I never sleep well in hotels (it's one of the reasons we always rent an Airbnb house) and last night was no exception. I awoke after a patchy night's sleep with a sore throat and a stuffed-up nose, and didn't dare look in the mirror at my reflection! I don't think the constant dry heat in the room helped. We never have the heating on all night at home and in the end, we had to resort to using a fan and opening both windows to cool down the room a little!
I made myself a coffee and joined Keith at the window to watch the comings and goings of Berliners as they went about their business. We were intrigued by one woman who was washing her car down with a little cloth while holding a shopping bag! She was very thorough and went all over the car, cleaning the windows and even the wheels with the little cloth! When she finally finished, she crossed the road and disappeared into an apartment block!
After showers, we took the train on the U2 line to Potsdamer Platz. The 24-hour tickets we bought yesterday were still valid and it was a short trip to the busy station. We emerged into Potsdamer Platz, and, as always, it took us a few minutes to get our bearings. Work was going on constructing the Christmas market here, and we saw a large winter slide that Mike went down once, years ago. We wanted somewhere for breakfast and coffee and soon spotted a sign that looked promising.
We were annoyed that our hotel was charging 24 euros for breakfast - in fact, this was just one of the issues we had with the hotel this time! Three breakfasts at 24 euros over the two days would work out to be 144 euros! For a buffet breakfast! It was outrageous!
We walked to the lovely Maxim's where a friendly waitress took our orders for coffee and croissants. Gentle piano music was playing in the background and the café was cosy and inviting. Just what we wanted, without the price tag! Outside, the weather was grey and overcast again with a slight drizzle in the air. We sat and enjoyed our croissants and coffee - my flat white was on par with Costa's!
As I said yesterday, the itinerary had taken a bit of a bashing, but we decided to visit The Topography of Terrors this morning as Sophie had never been and it was a short walk away. We paid the bill (less than the price of one breakfast at the hotel) and walked towards the exhibition, housed in the old headquarters of the Berlin Secret Police.
It was free to enter, and is mostly outdoors so we hoped that it wouldn't rain! The Topography of Terrors recounts the events in Berlin from 1933 to 1945, the rise of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich, and includes lots of photographs and documents from the period.
Behind the exhibition screens is a section of the Berlin Wall, looking even uglier and more menacing in the grey weather we were experiencing!
We walked slowly along, reading the information boards and trying to imagine what it was like living at the time. Parties of schoolchildren and older students arrived but they took little interest in the boards, preferring to muck about and be typical teenagers!
New to us was an indoor centre where you could visit the library, see a film about the period, and have a look at some interior information boards. We were just interested in a hot drink from the charming little café and a sit down at one of the tables! Sophie and I enjoyed a hot chocolate each and shared a small piece of lemon cake.
The building was very new (I don't remember it being there years ago when Keith and I first visited) and very modern with marble floors and sharp lines.
Not 100 beers!
Once we'd used the facilities, we made our way back outside, intending to have lunch at The House of 100 Beers on Kurfurstendamm. There used to be a branch at Potsdamer Platz but that has since closed down, which was a shame as it was a lovely restaurant and close to the shopping mall.
We walked back to the station and saw some kind of protest taking place outside the State Parliament building opposite. We hadn't a clue what was going on, or why they were protesting, but we think it had something to do with a budget cut for the Arts? There were several police cars there, but it was very peaceful!
Back at Potsdamer Platz, we took the U2 line, and then the U7 line to the main shopping street in Berlin, Kurfurstendamm, which is just over 2 miles long. It was a short walk to the restaurant - Das Haus der 100 Biere and we took a seat in the window overlooking a Woolworth's on the other side of the street. I thought they had all gone?
I wanted a dark beer and looked in vain for Kostritzer on the beer menu but it wasn't listed. The first two beers I asked for weren't available (Ha! So there weren't one hundred available then!) and the waiter recommended Lucky Lup which was an IPA made in Berlin at 6.5%. Sophie chose the same as me, and Keith opted for a beer called Drunken Sailor at 6.4%.
The beer was great but it wasn't the dark one I was hankering for! Normally, I think IPAs smell of cats' pee but the Lucky Lup was sweet and refreshing.
We had a look at the menu and Keith and I chose the Hunter's veal escalope, while Sophie went for the normal version. Ours arrived with a chunky mushroom sauce, while Sophie had a cold potato and gherkin salad instead of our fried potatoes mixed with bacon and onions. The food was very good but we each had two big escalopes! Phew!
