Friday morning we hopped on an S-Bahn to Potsdam, on the outskirts of Berlin. Occasionally referred to as “The Versailles of the North”, the generously proportioned park in Potsdam boasts a number of extravagant palaces, gardens and associated whatnots, once inhabited by the Royal family of Prussia. It’s all very impressive, and we spent pretty much the whole day wandering around the various grounds, oohing and aahing at what was on display. As it wasn’t a weekend, and the weather was a bit naff, nowhere was too busy, and we quite easily got on tours around a couple of the houses too, which was very interesting and also quite glamorous. We did, however, have to wear ridiculous slipper things over our shoes, apparently to protect the marble floors and such, though more likely because a few hundred tourists shuffling around the place a day must save quite a bit on floor polish.
Later on Friday evening we rendevouzed once more for food, this time selecting a very German place going by the name of the Kartoffelkeller, or potato cellar. Once inside, we soon realised the reason for the name – it was in a cellar (albeit a large one) and they certainly weren’t pulling any punches on the potatoes. The place was full of noisy German parties, and obviously very popular. It was a great atmosphere, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our somewhat unorthodox Pfannengerichte, containing all manner of things from apple and fried egg to shrimps.
The forecast for Saturday was rain, so we decided it would be a good day to visit the various indoor wonders of Berlin. We began right near the university with Museeninsel (museum island), where we visited two museums with very unique collections. The Pergamon Museum is basically made up of various huge and impressive collections of architecture from all over the ancient world, unceremoniously displaced from their original homes to Berlin by German explorers. Though the idea itself would never have washed with the authorities today, it makes nonetheless for an extraordinary collection. My personal favourite was the Ischtar Tor, a massive blue stone gate from a palace in Babylon, decorated with dragons and lions (see attached). To be honest though, very little in the Pergamon Museum was short of amazing, and we spent a couple of hours in there before moving on to the Altes Museum, where the Egyptian collection boasts, amongst other things, the mask of Nefertiti. Again, this was very interesting, though I have to admit it lost its effect somewhat in comparison to the Pergamon. But then, just about anything would have done, I think.
Once we’d completely museumed ourselves out, we had a coffee, then wandered down the road to the cathedral (Berliner Dom). It wasn’t open, but we took some pretty pictures of it then made our way back to Alexanderplatz, where we took advantage of the short queues to climb the Fernsehturm (TV Tower). This wasn’t something I’d been particularly taken with doing, as I couldn’t think of much worth seeing from the sky in Berlin, but I have to admit to really enjoying it. I think this was mainly because I’m pretty familiar with what’s in Berlin and how it’s all set up by now, so it was great to see it from another perspective, rather than just on a map. After this my parents wanted to see my flat, so I took them there, introduced them to the cat, Lulu, and then we went around the corner to a typical German pub for some typical German food. As I was being a tourist for the weekend, I felt this was acceptable behaviour, and as a result have now discovered the closest thing to my local pub here in Berlin, with a good range of well-kept beers and a slight feel of “this is a local pub for local people”. Being as I’m a local person until mid-August, I think that might go ok.
Berlin is currently home to one of the biggest celebrities in Europe, and on Sunday we went to pay him a visit. The celebrity in question is small, white and furry. His name is Knut, he’s a baby polar bear, and he lives in the Zoologischer Garten in Berlin. The hype there’s been in Germany about this polar bear is quite frankly ridiculous, so we weren’t surprised that we could only view him from a distance because of the crowds and queues. We did spend a while watching him though, and he is quite cute, though it has to be said he’s already getting a bit too big for that tag. Quite what the Berlin media are going to do with themselves once this becomes obvious, I’m not entirely sure, but that’s their problem.
Of course, Knut’s not the only animal in the zoo, and we also visited, amongst others, orang-utans, capybaras, giraffes, hippos, bison, llamas and a large range of lizards, reptiles and aquatic chaps. My personal favourite though, was the as-yet-unnamed baby jaguar, discreetly getting used to the world away from the crowds still entranced by Knut. We were actually lucky enough to see its mother carry it around in her mouth before washing it from head to tail with its tongue, an act which I got on video. In fact, most of my experiences in the zoo were on video rather than photo, as I decided it was a bit more memorable, and also easier to take through glass or bars. Speaking of which, I feel I should just mention that I really wasn’t comfortable with the way the big cats were kept in the zoo. I’m not much of an environmental activist, and for the most part I thought the animals were fairly well-treated, but the size of the cages these creatures were forced to live in was ridiculous compared to their size. They’re called “big” cats for a reason, and while for a newborn cub it may be better to keep it inside, you could tell by the way creatures like the black panther were pacing up and down that they weren’t happy in such an enclosed space, and with no sunlight. It’s no wonder that, on the odd occasion one of them escapes, it goes on a bit of a killing spree.
Anyway, rant over. That night we ate at another traditional german restaurant before taking in the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church and going home for the night.
On Monday I was back to lectures, so I left my parents to their own thing for a bit before meeting them later in the afternoon to take a trip to “West” Berlin (it’s not really relevant to refer to the two former halves of the city now, though it is interesting to note that, but for the previous day’s trip to the Zoo, this was the first time I’d ever ventured properly into the West). We spent our time milling around the shopping areas, where my parents were kind enough to furnish me with a new pair of jeans before we took our afternoon tea in an exceedingly upmarket manner in KaDeWe, Berlin’s most famous department store. The cakes were ridiculously good, and after more wanderings we polished off the evening once more in the Kartoffelkeller.
Tuesday was the day my parents were due to leave, and due once more to uni work, I left them to their own devices again in the morning, then met them for lunch before I went for my language change lecture and they went for their flight home. It was nice having them here, and good fun to show them around what I already knew of Berlin and play tourist for the weekend seeing bits that were new to me. It’s still all systems go though, because as I’m writing this, I am expecting a phone call any minute from Jane to say that her, Danielle and Emily are lost somewhere in Berlin, being as they’ve hired a car and driven up here from Bonn for the weekend. By the time this finally goes online, they’ll have been and gone, but I’m just using what time I have to keep myself up to date, even if I can’t promise the same for anyone else who might want to read this!
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