The Deutschland Miniseries, Berlin and Beyond Part Eins
Okay, while that bronze statuary on top of this thing looks a bit like giant squirrels knitting from this angle, it’s actually 4 horses pulling a goddess in a chariot!
Today, I’m writing from Berlin, Germany where I’m busy with my diva daughter stalking the Chistmas Markets, drinking Gluehwein, and visiting all the things…today we logged over 25,000 steps and more than a few flights of stairs between the hops on and off the subway and the second floor (what Americans would call the third floor) walk-up apartment! We’ve seen a LOT already, so in the interest of not creating a novel, I’ll post one day at a time!
Our tally for today!
Goodbye, Boston! Hello Berlin!
Taxi ride from the airport with the diva! So fun to be here together!
Yesterday, after the overnight flight involving about 2 hrs of “sleep” (and I use the term loosely!), my daughter met me at the airport and ventured out for brunch at + Factory Girl, which included a yummy dessert made with some kind of whipped cream thing with mix-ins (we had ours with banana and chocolate!) only made from coconut sugar and vegan cream…so healthy, right? HA! We stopped at a vintage store to poke around, walked around the town a bit ogling the architecture, and then I crashed at her adorable apartment for a couple of hours before we ventured out for the afternoon/evening.
Not her apartment…but one of many adorable alleys with stores on the ground floor…I couldn’t resist a photo of the buildings!
We rode the subway to eat at a German Pub called Dicker Engel which translates to “fat angel”. This is explained by the, let’s just say UNIQUE, statuary looming in the dining area! I’m not entirely sure if this makes me feel better or worse about the calorie consumption…schnitzel with horseradish sauce, and fried potatoes (did I mention these are fried in bacon fat and have crispy onions too?), and potato pancakes with applesauce OMGosh…food heaven! And that was only the first stop!
Our dining companion at Dicker Engel
After dinner we went to my very FIRST Christmas Market…and it was MAGICAL! First of all, there was the BEST fair food….cotton candy move over…we had Gluehwein (spiced hot wine) RECIPE HERE and Jagertee (rum and herb spiked hot tea), and these Ah-MAY-zing hot fried dough balls dusted with powdered sugar (which makes it very difficult to hide the evidence!) called Quarkbällchen.
And then there were booth after booth of black belt level artisan crafts…glass, ceramic, wood, textiles….no, we did not buy the $500 euro dream coat, but can you say gorgeous??? And the displays were so beautifully and creatively done!
We ended the evening with a walk to the iconic Brandenburg Gate which is spectacularly lit for night and currently sports a gigantic Christmas tree in the plaza in front of it too!
All told, we walked about 6 miles the first day…suffice it to say I slept well! This post is fueled by espresso and chocolate…I’ll be back with more of the tour soon!