From Berlin to Vancouver, or, One of the Most Stressful Days of my Life

Leaving Berlin was perhaps more stressful than arriving there. For a couple of weeks prior to our leaving date, I’d noticed a faint moldy smell in the flat and a few small spots of mold on the walls. I’d emailed our landlord about it and he told us not to worry, but just to ensure that we kept airing the flat out for five minutes a day, which we did.

Friday, the day before our flights, was designated to finish cleaning the flat & packing our bags. Unfortunately Walter has a little episode every time we try to pack, and demands constant attention, so we weren’t really able to settle him until late afternoon. David began packing his bags and that was when he made the awful discovery – the whole wardrobe, and the wall behind it, was covered with a gross green mold. The more stuff we moved the more we found. It in our clothing, on our suitcases... it was awful. I spent the evening at the laundromat, washing most of David’s clothing as he was heading back to England & staying with friends, so didn’t want to bring a bunch of moldy clothes with him. We contacted our landlord right away who said not to worry... 

It had come through the wall and into the wardrobe, and then into our clothes... YUCK

It was 3am before I was able to say that the cleaning & packing was finished. I went to bed and was up by 8am the next morning to finish the organising and pack last minute things, like Walter’s diapers. At 8:45 our landlord arrived, but he had another man with him. At this point in time David & I were both feeling strongly suspicious. The other man was allegedly an “insurance inspector” and, as I’m sure you can guess, the mold problem was blamed on us and, after realising that we needed to resolve the issue or miss our flights, we ended up having to lose our damage deposit (I’d had an inkling this might happen when I booked the flat) and hand over a substantial, but not completely prohibitive, sum of additional euros.

I was, as you can probably understand, quite upset. In October I had found out that my job was at risk of redundancy, which meant that our ever-dwindling savings were possibly the only thing we would have to support us. David was heading back to England and although we knew that we’d see him at Christmas, we had no idea what would be happening after that. We’d hoped to spend our last day in Berlin enjoying time together as a family, and instead it was just full of mounting stress. By the time we got to the airport on Saturday morning I was struggling to keep it together. We had hoped to have a few hours together at the airport, but after I checked in with Walter we learned that David’s flight was cancelled. So we ran to the British Airways flight desk and got him on the first available flight, which happened to be leaving in fourty minutes. So much for family time.

I don’t remember being particularly stressed at the airport. I think I had reached my limit and ‘switched off’. And, thanks to the wonderful people at Air Berlin, we had a really enjoyable flight to New York. They’d given us a bassinet seat for the journey, so I didn’t have to keep Walter on my lap, and they even had a bag of baby essentials (diaper, toys, bottle etc) that kept Walter occupied. In fact he enjoyed the nine-hour flight so much that he spent most of it befriending the stewardesses and surrounding passengers instead of sleeping!

In New York things started falling apart. I’d requested assistance at the airport, since I had to transfer between airlines and check my bags again, and American Airlines had assured me that I would have all the help I’d need. Imagine my delight when I exited my flight and was told there there would be no help. I blessed the good angel that had put it into my head to buy Walter a baby hawk carrier, because we wouldn’t have made it through the airport without it. The staff at JFK were appallingly rude. I mean, I know that New Yorkers are stereotyped on being proud of their rudeness, but in most places that I’ve traveled people at least take pity on a mum struggling with a young baby. Not so there! It was a member of the Air Berlin staff who saw me struggling to wheel a loaded suitcase trolly and Walter’s stroller to the baggage drop and offered to help. I was grateful for the assistance but at the same time really pissed off that it took a fellow foreigner to step in and help me because none of the Americans working at the airport could be bothered. At every turn throughout the airport, whether checking in for our AA flight or going through security, we were harassed and scolded. It got so bad that I almost lost it at security, when they were berating me for not being fast enough (and meanwhile Walter was half-slipping out of the carrier because no one would hold him and there was no where to put him down safely while I struggled back into my shoes). I think it was the look on my face that got them to back off. 

I’d hoped to relax on our flight, but AA kept to their usual standards and we ended up crammed into a corner seat. Walter screamed his head off for a good ten minutes, because no one was doing much to answer my service call for a glass of water with which to mix his formula. If we hadn’t had both fallen asleep it would’ve been an unbearable six hours to Seattle, since we couldn’t even get out of our corner to stretch our legs or use the toilet. And even tho’ it was a six hour flight, we were only served a small beverage partway through (I know this is fairly standard now for domestic flights, but keep in mind that I was on the second leg of an international flight and hadn't had any chance to get food at the airport due to my connection).

My brave little trooper. Unless he was unbearably uncomfortable he didn't cry.

