Saturday

Our day started early as I had booked entrance into the Reichstag for 8:15. Luckily for us it was a short walk from the hotel. The Reichstag is the German Parliament and they make security a serious matter, very serious! Upon entering single file we had to produce photo ID. Our passports were at the hotel so Oregon driver's licenses were satisfactory. The usual airport security followed. We were led as a group up the staircase and through the first door which promptly closed behind us while the next door remained closed. Although the doors were large, modern, and glass, the thought of gas oozing into the enclosure did shamefully cross both our minds. Once released Mike and I were free to wander up the circular ramp to the top of the glass dome, with our audio guides starting and stopping automatically as we strolled. The original building, mostly destroyed at the end of WW II, was rebuilt and the dome added by Norman Foster. The center of the dome is open so that visitors can view the workings of their government. The intent being no more secrecy.

It was still mid morning as we walked through the Tiergarten to the Siegessaule, known to us English speakers as the Victory Column. Once located next to the Reichstag, Hitler had it moved for reasons only he understood. For a small fee we were allowed to climb the circular staircase, 285 steps, for a great view of the city. Victoria, a 35 ton statue atop the column, is covered in gold. Having one of our few sunny moments the glare made me wish for sunglasses.

Taking the long route, that seems to be our style, we went in search of the Neue Synagogue. Seen from afar it has an impressive gold dome. How far could it be to find it? Surely when we got close it would be obvious. Finally we stopped and asked a policeman who politely told us to go to the next corner and look to the right. The dome sits atop a building in the middle of the block. The dome and two security policemen were all there was to see.

All I have to say about lunch is that Mike made a new best friend!

We looked down from our hotel room window to a large restaurant with outside tables at an angle across the street. It took a few minutes to realise that despite Bar & Brasserie emblazoned across the front in large letters it was actually an Indian restaurant. Nevertheless, we decided to go and check it out. Down at street level as we crossed the road, we could hear someone shouting over and over "Abend" (which we understood) and what sounded like "Lekka, Lekka" (which we did not), and discovered it was one of the staff out front acting like a fairground barker to drum up business from passers by on both sides of the street and emerging from a subway exit. We sat at an outside table and soon realised that several people on surrounding tables were smokers. By the time we left we had discovered they were mostly chain smokers. We ordered a bottle of wine while we looked through the menu, the barker barked and the smokers smoked. Eventually a waiter took our order on a notepad, then dictated it to another waiter who had appeared beside him with an electronic gizmo the size of a calculator. Gizmo-guy read our order back to us. The first waiter opened our wine with a bit of difficulty, under the scrutiny of the barker who continued yelling "Abend, Lekka, Lekka" at high volume right beside us, holding two menus to his mouth to direct the noise! Wine sampled, starter delivered and eaten, then our main courses arrived minus the garlic naan bread. We started eating whilst trying to get the waiters attention. We reminded him of the naan, and got the response "it's coming, it's coming". Five minutes later we called him back and went round the same circle. Another five minutes later, with our plates gradually emptying, we called the barker over and said we wanted our nan with our meal not afterwards. Our original gizmo-guy returned to apologise again, then tried to grab one of two naan orders another waiter was delivering to a different table. A mini-squabble ensued, gizmo-guy lost and disappeared again, only to reappear almost immediately with our order and telling us "the kitchen lost the paper order slip three times". We were unconvinced, but continued our meal as something looking like a milkshake full of ice cubes was brought to a table near us. Not long after, a large tray of bright-coloured drinks arrived for four women beside us, each glass having either flags, ribbons or parrots on sticks poking out of them. We were fascinated to see several more similar trays of drinks on their way to other tables of the large restaurant. The older man near us who had had the ice cube milk shake continued chain smoking, ignored his food (and his wife), and had an orange-red drink to follow with a plastic parrot sticking out of it. His food was eventually taken away uneaten. We finished our food, asked for the bill so we could escape from the smoke and were given a glass of rum each as an apology for the poor service.

Back in our room, our German dictionary revealed that "Lekka" was actually "lecker" meaning tasty or delicious. It didn't mention chain smoking or drinks with plastic parrots.

We went out one more time to visit the monument to the Jewish people lost under the Nazi government. I found it quite moving. As the day goes on the changing light produces new shadows that change completely the view. People are asked to not walk, run, or jump from one large cement slab to the next. I told a number of people to show proper request and then we had to leave We had to leave when my school teach self had the urge to physically yank them off the blocks.

 

 

 

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