(From L to R): temporary resident of Warsaw, Poland bored out of his mind after 6-hour train ride; temporary resident of Leuven, Belgium and owner of sore ass after 10-hour bus ride
And then off we went to sight-see. A forage to a couple of forgettable museums was the way to go because it was a Thursday and some museums in the area were open for free. (Please note that he was the one who spotted this ingeniously, being the typical prototype of the Singaporean who never loses out on anything free)
Most beautiful was the Berliner Dom, home of a really nice Lutherian church. We attended church there on Sunday, and taking Holy Communion for the first time in 2 months filled me with a lot of peace. Just look at the size of the Dom compared to my consequently-dwarfed boyfriend.
Said boyfriend also does all the navigation and planning of the daily what-to-do schedules, so that in his own words, "(I) won't have to lift a finger." And indeedly!
He says he just needs me to look pretty in pictures. (Eh, but I do more than that ok!)
We also realized on the first day that Germany really is the land of stylish cars. And of stylish number-plates to match too. We were on Merc-BMW-Volks watch every single day.
Lonely Planet Berlin foodguide compulsory pitstop #1: Monsieur Vuong's for jazzed-up Vietnamese. Which I later regretted because my beef noodles very nearly caused my zero-spice-tolerating tastebuds to hit the roof crying.
DAY TWO
More historic sites for the palate. Brandenburgertor was really striking, and I was glad that theboy insisted on getting up early to go there because I got a really good shot with no darting tourists walking right into my picture.
And I was even more glad for the early start because we didn't have to be part of the notorious long queue to go into the Reichtstag.
At the roof terrace of the Reichtstag. Can you spot me?
We walked all the way up in concentric circles and there really is no better view of Berlin than from the top of the Reichtstag.
But as you can see, I was too absorbed snapping away at the architectural fanfare that is the Reichtstag that I didn't even take a photo of the aerial view of Berlin.
And of course, off to a very good lunch. Lonely Planet Berlin foodguide compulsory pitstop #2: Swanky Italian food at 5.50 Euros!
Here I am, grinning like a cheshire cat with my ginormous plate of salmon fettucine with lobster cream.
And Weiming is also very visibly pleased with his seafood pizza. Coincidentally the most expensive item on the pizza menu that he could find, which I suspect was an astute move planned on his part because of the 5.50 fixed price. If only the waiters knew... These Singaporeans ahhh.
The night was spent at Checkpoint Charlie, the direct crossing point between West and East Berlin during the Cold War. We took a back-breaking 3.5-hour tour of the Wall Museum, and I emerged with the ability to carry out a considerably intellectual discussion with any scholar about the Berlin Wall divide.
Oh, and I (legally) purchased a piece of the Berlin Wall at the museum. A move which my dad said should not have happened because I should have just gone ahead to chip off a block for myself like the masses do. Crikey.DAY THREE
More of the Berlin Wall; this time, of the real McCoy itself.
I realized how deeply the Wall divided the country. Life on both ends was so vastly different that people from the GDR became desperate to cross over to the Western side, either to be reunited with their loved ones whom they had been forcibly separated from or to liberate themselves from a life of regiment and pseudo-Soviet indoctination.
This is the part of the wall framing the Topographie von Terrors, which is a pretty good exhibition of political life within Germany through the ages. It's just next to the former Gestapo HQ.
Crosses to remember East Berliners who lost their lives while trying to flee over the Wall. Apparently, it was quite common for border guards to open fire when they spotted fugitives. On a brighter note, many did manage to get over with the assistance of 'Escape Helpers', a foray of fake IDs and ingenious methods of concealing themselves.
We headed to the Jewish Museum next for yet another leg-pounding 4-hour session. And it really was a treasure trove of history and traditions we found ourselves in. I do wish we had not spent so much time on the medieval parts of the exhibition (because it was mind-numbing, and not in a good way!), and invested more time into the Holocaust and daily-life sections instead.
This plaque was Nazi-commissioned and it translates roughly to mean "Jews are not served here", if my elementary German doesn't fail me.
I had a turn at this coin-grinding machine, presumably a Jewish innovation too.
And for my efforts, I was rewarded with a Moses Mendelsohn coin, which was really a squashed version of the 5-cent coin theboy supplied for my frivolity.
And look who they bethrothed me to. A great Jewish moneylender with a famed beard! Oh isn't he handsomely hairy?
And in Berlin, we do as the Berliners do. And have a go at their abundantly sausagey menus! We took a chance with the currywurst, which really didn't contain any real curry at all. Just tomato ketchup with a lot of curry flavouring not unlike the fine powder you find in Mami packets. In other words, it was quite yummy.
And of course, the local brew. (I still maintain that Belgian beer is superior, so there.)
Milk moustaches are distinctly property of the Got Milk? campaign and hence distinctly American. But this milkshake was from BK in Berlin, so cut me some slack there ok?
DAY FOUR
Our last day was spent traipsing through the Tiergarten fleamarket, and my inner-Phoebe really enjoyed it. And of course no trip with Weiming is complete without a visit to the football stadium.
Hitler had this stadium built for the Olympic Games in 1932, ironically hosting an event famously associated with its efforts towards world cooperation and peace before he embarked on his reign of terror.
And the greens that hosted World Cup 2006. My beloved Fernando Torres gave many booted winners on that pitch.
Berlin: All in all, great city, great sights, great food, great people. But then again, I might be biased because like some Francophiles hold Paris high up in their esteems, I think I am possibly a Germanophile1.
1 [Germanophile (jer-man-uh-fahyl)- n. One who admires Germany, its people, and its culture]
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