September 22 to 23—Dusseldorf to Berlin, A Capital Train Journey

Dear Family and Friends,

Saturday, September 22, we headed out for the capital city of Berlin, Germany! We sprang out of bed to enjoy the yummy buffet breakfast and then to repack. As a backpacker, even a short stay can require 30 minutes of repacking (if you’re Dani, adds Martha). Soon, we were within an hour of check-out, well-fed, and about ready to go … except for one, very exciting, very important errand.

On last night’s walk home, Martha saw a pair of shoes in a store window that looked just about perfect for her: a mixture of brown and black to go with every outfit, sneaker-types without being the All-American white running shoe, and reasonably priced at less than 20 euro! When we arrived at the shoe store, already bustling with customers pre-noontime, we looked up and down the aisles for the pair that was in the window. Finally, we pulled aside one of the women who worked in the store and asked her if she spoke English. A look of terror came upon her face, and she said, “a little.” We smiled and let her know we were patient, were sorry for not knowing her language, and that we’d try to make this easy for her. Aftar all, we’re good at pointing!

Sadness, the store no longer had the shoes that Martha pointed to in the window, so she found another pair that would work just as well, pointing to the size of her feet in European sizing (38, btw), and picking out a second pair to try on just in case. Both fit well, but one was more stylish and one was more comfortable than the other; Martha had to decide, and chose the lovely-looking leather sneaker type that seemed to better fit to her foot.

We ran back to the hotel, threw away her old brown Timberlands that had served her well for a couple of years. They were completely worn through on the soles, and it was time to let them go. Onward! We asked the helpful front desk man how to get to the central station—it was just a quick ten minute walk up and to the right. Out we went, packs on, energized, and happy with new German shoes that made Martha feels like a new woman! We don’t get as many looks here as we did in Asia for carrying large packs, so it was easy to make our way along ‘undetected.’ Certainly, nobody has laughed at us for walking farther distances with the heavy packs, which was a routine occurrence in Asia, especially from folks in Bangkok.


We stopped once to look at the map to confirm we were headed in the right direction as Dani understood it. Yup, she’s right! At the ticket counter, we stood in line to talk with the woman behind the desk, who spoke some English to facilitate our budding German skills. Did we want to take the 11:55 AM train to Berlin? No, I don’t think we will make that in less than 10 minutes. So, we decided on the 12:55 PM ride, giving us one hour and five minutes to wait.

To the platform, we found that the 11:55 AM train was still there—we could have made it! The extra time meant Dani could buy Coca Cola Light (known to folks in the states as Diet Coke), an apple, and a yogurt drink before returning to the platform where Martha was sitting with the bags. Figuring out the systems of other countries is always a fun adventure: First, we ended up in the plush, comfy seats of First Class and had to move with our packs and bags when the ticket-checking lady came through. Then, we ended up in seats that had been reserved by other people. We had not splurged on paying three extra euro to make seat reservations, but how did we know where to sit? We moved seats once again and asked the ticket man who came through next if we could sit in those seats. “No.”

As we were finally figuring out that the luggage rack contained not only the seat number, but some had town names (eg, Hamburg–Berlin) ... so that might mean the seat was reserved between the towns of Hamburg and Berlin, a local stepped in to ensure we would be fine. In great English, he asked first if he could give us some advice. “Yes, please!”

“Above each seat is an electronic sign. If it has the name of a town to another destination, then it’s reserved. If it’s blank, then you can sit there without a reservation.” Thank you, Mister Guy! We confidently chose two seats without names on them, and settled in. The max speed of the train was 251 KM/HR as it whizzed through the open countryside. We arrived in Berlin at 3:15 PM. Stepping off the train, I was instantly taken with a couple in a loving embrace, kissing out in the open! What a shock to be back to the openly-affectionate lifestyle of the Europeans after having been in hands-holding only Asia!

