Willkommen in Berlin from foot and boat

Monday, May 27, 2019, Berlin--We arrived in Berlin on Easyjet from Montpellier on Saturday.  Easyjet is a flying bus.  Cramped and uncomfortable, but surprisingly cheap.  However, due to delays, we admitted that the next time we travel any distance in Europe we will do it by train.  Longer, certainly, by several hours from the South of France to the North of Germany, but much more comfortable!

Getting from the airport to the hotel was easy, despite no Metro to Tegel airport.  We are in a beautiful hotel, the Art'otel, in Mitte, behind what was the wall, about 100 meters or yards, depending on where you read this, from the canal around the Museum Island, and across the street from a U-bahn station.

We had dinner Saturday night at a place called Verona, an Italian red-sauce place, overlooking this canal.  Pleasant, with a nice riesling.  We did not eat from the "Italian" menu, which was mostly pastas and pizzas, but had their spätzl, Ben with mushrooms and John with bacon and spinach.  It was a bit overdone, but very acceptable.  We walked around the canal and headed off to bed.

Yesterday we tour-boated for several miles on the Spree and walked over 5 miles (over 12,000 steps on my i-phone).  The boat was lots of fun, not crowded and gives a chance to see the architecture that's developed in this city that was totally demolished in war just 74 years ago.  The architecture takes advantage of the flatness of the city, rising dramatically with overhanging floors that increase the views from the windows.  There are bits and pieces of old architecture around, like the bridge that may have been rebuilt, the ruins of the Reichstag now rebuilt, and the occasional structure that withstood the bombings.

The happy couple

Holocaust Memorial

On Unter den Linden,
almost bare

We walked through the Tiergarten, by the Reichstag, then to the Brandenburg Gate, where a demonstrator was showing his all but a little bit, by the monument to the Holocaust, which is most impressive and fascinating in how it draws you into the horror of the many monoliths that make it up. Then we headed through Potsdammer Platz, hoping to catch a boat home, but missing it by minutes.  So we ended up riding upstairs on a double-decker bus back to Mitte.

Berlin, like many imperial cities, has massive boulevards, designed by long-dead designers of long-dead kaisers, blocky formal buildings, but soaring modern ones too.

We ate at the hotel, hoping for a marvelous asparagus dinner--since it is the time of the Spargl Festival.  The meal was good, though the asparagus soup for Ben and the asparagus strawberry salad for John had little taste of asparagus.  The white, huge, asparagus for the main course was excellent, coupled with nicely broiled salmon for Ben and some local excellent ham for John.   We joined this with a local pinot gris that went well with the meal.

This morning we were up for breakfast of excellent smoked fish, yoghurt, fruit, croissants and eggs.  A good bit of sliced tomato and cucumber rounded off a fairly healthy meal.   Yesterday we avoided lunch and probably will do the same today as we head off. 

Bears are the city's mascot