Germany Trip: Part I

5/15-5/16 The first Day

Our flight from Logan Airport was delayed by two hours making our journey to Frankfurt, and ultimately Berlin, a bit longer than expected. Kate and I had intended to get supper at the airport, however the international terminal in Boston has limited food options. We ended up eating some McDonald's cuisine. The service was so awful it was funny. Our cashier refused to actually give anyone their food and it just piled up as it was prepared. Apparently everyone else was on break and he wasn't properly trained on how to put burgers into a paper bag. It was a good thing we did not have a quick connection to make because it took twenty minutes to get our food.

The flight was cramped and painfully dull. (I suppose a "dull" flight is better than one filled with turbulence). I unfortunately finished my reading relatively early in the journey and found myself with little to occupy my time. Even if I had more to read I probably wouldn't have chose to do so. All of the lights on the plane were switched off since it was an "evening" flight. They did show "Dan in Real Life" which wasn't a bad film. As I sat there in the darkness, time went by dreadfully slow, minutes seemed like hours, hours like.... well you get the idea. The sandman refused to pay me a visit. If all of this wasn't enough irritation, due to the prevalence of "Gold members" on the flight, Kate and I were split up and we were both surrounded by strangers.

The ICE (Inter-City-Express) in Germany was a pleasant change of pace from the airplane. The train depot was a simple walk across the street from the Frankfurt International Airport. Once we got our bearings we had no trouble hopping on a train for our trip to Berlin. We had one connection to make in Leipzig, which was easy. The transfer time was literally about ten minutes. This was of no concern since trains appear to be ALWAYS on time, if not slightly early.

Once in Berlin we only needed to ask a couple of questions from helpful and polite (Nice change from the MBTA) Deutsche Bahn employees to buy our Berlin pass and find the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Boulevard am Kurfurstendamm which was located near "Zoologischer Garten Berlin". The room was interesting, different to say the least, but was very clean and comfortable. It had two twin beds, which is standard for hotels in Germany, with the exception that usually they are pushed together, and these were arranged in an L shape set up in a corner (see picture). The other bed is behind the wall to the right.


The church seen in the next photograph was a block away from the hotel. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was originally constructed in the late 1800s but was nearly completely destroyed in WWII bombing raids. A modern church was built adjacent to it using the remainder of the old church to complement the design and serve as a reminder of the war. It is very beautiful, especially in the evening when lights shine through the new portion to reveal patterns in a mosaic of stained glass cubes comprising it's walls.

The location of the church in the middle of a busy city square has a similar effect to that of Trinity Church in Copley square in Boston. In both locations the churches are given a plaza to complement their grandeur. Their settings are frequented by modern structures which compliment and contrast with the older more ornate architecture.


One of the first observations that Kate and I had when walking through the streets of Berlin was how well things "worked". An excellent example of this is the sign below which was located at a bus stop. Yes... the buses are monitored, timed, and they are accurate. Additionally bikers and pedestrians strictly obey traffic rules. When the cross walk light signals "don't walk" (with a symbol), people don't walk.... even when there is no traffic coming. This took some getting used to for Kate and I, but once we following these rules, it was nice not to have to guess when it was OK to cross the street.
While Berliners seem to obey traffic rules with ease, they don't seem to respect laws regarding graffiti. Berliners seem to have no boundaries that Americans have on where they display their "urban art". For example, in the United States you typically won't see graffiti on a church, home, public building, or a monument. Graffiti in American cities seems to end up on infrastructure (bridges, cement walls), businesses, and abandoned buildings. It seems every piece of brick or stone in Berlin is fair game. Additionally I gathered that graffiti in Berlin occasionally actually seemed to have political significance, where here it usually is someone performing some territorial pissing.

Kate and I looked around quite a bit before settling on a place to eat. There wasn't very much open, and I think it was 8:30 before we actually sat down. Things tend to close early in Germany, apparently even when you are in a big city.


This Chinese food establishment won us over. Partially because we were indecisive, tired, and this was just familiar and an easy solution. There were some differences on the menu but for the most part what we ended up ordering was very much comfort food. The location was great. It was up on the second floor across the street from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The restaurant was our first experience with European service. We are used to the wait staff constantly asking if there is anything we need. In Europe the reverse is true, you have to tell the wait staff everything. If you don't go out of the way to get your check, they'll let you sit there the entire night. Waiters and waitresses in Germany are paid regular wages and aren't dependant on tips. Tips tend to be small and as a result there is no incentive for the staff to hurry people, or go out of the way to pay customers any extra favors.

Kate and I immediately missed the extra refills on soda that are prevalent in the states. Despite our food being reasonable in "Euros" we cringed to think of the exchange rate. Thank you deficit spending. It had been a long day of travel and Kate and I returned to the hotel shortly after eating and promptly went to bed.