Berlin

Damn - best intentions aside, not getting to blog as regularly as I hoped.

My excuses are many - the last couple of weeks has been a whirl of getting ready to travel, travel, unpacking from travel, repacking for new travel, repeat. I know, I know, there be no sympathy for my plight, but it is my attempt at justification for my blog-silence.

I accompanied my better half to Berlin last week, a city he visits pretty much bi-monthly for business reasons. Every now and then I get invited along to warm his bed and entertain him during long airport waits that are inevitable at major intersections like Frankfurt. It is always a joyous thing going on these biz trips - I just need to get myself there (on frequent flyer points whenever possible) - the hotel is luxe, and expensed to the company, as are any 'business' dinners that transpire with Mr G's German colleagues, so my spending is limited to museum entrances, coffee, gnoshing on the fly, and whatever bit of shopping I might do.

I love Berlin. It is a city full of historical significance - both notable 20th century happenings, and prior, when Berlin was considered for some time as the cultural center of Europe.

Berlin is a wonderful city for walking, although I will admit that in my several journeys there, I have almost exclusively focussed on (what was formerly) East Berlin. The historical center (Unter der Linden, Museum Island, Marketsquare, Alexanderplatz, Willemstadt, Brandenberg Gate, Tiergarten, Reichstag, Jewish Museum, etc. are all within a nice afternoon meander. Lots of great shopping on Friedrichstrasse too (not that I am much of a shopper) - all the major hitters, some quite upscale, plus the (beautiful for a mall) Galleries Lafayette - which has the rockingest food (gourmet) court. The Germans know how to do it right. It's expensive though - so I rarely buy much in Berlin (most of the stuff is ubiquitous anyway - available in any major city).

Also of major note in Berlin is coffee. Starbucks has landed, and the line up of tourists out the door speaks for its popularity. But, no self-respecting German will drink Starbucks' marginal coffee offerings when they can go to Einstein's - a great chain of German coffee houses. There, for a paltry 4 Euros (a smokin' Canadian 7 bucks or so) you can order up a Cafe Latte Grosse - served in a tall thick glass with a gorgeous layer of crema on top, and sit in the window, watching the teutonic world go by. The only negative to the experience (other than the righteous gouging of the wallet) is that smoking is still very much de rigeur in Germany - allowed in all public buildings, including coffee houses, bars and restaurants. As of January 1, 2008, the liberal smoking policy will be kiboshed, and smoking will be restricted. It's about time - there can never be enough ventilation in any of the above-listed establishments to evacuate the ubiquitous blue fog of such a huge population of smokers. Not to mention, smoke or not, you are gonna smell like an ashtray when you leave.

I had great intentions of continuing on with museum and gallery visits on this trip, but like all best-laid plans, I got sidetracked. Only, it was not a pretty diversion - I got nailed by some really violent food poisoning (prime suspect is some duck I consumed at a very high end restaurant during a business dinner). I was down for a day (well, actually up and down, as the duck, after attempting to settle overnight, made for every possible exit during a gruesome 12 hours the next day. Blech. I was so sick, I worried that if the vomiting/diahrrea (is that too much info? ;^) didn't let up, I would need an IV for fluids, I was that dehydrated. It did eventually let up, leaving me feeling like something the dog dragged in for a couple more days, so other than some brief walks near the hotel, I laid pretty low.

I managed to recover enough for our planned side trip to Paris for the weekend. And that is a story for another day. Got a flight to catch, dontchaknow? ;^)