I have split today into two, as we managed to pack so much in! The first half will be the flea market and lunch at the Literatur Café, while the second half will be the concert at Waldbühne and dinner in Hackescher Markt.
Flea market Sunday
We both slept well, and it was great to make a lovely coffee in our room. We were showered and dressed by 9:30am, and walked the short distance to the bakery that we had eaten breakfast in when we visited in December. This time, though, we didn't have the enormous breakfasts we had before! A coffee and an almond croissant were enough!
We sat and enjoyed our breakfast inside, but the folding doors were open. It was a gorgeous day, and we were keeping our fingers crossed about the concert this evening as the venue was outdoors! From the bakery, we took the U2 line to Eberswalder Strasse and then walked to the Mauer Park, situated in Prenzlauer Berg. The walk took us through a pleasant residential district with apartment blocks, cafés, and restaurants. It was now quite warm, and at first we couldn't find the entrance to the park. It seemed to be fenced off! We noticed a huge arena advertising lots of well-known bands, and finally, after walking around the perimeter of the arena, we saw the flea market in the distance.
The first thing we needed was a sit-down and some water. Sophie spotted a stand selling drinks and said, "Ooh! Aperol Spritz!" But I said we needed to drink water to keep hydrated. She listened to me for once, and we both drank half a litre of still water while sitting in the shade of a tree. After this, she felt a lot better as her cold had been troubling her while we had been walking.
We both now felt ready to do justice to the enormous variety of goods for sale in the flea market. The park used to be a no-man's land when the Berlin Wall was standing, and it was inaccessible between 1961 and 1989. Now, it's an enormously popular Sunday market selling everything from new clothes, secondhand clothes, jewellery, art and food, to small-batch gins and vodkas, posters and antiques.
Sophie found a beautiful ring that fitted her thumb perfectly, so that's all of her fingers taken care of. She's moving onto toes next!
It was lovely to wander around and look at all the different things for sale. We both loved the antique stands, and Sophie bought two old postcards to take home with her. It was a good job we were flying home and not driving, as more items would have been purchased!
As is usual for Berlin, we found some stalls with more edgier items for sale, such as posters like these:
Nearby was a stand that had us wondering...
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| I couldn't see any donkeys about... |
Sophie spotted a stand selling T-shirts and bought one with a cat in a plant pot on the front. She was enjoying herself immensely! We bought another bottle of water to keep us going and resumed our wanderings. Sophie used the immaculate loos and paid 50c, but thought this was a bargain as they were so clean!
The time was getting on, so we left and made our way back to the U-Bahn station via a different route. Sophie said she needed the loo, so we stopped at the first restaurant we came to, a Vietnamese eaterie called Chay35. We asked if we could have just a drink, and they were more than happy to accommodate us. Sophie ordered a glass of white wine while I had a "Han Noi" smoothie with mango and coconut milk.
It was very pleasant to sit outside and rest our weary feet! I had inserted the heel lifts into my trainers, and they had taken away the pain in my left heel, so I was very relieved! I dread to think how much pain I'd have been in by now without the inserts! We were tempted to order some food, but we had a lunch booking at the Literatur Café, and we didn't want to spoil our appetites!
Dedicated people watching!
After resting for about forty-five minutes and using the facilities again, we walked back to the U-Bahn station and rode the underground to the Märkisches Museum stop. We both needed to freshen up a little before having lunch, so we went up to our rooms and cooled down for ten minutes!
The last time we had visited the beautiful Literatur Café, it had been the depths of winter with a layer of dangerous black ice on the pavements and roads. It had grown a little cloudy while we were in the hotel, but it was still warm, and we took the U2 line to Theodor-Heuss-Platz. From the station, we crossed a small park (the last time we walked on the grass to avoid slipping over) and a couple of roads before heading down through a quiet residential area. To our left were exhibition halls and tennis courts, and we soon arrived at the entrance. It was still lovely and quiet, and we were shown to a reserved table on the terrace.
A few other tables were occupied; opposite were three men who looked dodgy to me, and were doing some kind of business deal in English, an Asian couple next to us were completely engrossed in their laptops with a pot of tea between them, and another two men were enjoying a quiet lunch. They were still there when we left, a lot later!
The terrace of the Literatur Café is the kind of place that induces a feeling of calm. We looked at the menu, and we both decided to have sandwiches. Sophie had a coronation chicken filling in hers, while I opted for a crusty baguette with serrano ham, salad and egg. We shared a bowl of crunchy French fries. For drinks, I chose a beer, while Sophie enjoyed a Campari and orange juice. It was heaven to sit and relax after our busy morning!
We both indulged in people-watching, and the terrace began to fill up with guests. An older couple arrived and were asked to move tables as the one they had chosen was reserved. They must have been in their early 80s, and the man chain-smoked cigarettes, even when his wife was eating! I said to Sophie that they were both most likely war babies, born around the early 1940s, like my Dad. This then made me think of the song "War Baby" by Tom Robinson, and it was in my head all afternoon.
However, if I thought the couple were old, the two women who came in next made them look like teenagers! I was utterly fascinated by them both... They sat opposite me, and one of the women pulled her chair around so I couldn't see her properly. They both wore hats and scruffy clothes, and when they were finally settled, one of the women took out a sheaf of papers, and I swear they were court papers, as in a court case. She then took out a newspaper cutting with a page highlighted, and I would have given my right arm to have sat with them and chatted about their lives!
They may have been too young to have been involved in the war (I hazarded a guess at late 80s), but even if they had been in their early 90s, they still wouldn't have been old enough to have had active roles in the Second World War. My guess was that they were lesbian lovers (although I would have settled for sisters) and had been active in the Stasi in the 1960s.
We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard.
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| You can see the two women in the background |
As the women were perusing the menu, fat drops of rain began to fall, and one of the women immediately got up and went inside, leaving her companion to struggle up by herself! Bugger! The staff set the awning in motion so it covered us, but the drops of rain didn't last, and it soon stopped.
We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard. We could have stayed forever, but the time was marching on, and we had a bus and a train to catch to see Ben!
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