The hunt for breakfast!
We were up, showered, dressed and packed by 10:00am (we'd had a knock on the door just after 8:00am from the maid asking if we were going yet!). We left our luggage at the hotel and set out for breakfast. We'd noticed a new café opposite, so we decided to eat there, and pay one last visit to the Nikolai Quarter afterwards.
However, when we arrived at the café, we noticed they only accepted cash... as we only had 90c on us, I didn't think that would be enough! We had no choice but to cross the road and visit the Nikolai Quarter, and made for a restaurant that Keith and I had eaten at years ago. Tables were set up outside with breakfast menus, so we sat and had a good look, choosing what we were going to have. Another couple were sitting at a table, and we could hear someone moving around inside, along with the clinking of plates and pans.
So, we waited and waited, and nobody came out. I tried to see if the German couple had ordered yet, but it looked like they hadn't, and they were getting annoyed as well. In the end, we gave up and wandered off in search of somewhere else, but the cafés were very thin on the ground, and most places appeared to be closed!
In the end, we reached the very edge of the area and stumbled upon Wild Mathilde. This restaurant was always known to us as the "Boob restaurant" because of the bulbous architectural add-ons on the wall of the building. We had eaten here once when it was a different restaurant, and the service was appalling. Now, it had been taken over by someone else and had morphed into some kind of cocktail bar. I looked at the menu and couldn't believe how many cocktails were listed!
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| It was all very pink! |
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| I don't think Sophie was impressed, and her top clashed with the colour scheme! |
We took our seats at a table, and we were given menus which had been pasted onto pages within old books; we both found this a bit pretentious! We chose an omelette with ham and potatoes and coffee. It was great to sit and watch the comings and goings all around us. The sun was shining, we were looking forward to breakfast... what more could we want? Well, a few more days in Berlin, obviously!
Our breakfast arrived, and the omelettes were huge! They had been cooked and served in a cast-iron dish and were accompanied by a few bits of salad and pickles. My coffee was strong and bitter, so that was disappointing. We were also being assailed by little fluffy things floating in the air. They must have come from some kind of tree, as they were like little dandelion fluff. At one point, it looked like it was snowing; there were so many of them, and one group of four moved inside as they were getting stuck to our clothes and into our food and drinks!
Sophie wasn't at all impressed with the breakfast, and I doubt we'll ever come back to this restaurant! I wonder how long it will last? Will it still be here when we visit again?
After struggling through the meal, I ordered a glass of peach juice (I wanted a smoothie) and a small bottle of water, while Sophie had another coffee. We lingered in our seats, reluctant to leave and start the journey back to the airport.
But time was marching on, and we paid the bill and left. On the way back to the hotel, we had a slight bicker about the best way to get to the airport. I insisted on taking the U-Bahn from Märkisches Museum to Alexanderplatz and then taking the S-Bahn, but Sophie thought it would be better to get an Uber to Jannowitzbrücke and then take the train.
In the end, I won, saying that although I've never been keen on Alexanderplatz, we couldn't visit Berlin without going there, despite it being edgy and a hangout for weirdos! We collected our luggage, walked across to the station, and our journey home began.
Homeward Bound
As is usual, we lost our way at Alexanderplatz, but eventually took a lift up to ground level, and then walked across the large square to the station. It was then up to the platform and the train to the airport. It didn't take long to arrive, and we were lucky to grab two seats. I spent the whole journey staring out of the window, and I wished we were taking a train home. Maybe next time!
We arrived at the airport, checked in our bags and made our way through security easily (I was frisked). In the Duty Free shop, we bought a small bottle of Berliner Luft and then walked to the gate, going through passport control again. It was a lot of faff, if I'm honest!
We had a wait at our gate and then boarded the plane, which was full again. This time, Sophie had someone next to her, and I had a window seat so I could stare out at the clouds. We snoozed or read the short journey away, and all too soon we were approaching Heathrow. I could see towering thunder clouds from the window, and when we were plunged into one, the seatbelt signs came on earlier than normal. Even the cabin crew had to sit down because the turbulence was quite bad. It was quite a rough twenty minutes!
We landed ahead of time, but had to wait for a spot to park. Once parked, we made our way through passport control (very easy) and then baggage reclaim. This was where it all went wrong, and we waited for almost an hour for our suitcases to arrive. This meant we would be hitting the M25 at the height of the rush hour. I was not happy!
Eventually, our bags appeared, and we made our way out to the bus stop, gazing in awe at packets upon packets of cigarettes that had been confiscated in the customs area! Our bus was waiting, but outside, there was torrential rain falling, from the clouds we'd flown through earlier!
The car park was flooded, but thankfully, the rain abated a bit as we made our way onto the congested M25. We had a slow stop-start journey home and arrived at about 7:30pm. Keith was glad to see us, and we ordered an Indian from India 2 Mawsley as all the Chinese takeaways were closed!
It was great to eat our meal and chat to Keith about our travels over the last four days! Back to reality now, though, for a week or so, at least!
