opted for the beef roulade. The food was lovely and very filling, so we were glad we'd skipped the starters! 

The party of ten arrived, a group of French women, some of whom we'd seen in the hotel bar earlier. We were fascinated by them and their connection? University friends? Work colleagues? We'll never know! As we hadn't eaten too many sweet things we opted for dessert tonight - apple strudel for me, blueberry and chocolate pancakes for Sophie, and a marzipan confection for Keith.

The meal had been lovely and the staff very friendly and efficient. We paid the bill (about 80 euros) and had a slow walk back across the road to the hotel. We took our places at the bar but this time I struck to a gorgeous Chrizz mocktail called Buttermilk Fresh, while Sophie had a White Russian and then a Brandy Alexander. Keith, not wishing to have whisky because of our long day tomorrow, had a glass of wine, which I finished for him!

Creamy and delicious!

Tomorrow, we're homeward bound and it's going to be a long day!