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~east west past present~ Wednesday, 23rd May 2007 some journeys ~ are just not meant to happen. you buy the travel guide, figure out an itinerary, but then for some reason, you stay at home, or go somewhere else. while other journeys, unplanned, unexpected, just fall into place and take wing.
this morning Inge, Efrat and i boarded a plane to Berlin together, to go on a trip that was induced by one mail, sent a mere 4 weeks ago, reaching me at the shore of Mallorca, just when Inge was back from Jordan. Von: Efrat Do, “how about Berlin ?” i wrote to Inge. and so it happened today: Berlin. with the 10:35 flight. arriving Berlin Schönefeld at 11:40. and then taking the s-train to Schönhauser Allee, where our apartment waited, sweet and sunny, like a gift, perfect for tea and talk, for relaxing and being just there. and then: Berlin city. “try the bus line 100”, the Berlin guide recommended, and that's what we did, catching the bus at Bahnhof Zoo, and then just leaning back and letting the road carry us through the heart of Berlin, along the Street of the 14June, past the new Bundestag with the glass chapel, past the Brandenburger Tor, past the opera house and the museum island, to the Funkturm. close to the Funkturm, we got off the bus, and walked around a bit – in the perfect spot, as we discovered: the Alexanderplatz, this place floating with history, framed by the red town hall and the neptune fountain, by the river Spree, by the Berliner Dome and the museum island. the past and the present, it's both there, wrapped in each other, so intense that it didn't take long until we felt like resting in the park called "Lustgarten" to just breathe the atmosphere in.
sitting there, the idea what to do next crystallized: visiting the Funkturm and having a pre-dinner-snack, in the café 300 meters above the roofs. alas, when we arrived there, we were greeted by a sign that said: “sorry, no tables available”. so now what, we thought, walked out again, and sat down on a bench to stare at the map. it was about seven o'clock. the museums were just closing. on a whim, we decided to go to the Reichstag, to visit the glass dome.
it was perfect timing, we realized when we arrived there. the queue was rather short, as it was dinner time for tour groups. plus there was sunset approaching, adding an ethereal touch the views from the glass chapel that offered a 360°-panorama to the city, to be discovered by walking upwards in spirals that lead to the top platform. after all the glass and views, we ended the day in a great international way: in Halong Bay, a small thai restaurant in Prenzlauerberg, just 2 corners from our apartment, where we had yellow chicken curry and a good-night-drink, still amazed that all turned out like it did: one journey leading to another. more to come. ~~~ |