I knew better than to expect assistance from AA when I arrived in Seattle, so Walter and I struggled on the whole length of the airport. I’d not eaten in over 12 hours, my bags were heavy, and I was just in auto pilot. Fortunately I have an awesome brother who can always be counted on to keep a look-out, and just when I was ready to collapse he came racing towards us and the next things I knew I was surrounded by my family and the hell of the last 48 hours was at an end. Soon all my bags were collected, loaded into the car, and we were racing off towards Denny’s for an 11pm dinner before driving back to Canada. 

Walter remembered his Baba!

Meeting Uncle Johnny & Opa for the first time. Denny's -- it's where the magic happens.

As an aside, I must point out how happy I was to see that Denny's had taking their marketing one step too far. I'm pretty sure I heard Tolkien rolling over in his grave:

 

Is this like a Titus Andronicus pie?

Because Hobbits love heart attacks! We all ordered off the special Hobbit menu. I had Gandalf's Gobbler (ie a turkey sandwich). A part of me died.

Weihnachtmarkets (Edited: Now with Pictures)

Our last week in Berlin happened to coincide with the opening of the Weihnachtmarkets, or Christmas Markets. Having heard from many German friends that these markets are what they missed most about Germany, I was keen to check them out. It also proposed a good solution to our problem of what to get family for Christmas on an almost non-existent budget.

The first Weihnachtmarket we hit up was the Lucia, a Scandinavian-themed market located in Prenzlauer Berg’s Kulturbrauerei. We chose this one because it was close, which meant that David could spare some time to come with us, and because it had Scandinavian glögg on offer, a new version of mulled wine to try. We quickly found that the main offerings of the market were alcohol and meat, with a few stalls here & there where one could purchase little gifts. So we fortified ourselves with glögg and went for a wander, with the good luck of getting gifts for all of David’s family at this market. After a heavy afternoon of shopping we refreshed ourselves with some boulette am brot from a little wooden shack – David couldn’t resist trying the burgers as they were cooked on a giant swinging iron grill over an open fire. The food was delicious and gave us the energy we needed to haul our tired selves back to Wedding. 

A hot mug of glögg

Roast meats!

Walter and I dedicated one day to visiting various markets in Mitte. The first one we went to was the rather posh Weihnachtmarket in the Gendarmenmarkt. You had to pay to enter this one if you came in the afternoon, so we made sure to get there a little early. It was a really pretty market, and all the door keepers were wearing period dress to try and fit with the Gendarmenmarkt ambience. The stalls were pretty ritzy, for the most part, and a few restaurants had even set up shop. Considering this market is just off of Unter den Linden and fairly near the embassies it’s not a huge surprise. 

I’d planned to get lunch at one of the markets and I couldn’t resist trying the Neuburger Rahmbrot when I saw the cute little hut and crowd of hungry, happy Germans surrounding it. The bread was fresh made while I waited and I got to watch the process from start to finish before enjoying my treat. Fresh baked bread with sour cream, bacon, & green onions? Yes please!

How could I resist?

Plus it was made in the cutest little hut!

My plan was to walk to the big Christmas Market at Alexanderplatz, but along the way I got distracted by a little one on Museum Island. The markets were all selling the same goods with the exception of one or two special stalls, and the real winner at this one was a little booth of Russian goods, including some lovely hand painted pieces. 

Market the Second

As darkness fell we finally reached Alexanderplatz, home of the city’s largest Christmas Market. The highlight here was discovering that the Neptunbrunnen was turned into a giant skating rink, complete with some Strauss recordings for background music. I think Walter & I spent about an hour checking out all the different booths and trying desperately to finish our Christmas shopping (success after asking the intercession of St Anthony!). We even managed to buy some quarkbällchen with currants in them as a treat for David, since he couldn’t come with us. 

Alexanderplatz -- note the birds circling for scraps

The giant fountain of Neptune was turned into a skating rink, complete with piped-in Strauss

We returned to our flat exhausted but triumphant – Christmas shopping completed, on budget, and everything small & light enough to fit in our suitcases for the next stage of our journey: Home for Christmas!

Pippa's Visit

On our last weekend in Berlin our friend Pippa came from Aberdeen to visit. I’d been looking forward to her visit since it’s fun to see friends and since we didn’t know when we’d next see her.

She arrived Friday night so we had a warming supper of pasta and garlic bread, followed by a late night walk through the area and the procurement of some vanilla-kirsch-eis from Kaisers. We had a great visit and stayed up a bit too late talking :)

On Saturday we left David at home, working, while we went out to explore the city. Our day was a mix of shopping, eating, and sightseeing – an attempt to get the feel of Berlin during daylight hours! We began by viewing the Berlin Wall Memorial and then heading towards the Berlin Bear Pit – as a vet Pippa was particularly concerned with whether or not the bear pit had bears in it... unfortunately it seems that it does, although they were indoors so we couldn’t see them.

