For the past two weeks, Jacob and I have been back home in BC with family and friends. We were there to attend two weddings, one in Victoria and one in Whistler, and to see our loved ones. Now that we are back in the van and back on the road, I thought I’d try to cover what we’ve been up to since we left Norway so that the blog is all caught up as we resume our adventure.
Between Norway and heading back to Canada, we wanted to make a few key stops: Berlin, to see our friend Iman; the Netherlands, to visit my dad’s side of the family; and London, where we would catch our flight back to BC. To get to Germany from outside of Oslo, we drove down through Sweden to Ystad, where FRS Baltic catamaran ferries sail to Sassnitz. On our way to the ferry, we stopped in the picturesque seaside town of Smögen and enjoyed a sunny but windy day exploring the seaside. The other important stop we made in Sweden was - you guessed it - to an IKEA! Aside from a few different menu items in the restaurant, the store was basically the same as any other IKEA, but it was fun to have a very authentic Swedish experience!
Scenic Smögen
For our FRS Baltic sailing, we splurged on business class seats. This meant we got a nice table to ourselves, and table service for drinks and menu items. We enjoyed a quiet meal and had fun visiting the duty-free shop to pick up some wine to give as gifts. Once we landed in Germany, we found a rastplatz to park at for the night before driving in to Berlin the following day.
We left the van outside the city centre and took the train into the heart of Berlin, where we were staying with our friends Iman and Saman. They live on the east side of the city, in a fun, bustling neighbourhood full of trendy cafes, bars and restaurants. We were super excited to experience the legendary nightlife for ourselves, and headed out almost immediately to start with dinner at a Thai restaurant. As we walked there, I began to observe some of the characteristics of the city, or certainly the east side. People were milling about everywhere, on patios or in parks, talking and laughing and drinking and eating and smoking, relaxing and having a great time with friends. The atmosphere was positive, chill, and fun. No one cared what anyone else was doing; there was a great sense of freedom and acceptance. And when it comes to personal style and clothing choice, there was such a wide range! Hipster, emo, casual, dressy, and everything in between. People wore what they wanted, but choices didn’t seem arbitrary - each had a distinct style. I found this so different from somewhere like Vancouver, where a walk along the seawall provides ample samples of the local uniform: Lululemon leggings, Arc’teryx jacket, Vessi or Nike sneakers, and Starbucks coffee in hand.
The city was also quite dirty, but in an appealing way. Perhaps “grungy” is a better word. There was graffiti everywhere, and lots of brightly coloured stickers and posters on walls and signposts. Everything was a bit worn, but it was all part of the atmosphere. This seemed particular to East Berlin, however, as the western side of the city had a much more polished look.
After some tasty Thai, we tried popping in to a bar that Saman remembered as having a great, eclectic vibe, especially in the loft area. We all filed up the stairs to check it out, but after a quick look around it seemed to be too early in the evening for the fun to have begun. We moved on to several other places over the course of the evening, including one patio which I couldn’t resist due to the pretty lights and cute plant centerpieces, and one that doubled as a cafe during the day. In between each spot, we’d keep popping back in to the loft bar to see if the party was underway yet - but each time we left disappointed as it was clearly still “too early.” This was even the case as we packed it in around 1am! For the rest, though, the city was still as bustling and busy as it had been in the afternoon. Clearly the party just continues all weekend long!
The next day, we were keen to see the sights! Iman had come up with a list of places to take us on a mini tour, and we kicked things off with The Wall. The area we explored is known as the East Side Gallery, as there is a constant rotation of murals by various artists stretching along the wall (see the top of the post for an example). Some pieces don’t change, like the famous mural of two politicians kissing, but Iman was saying that most of the ones we saw were new from the last time he’d visited.
“My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love”
Next, we took the U-bahn to Museum Island (“Museumsinsel”), so named because of the multiple museums co-located on the northern part of this small island inside the city. This is where the Old Museum (“Altes Museum”) is located. It felt chilling to be in the same place where, around 85 years ago, Hitler gave rousing speeches to huge crowds of supporters. Berlin has seen so much, and been through so much, over the years. We saw several pillars and walls in this area which were strewn with bullet holes. It’s a fascinating place to be. Museum Island also houses the Berlin Cathedral (“Berliner Dom”) which was partially under repair but still amazing to see. We followed this up with the Brandenburg Gate (“Brandenburger Tor”), one of the most well-known landmarks in the city.
Berliner Dom
Brandenburger Tor
After a traditional lunch at the Alt-Berliner Wirtshaus, we embarked on a more sombre afternoon. We visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Jewish Museum. Although there are sections of the museum devoted to Holocaust education and remembrance, most of the main exhibit covers all aspects of Judaism, from scripture and rituals to culture and cuisine. However, the most striking part for me was seeing a leftover roll of fabric printed with the yellow star, from which the badges that Jews were forced to wear during the Nazi occupation were cut. I found this especially haunting.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
After being indoors (and mostly underground) during our visit to the museum, we decided to get some fresh air and refreshments at the biergarten in Tiergarten park (how fun that it rhymes!). It felt a bit like a rainforest, as it had rained while we were in the museum and it was incredibly humid in the park. We got a round of beers (well, housemade lemonade for me) and some salty pretzels with grainy mustard. Unfortunately the pretzels turned out to be way too salty - even after flicking off all the salt grains! It was a fun spot though, and a very pretty setting next to the lake. Once it started getting dark, we headed back to the apartment to relax for a bit before grabbing a late dinner of doner kebab, a Turkish/German specialty.
Our final day in Berlin had a relaxed start, with brunch nearby the apartment at a lovely patio. As it turned out, the brunch was served buffet-style, so not exactly what we had in mind, but it was tasty and we had a nice time. Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby park where there was a large flea market underway. There were dozens of vendors, each selling a vague assortment of used clothing, housewares, or other items. To be honest, there was quite a lot of junk! But also some interesting things, like old, used postcards (I wish I could read German to see what they said!) and a folding sewing box just like the one my mom has.
After the market and a cafe break, it was time for us to head back to the van. We bid “Auf Wiedersehen” to Iman and Saman and made our way to the train station. We had two options: take the S-bahn and then the bus, which we’d done on our way into the city, or take a regional train and then the bus. I thought, why not try the regional train? So we found the platform and waited a few minutes for the train to arrive. Once it pulled in and passengers began to emerge, I noticed that many of them looked unreasonably sweaty. Sure, it was a pretty hot day - 32c - but I thought, I’m nowhere near that sweaty! How odd. These people must just be much sweatier than me. Well, the tables quickly turned! We stepped on the train and into a sauna. There were no opening windows, and it seemed certain that the AC was broken. Masks are still mandatory on public transit in Germany, but no one was able to wear one due to how hot and steamy it was on board. As the train got underway, I kept thinking, “We should get off!” but knowing we had a fairly tight bus connection (and the bus only came every half hour or so) and a continued investment in sunk cost fallacy meant we just sweated in place for half an hour. It was by far the sweatiest I’ve ever been. My eyelids and cheeks were dripping with sweat, and my arms and legs were shiny. (Enjoy that lovely mental image!) It was pretty gross, but it makes for a funny story looking back on it. And hey, once we got off the train, the ambient temperature outside didn’t feel so bad!
We had such a fun time in Berlin, especially since we could reconnect with our friends and see the sights with a local perspective! Since this post is already plenty long, I’ll continue the catch-up in the next post and cover our time in the Netherlands and few days in London before our time in Canada. We are currently in France, heading for the Alps, so I’d better catch up quick or I’ll be behind again!