Immediately following class on Thursday, Sam and I grabbed the bus to Madrid. Our flight to Berlin on Friday morning was scheduled particularly early (too early to make the trek from Toledo the morning of), so we set off on a relaxing and fun night in Madrid in advance of our German adventure.
When we finally got to Berlin, we checked into Cat’s Hostel on the advice of pretty much everyone who had ever spent a night in Madrid. It was a pretty amazing place, very high tech and tons of young people. They give you a watch upon checking in that acts as the electronic key to the building, your room, and your locker. We didn’t spend much time at the hostel, though; there was too much to do in Madrid.
After dropping off our stuff, we headed up to Chueca, a more alternative neighborhood of Madrid than the ones we had frequented so far. Before leaving Toledo, I made reservations at Al-Jaima, a Mediterranean restaurant that got good reviews in Let’s Go. Unfortunately, because it’s Spain and they eat LATE, the first reservations I could get were for 11:15. So, in the interim, we found a nice little bar to settle down at, and had a few beers to tide us over. Because it was pouring all night, the bar was kind of empty, and we ended up just chatting with the bartenders about Madrid and the different neighborhoods and feels of the city.
Finally the rain let up, and we headed to the restaurant. We had some great hummus, lamb with cilantro, and couscous with chicken and vegetables, and it was very refreshing not to eat Spanish food. We also split a bottle of wine, and coupled with the beers from earlier, Sam and I found ourselves pretty drunk. After dinner, we hit one more bar before crashing back at the hostel.
Friday morning, we woke up at 6:30 and were out the door of the hostel around 7. Unfortunately, we underestimated how long the Metro ride to the airport is, and found ourselves finally getting to the airport at 8. Our flight was scheduled for 8:55, and the Metro goes to a different terminal than our flight flew out of. We decided to take a taxi to the correct terminal instead of waiting for the inter-terminal bus (Terminal 4, the new terminal, is a good 7 minute drive from 1-3), and got to the electronic check-in kiosks. Swipe a credit card, punch in last name, wait, wait, “this flight is closed.” Shit.
We went over to the ticket counter and pleaded our case, and somehow the ticketing agent finagled us onto the flight. She had to handwrite us some boarding cards, sketchy, we fought our way through the security line, and we got to the gate at 8:35. Fortunately, Spain is never on time, and boarding was just starting. After getting to my seat, I napped on and off for the two and a half hour flight.
Oh, Berlin. Walking outside, I saw my breath for the first time since last winter in Chicago. We got on the bus that connected the airport to the U-bahn (metro), and I was mesmerized by the ride. Outside, trees were changing colors, trams were whisking past, BMWs and Mercedes filled the streets, and the Germans were all quite nice to look at. We switched to the U-bahn, where I was surprised to find that it operates on the honor system. No turnstyles, just the threat of a 40 euro fine if you’re caught without a validated ticket. I was also surprised to find that it is commonplace to ride the U-bahn with your dogs. We soon arrived at our hostel in Mitte, the central/downtown area of the city. Our hostel was really nice, about the same caliber as the amazing hostel Danny, Julie and I stayed at in Amsterdam, but at about a third the cost. The six-bed room was big enough for 12 beds, and had a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a huge courtyard.
I didn’t want to sit around in the hostel, though, so after making my bed I hurried Sam along in her primping and we starting wandering the city. The city reminded me very much of Amsterdam, but without a redlight district filled with sin and with far fewer (ie no) people offering drugs. We crossed the River Spree, hung out in a few parks, grabbed some coffee, shopped at the Berlin Store (I got a cheap pair of gloves), and explored a lot of Mitte. At around 4, I suggested to Sam that we find a bar and get some beer and German fare, and she was game.
We eventually settled on a corner bar/cafe/restaurant with reasonable prices and a great ambiance. The tables each had a little votive, the lighting was low but not dingy, and the smell wafting from the kitchen was incredible. “Sprechen sie Englisch?” I asked. The waitress did, and we ordered a pair of weiss beers and a plate of spätzel. The beer was the best beer I’ve ever had, sweet with a nice tanginess, and the spätzel was fantastic and buttery. I ended up drinking a liter of beer, journaled a bit, and talked with Sam for close to two hours.
After this, we returned to the hostel to drop off our bags and set out for the night. We headed to Nollendorfplatz in Charlottensberg, a kind of upscale/alternative/yuppieish neighborhood in the west of the city. We tooked the U-bahn then switched to the S-bahn (Surface road), which is like the El in Chicago on speed. It has very limited stops at key interchanges, making a trip across the humongous city very manageable. Plus, being above ground, you get to see a lot of the city, which is far more spread out and livable than most of the other European cities I’ve seen. There is ample parkland and a Chicago-like mix of buildings from different eras.
Once to Nollendorfplatz, we settled on an Indian restaurant that was overflowing with people. The food was outstanding, and complemented the half liter of tasty draught Warsteiner I downed. After gorging ourselves on dinner, Sam and I wandered around the neighborhood trying to digest for a few hours, but didn’t find any bars we wanted to try. We ended up heading back to Mitte, where we stopped at a bar/cafe and just chilled for an hour. Now closing in on 1, we decided to go to bed instead of partying more; it was a long day and sleep was in order.
Day two coming soon.