Graffiti must be grammatically correct

Statue of a Medieval warrior outside the Märkisches Museum

Berlin's Bärenzwinger (Bear Pit)

En route to the bear pit we’d stopped for some mulled wine, and it turned out to be a good thing that we did since the next stage of journey took much longer than expected as there was a relatively large island missing off my map and it was difficult to tell if we were going in the right direction. But all was well and we ended up at the Georg Braeu in the end!

Getting lost -- scenic style

Going to a “brauhaus” was such a great experience and I was really sad that David had to miss it. The beer was delicious and it was so fun to have authentic German food that wasn’t sausage or schnitzel (or boulette). I ordered a cabbage roll and really enjoyed comparing it to the Ukrainian and Mennonite cabbage rolls that my family makes. Ours are cabbage stuffed with a mixture of rice & meat (either ground beef or bacon), whereas this was cabbage stuffed solidly with seasoned pork. Sort of like a giant sausage only with cabbage for the casing. It was really tasty, especially with the beer. This is around the time that Walter started cluing in to grown-up food so I had to wrestle my beer away from him, at which point he want after the gravy on my plate. 

Enjoying some German beer

Following lunch we went shopping, browsing through some of the more electic shops enroute to Alexanderplatz. It was a great way to kick start Christmas shopping and we even managed to take in the little beginnings of a Christmas market. Then it was back to our flat in Wedding for my own version of German food (wiener schnitzel, spätzel & red cabbage), followed by an evening walk for some (and time at home with Walter for me). 

Pippa Pinocchio!

Pippa had to leave early on Sunday morning so our visit was lamentably cut short. But we were so glad that our dear friend could come visit us while we still had a fixed address.

The Kulturforum

Our internet hasn't been working for a couple of weeks so now I'm really behind on blogging. But my brother is home for reading break and he's had a chance to fix it!

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My last big ‘cultural’ trip out with Walter in Berlin was to the Kulturforum, where one can locate museums, one of the Staatsbibliothek’s, and the Philharmonie. Our main destination for the day was the Gemäldegalerie, home of Berlin’s older paintings. 

The Philharmonie -- I like how it sort of looks like music, or at least sound waves!

I’m always a little apprehensive when I take Walter to a museum, especially one where I need to pay to get in, because there’s no guarantee that he’ll co-operate with the idea of quietly looking at the different treasures. Fortunately he fell asleep when we got to the museum!

He later woke up but was content to look at paintings, although eventually he demanded to be carried so that he could have a better view!

I had a great time as it turned out that the museum had a number of paintings by some of the masters I admire, like the Holbeins, Dürer, and Bosch. My art gallery trips thus far have been in the UK and North America, so it was neat seeing the different geographical emphasis of the Gemäldegalerie as it meant getting to view a lot of ‘new’ styles and subject matters. Everything, aside from the audio tour, was in German but that was nice as it meant I didn’t feel quite as compelled to read all the notes! 

A portrait of the Virgin by Hans Holbein the Elder

A portrait of a merchant by Hans Holbein the Younger. It's really neat because you can actually read the writing on the scraps of paper in the picture.

Portrait of a young girl by Petrus Christus. I loved this one so much that I had to get it on a magnet...

Bosch's St John on Patmos -- the background contains various illusions to the Book of Revelation

A scene of young revelers by Willem Buytewech. The details are quite amusing, including the young man on the left who is relieving himself into a jar.

After the gallery, Walter & I were to meet David at the East Berlin Staatsbibliothek. This turned out to be quite an ordeal – between construction, heavy traffic, and the overall distance it was quickly apparent that if we walked we would be late. So I took the train, but I was still running late, and due to German paranoia over cellphone hacking I was unable to use my phone because I’d turned it off (for the first time since putting in a German SIM card) and when it rebooted it required a password to access the phone! This meant that I couldn’t call David to tell him that we were running late, so he was stuck waiting in the cold for over twenty minutes while worrying over why we hadn’t arrived. Then our plan of having cake in an old palace was also cancelled, as the cafe was closed.

Eventually we found a little bakery where we could grab a snack (and grumble over the excessive prices in Mitte). Then it was time for David’s treat, namely a return to Berlin’s oldest currywurst stand so that he could experience it for himself. The elevators happened to be broken at all of the train stations we needed so it was really good that he was along for the trip as I’m not strong enough to carry Walter & his stroller up and down the stairs!

We had a great time at our little supper. We were able to sit in the makeshift restaurant and we splurged on beers to help wash down the currywurst and pommes. It was a nice little break for David as well, since he wasn’t able to join us on most of our adventures.