With directions to our night’s pension in hand, we made our way downtown on the underground, surrounded upon embarking by a group of friends drinking and loudly enjoying their Saturday afternoon break. As we disembarked from the metro and made our way towards the street, we encountered a couple walking towards the metro station below; at first, Martha thought that the woman’s trouble breathing was an asthma attack, so she offered her inhaler. The woman’s gentleman motioned and spoke in German, but we didn’t know how to help. Finally, someone else who understood stepped in and grabbed the lady’s arm, helping her to the floor before her epileptic seizure began. We felt so helpless to be unable to help, and vowed to work on our German skills in the coming weeks.

A bit shaken, we took some wrong turns on our way to the hotel, Pension Dafna, where we checked into Room #8, which was so spacious after the cramped rooms of hotels in Asia. We had four nights booked at this hotel (until 26 Sept, when they were full and we would need to find another place to stay), so got settled with our things, ‘made ourselves at home,’ and opening the window to a little balcony overlooking the street below. The room had a television, desk for our computer work, two beds, a bathroom with shower, wardrobe, and tall ceilings.

Ready to explore a bit of the city, we headed to a tapas place recommended in the LP along the Savignyplatz. It had a neat set-up, where you could go inside to grab soup and salad, and after the restaurant became more crowded, they would send someone around with a platter full of the tapas options and you could pick whatever looked good to you! Not quite able to wait long enough for the crowd to gather, we went ahead and got soup and salad, and then ordered from the menu after the kind patron explained our options to us. Veggie filled pastry with pumpkin and a cream sauce, veggie curry with potato, and a potato pancake topped with fish. We enjoyed the experience and a little conversation with a couple of older guys from Florida who were spending time with a friend in town for a week on their holiday. Our walk back to the pension gave us a nice taste of this residential section of Berlin, with its tall six-story buildings and pretty parks spaces.

Sunday, September 23, we enjoyed our first full day in Berlin by taking a long stroll in ‘our neighborhood.’ We found where the laundromat was located, stopped in for a couple of pastries covered with berries, and marveled at the tall buildings as we walked and walked. We love the feeling of being in Germany, so clean and orderly. Even when there is no traffic, they wait for the little green walking man to tell them it’s okay to cross. Down for a while in one direction, back around towards home, weaving in and out of the streets.

As the afternoon wore on, we found ourselves at the Rathaus (town hall), at a Sunday market. The square stretched from the front around the side of the hall and was packed with vendors selling second hand clothes, books, records, knick knacks, dishes, and treasures to somebody. Dani bought a French-language book for Maddie, her best friend’s little daughter. Across from the Rathaus, we stopped for a doner lunch as we continued to struggle with the inflated prices here in comparison to food in Asia by avoiding even five-plus euro meals at other eateries.

As our feet tired, we walked back to the hotel for a siesta and some much-needed Internet time before heading out to dinner at another of the guidebook-recommended places. Along the way, we passed and took photos of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was bombed during the war and has been left in its broken state as a reminder to the people. We spent a few minutes with one of the Berlin Bears (similar to the artist-painted buffaloes in Buffalo, NY, and cows in New York City) that stood outside of the Mensa building, pretending to be brilliant for a bit. And, of course we got lost, finally finding the restaurant pretty late in the evening, close to 10:00 PM. The waiter was lovely, encouraging us to speak German; dinner was just as wonderful. Martha enjoyed a tortellini with spinach sauce to die for and Dani enjoyed gobbled up her pasta made of spinach with a fried cheese topping and a little salad on the side. We have found the German custom of tipping difficult: you get the bill, give the waiter your money and tell them right then what change you want back with them keeping the rest. Doing math that quickly is just not always easy, especially since we are never sure the percentage of tip that is appropriate! It was rather late by the time we were done eating outside, enjoying the cool air still and people watching. We had originally intended to go to a club recommended by the nice folks from the restaurant the night before, but by the time we were done with dinner, we decided to simply enjoy the half-hour walk home.

In love and light,

Martha and Dani