With Half Power through Berlin
By Lothar. Filed in Germany |
Today, we are traveling on ICE 845 from Koeln Deutz to Berlin Ostbahnhof. Gabi is still coughing and can barely use her hoarse voice. She should have stayed in bed, but her sense of duty will not let her leave her students without their leader.
We leave Cologne at 7:30, and Gabi is sleeping, while our train makes a stop in Bielefeld, Gabi’s birth place.
We pull into Berlin Ostbahnhof at 12:30. It is overcast and rainy, and we only have a 10 minute walk to our A&O Hostel. Gabi goes to bed and I have my marching orders. Joe, Todd and I take our students to Kuerfuerstendamm and the museum “The Story of Berlin”. There is no time for lunch, and I have a quick Knackwurst mit Broetchen from a supermarket. Lunch cost me 2 Euros! The students have assignment sheets with questions, regarding the different periods in history, displayed in the museum. They are running around the history exhibits, trying to find the answers. It makes them focus on a few highlights. Later in the afternoon, we take the S-Bahn from Savignyplatz to Warschauer Strasse. We walk in the rain along the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall which has been newly painted with colorful art work and peace messages.
For dinner, we go to “Zur Nolle” restaurant in the U-Bahn station Friedrichstrasse. The kids enjoy a good dinner and some have a Berliner specialty: Boulette. This is a big ground beef patty,topped either with a fried egg or with champignon sauce.
Art-Deco wall paintings, marble, glass, leather and artificial palm trees create an exotic atmosphere in this historic restaurant, located beneath the train tracks. 100 years ago, the first Berlin beer hall was established here in this S-Bahn arch.
After a long day, we head back to the hostel. The kids have the rest of the evening off, while Gabi and I collapse onto our single beds. We have to be up early in the morning, so that we can beat the crowds at the Reichstag visitor entrance.