Next to us was a couple who enjoyed a glass of wine each (and made it last for hours) and we wondered about their relationship. We thought brother and sister, but it was fun to do a little people-watching and also to gaze out of the window and see all the comings and goings on the busy street.
The plan was to get a train back to the Nikolaiviertal and have a mulled wine in one of the cafés there, but Keith was feeling weary, so we ordered an Uber instead. It took a fair while to arrive as the surrounding roads were busy and we waited by a hectic intersection that was crammed with vehicles of all kinds. Our driver was lovely and chatted with us the whole way back, complaining lightheartedly about Berlin drivers and how bad they are! On the way we spotted the street featured in the television programme we've been watching about two houses in London and Berlin, so that was a bonus!
A little exploring.
Back at the hotel, we relaxed for a little while before Sophie and I decided to do a little exploring. I'd always wanted to see what was along the Spreekanal opposite so we put on our coats and boots and set off. We took a muddy path and walked along the quiet canal. To our left were apartments with small gardens and bicycles propped up outside. It was starting to get dark and I loved peering in and seeing how people lived.
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| Another U-Bahn Station near the hotel, Spittelmarkt |
Further along the path we found ourselves on Wallstrasse and saw several restaurants that we had never discovered before! The whole area was busy with people and we saw lots of Mums and small children walking along, so maybe there was a school or nursery nearby.
We decided to head back to the hotel along the busy main road and pop into the supermarket to get Keith a sandwich for later, and a carton of milk for our morning coffee tomorrow.
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| Busy traffic |
Ben in Berlin!
At 6pm, we walked over to the Wall Street Park Plaza for cocktails. This time I chose a "Horse's Neck", which was Bourbon, ginger beer and bitters, while Sophie carried on with the theme and enjoyed a Moscow Mule. Keith settled for beer!
My first drink was lovely, but I switched to an Old Fashioned afterwards, which really hit the spot with a kick of alcohol. Delicious! It was great to sit and chat at the bar, and nibble on salted peanuts, and at 7.30pm Sophie ordered an Uber to take us to the Uber Eats Music Hall. Keith returned to the hotel (he was going to watch Darts on the television). I don't think Sophie was that comfortable with our Uber driver, who was a bit mad, managing to get his Toyota Corolla up to 70 miles an hour at one point on the Berlin city roads. We were both glad when we arrived safe and sound!
There was another venue - the Uber Eats Arena - but I think the Music Hall was slightly smaller. We found our way to the entrance and joined the throngs of people going in. Sophie had a brief panic when she noticed that the tickets had to be printed, but they were scanned successfully on her phone so in we went!
Our seats were on the third floor and we had complimentary wardrobe tickets, which was a bonus. We dropped off our coats and went to get a drink. Sophie chose an Aperol Spritz but I stuck to water as I didn't want to mix my grains and the only mixer they had with whisky was Coke. We sat and had our drinks at tall tables and then, at about 8.45pm, we went in. We were delighted to find our seats on the front row of the gallery and we had a fantastic view of the stage!
Below us was a mass of people who had bought standing tickets and I was so glad we had comfortable seats after all the walking we'd done over the last two days!
Ben came on at just after 9pm and started the show with my favourite song, End of the Affair, my favourite. The lights and scenery were brilliant, and I wondered about the imagery which included photos of flowers, Ben on an escalator and pruning olive? bushes!
Sophie and I couldn't believe that it had been ten years since we'd seen him in Berlin! I estimated that quite a few of the people at the concert tonight probably would have been too young to have seen him last time as they were in their early 20s!
Ben performed all of our favourites, as well as some new tracks that we hadn't heard before and a couple from previous albums. At the end, he chatted away to us, and touched on current subjects which drew a roar from the crowd! The very last song was obviously "I Forgot Where We Were" and right at the end the whole band appeared on the stage with him and bowed to the audience. It was very emotional!
We don't know when we'll get a chance to see him again, but we both hoped it wouldn't be another ten years!
We joined the masses leaving and collected our coats. I took our plastic cups back and obtained a refund for the deposit, and we made our way outside. Our next aim was to get an Uber quickly and we walked to the main thoroughfare, noticing with surprise, that we were opposite The East Side Gallery, a long stretch of the Berlin Wall covered with art. I was certain the entertainment hub wasn't there the last time we visited this area.
There were several taxis lined up but Sophie ordered an Uber and he arrived within about ten minutes. The journey back was smooth and silent, and although both of us felt a bit peckish, it was almost midnight so too late to have anything substantial to eat.
Keith was asleep so we tiptoed about and got ready for bed. It had been a long day but at least we could have a little lie-in in the morning!
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