Three days in Berlin...

Tuesday 2 November and a bad choice for breakfast...

We were able to get a really good deal on our hotel room, but it didn't include breakfast which was a pricey 14 euros so we went off to Alexanderplatz for our first meal of the day. Before we did that, though, we bought day tickets for the trains as we were planning to go to Treptower Park to see a little bit of Russia.

We went for breakfast at a restaurant right underneath one of the tallest hotels in Berlin, the Park Inn. Last year we'd taken my parents there for a snack after we arrived in Berlin and the food was good. We chose fried eggs, bacon and toast and coffee and hoped that it would set us up for the day. We were sadly mistaken. A small square plate arrived with two eggs, two strips of Slimmer of the Year bacon and the smallest slice of toast I've ever seen in my life. Bizarrely, this was adorned with slices of orange, cucumber and a couple of leaves of lettuce! For this we paid the princely sum of 7 euros! Bah!!! Next time, hold the awful garnish and give us some more toast!!!

A little bit of Russia in Berlin

Feeling disappointed we made for the station and the puzzle of the day: how to get to Treptower Park. It turned out to be very tricky! On the timetables there was no mention of the station we wanted so we assumed that we had to go to another station and change. But which one? We tried the old East Berlin station first, Ostbahnhoff, but this was wrong. We then took the train back to Alexanderplatz and examined the timetables again, picking an underground station near to Treptower Park. Luckily it was the right choice and within half an hour we were in the park and looking for the Soviet Memorial, erected after the Second World War to commemorate the fallen Soviet soldiers who had died in the battle for Berlin.

Treptower Park is huge and very leafy. There were teams of people out clearing the leaves and the drone of a leaf-blower shattered the peace at the memorial itself. The first sign of the memorial site was a huge arch standing at the head of a long avenue of trees.

 At the end of the long avenue was a statue of a grieving woman, representing the Russian motherland mourning her lost sons.

As we turned we could see two huge structures and in the distance the 35ft high statue of a Russian soldier carrying a child and trampling on the German swastika.

There were very few people about, the weather was grey and misty and it was like how I imagined Soviet Russia to be. We climbed the steps of the huge statue which sits on top of the resting place of 5,000 fallen soldiers and had a look inside at the mural and wreaths of flowers.

Walking slowly back we had a look at the huge stone tablets lining the route which told a story and contained quotes from Stalin himself which I thought were somewhat ironic seeing as he had murdered millions of his own innocent people. Amazingly, there was no graffiti here, something which covers every available surface in the rest of Berlin. The graffiti artists would have had a field day here with all the smooth stone but we did see a Polizei car driving slowly around so maybe they were there to prevent such things happening. We did wonder who maintained the memorial (it had recently been renovated) and how the Germans felt about having such a huge area dedicated to the memory of their enemies.

Stone tablet featuring a carving of Lenin and a quote from Stalin

Next on our list of things to see was the only remaining Watchtower in Berlin and it was nearby (although still a fair walk!). We found it easily, tucked away in a park by the side of a busy road. There were no signs pointing it out and it was closed up until the Spring. The bottom half was covered in graffiti and it looked very forlorn and forgotten about.

Looking on our map we found we were near-ish to a U-Bahn station and so off we went again, our feet aching with all the walking! We were in a rough looking area of Berlin now but we never felt threatened at all and soon we were at the station and yet more flights and flights of stairs! We managed to get back onto the U2 line which we regarded as our local and took the underground to Potsdamer Platz for lunch and a visit to the Topography of Terrors.

Lunch was a much better affair. We chose - strangely enough - a restaurant which boasts 100 beers and enjoyed a large glass of Kostritzer each, a fabulous dark beer that is usually served in our hotel. Although we only wanted a sandwich, we were tempted by the half chicken and chips on the daily menu at just 6,80 euros. The waitress took our order and after a short while placed a steaming bowl of spicy soup in front of us. We looked at each other in surprise but tucked in. It was delicious! Next came the chicken, which clearly had not been on a diet, served with a pile of chips and a generous bowl of salad. We were both stuffed!

Feeling a warm rosy glow, and amazed at the good value compared to breakfast in the morning, we staggered out and walked through the Christmas Market that surrounded the entrance to the shopping mall at Potsdamer Platz. I could smell Gluhwein but I ignored the temptation and we walked the half mile to the Topography of Terrors.

We visited this outdoor exhibition four years ago when we first visited Berlin and it was very scruffy with no English translations at all. Now, however, it looked like a lot of money had been spent on it and it was beautifully laid out with fantastic explanations about the Nazi rise to power and what happened between 1933 and 1945. The exhibition sits on top of the old headquarters of the SS and the Gestapo and there is a long stretch of original wall standing next to it. It was very busy with several groups of schoolchildren but we were so tired by now we felt we couldn't do it justice. To read every banner and have a good walk round would have taken us another hour so we reluctantly retraced our steps back to the underground station and made our weary way back to the hotel for a much needed lie down!

Topography of Terror exhibition

 

 

One of the few remaining sections of the wall

An indulgent evening...

After a much needed rest and a hot shower we decided to eat at the hotel. I joined Keith at the bar and ordered a bottle of the Peek-a-Boo which was delicious. After my second bottle (they were only 25cl!) I fancied a cocktail so I chose a Margarita. Chrizz, our barman, is a real whizz with cocktails and has invented his own to grace the hotel bar menu. My Margarita was delicious and was a perfect aperitif before dinner which was 100% better then the night before. I chose Wiener Schnitzel, one of my favourites, served with crispy potatoes and onions. Keith went for the mixed meat platter and we drank a beautiful bottle of German Dornfelder wine from the Pfalz region. It slipped down very easily and went well with our shared plate of cheeses and bread which followed our main course.

The restaurant was lovely and quiet but the bar was busier so we settled ourselves at a table and I had my promised White Russian, a blend of Vodka, Kahlua and cream. It was so delicious that I had three! As you can appreciate, we staggered off to bed and had a very good night's sleep!