Bowled over by Berlin...

arriving early am

my room at the Motel One

stunning cathedrals

early morning walk

love the autumnal colours!

modern architecture

there's a glass dome on their government house -reminding the law makers of the need to be transparent

Brandenburg gate

Adlon Hotel -the site of Michael Jackson's baby over the balcony incident

the holocaust memorial 

what's left of the wall

churches and opera houses

memorial for all women who have lost children

Arriving from Amsterdam to Berlin on the overnight train, my first impression is of a futuristic sprawling city, its uber new Central train station a huge silver masterpiece of engineering and architecture.

But when I do the obligatory walking tour www.newberlintours.com

later that day, I see that she is so much more, a mix of East and West, old and new, memorials, museums, cathedrals, galleries, vast open spaces, modern avenues and alternative areas with eclectic energy.

I book into motel one, www.motel-one.com which is a short walk from the train station and I am so grateful when they let me check in straight away.

I join the free walking tour at 11am outside Starbucks at the Brandenburg gate aptly led by David, a Brit who loves his adopted home. For 3 hours we walk this amazing city, stopping at most of the significant attractions including the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie-so named because it is the 3^rd entry point from East to West- (Charlie is the third letter of the phonetic alphabet after Alpha and  Bravo) the gendarmenmarkt, Unter Den Linden and Hotel Adlon, the expensive hotel (15,000 Euros a night for the Presidential suite)! where Michael Jackson famously dangled his child from the balcony, Freidrichstrasse, the holocaust memorial and the island of museums.

We even stand over the bunker where Hitler holed up and eventually committed suicide. It’s now under a car park in a residential area, a small information plaque nearby is the only indicator that anything of significance is buried underneath us.

Throughout his engaging storytelling David brings this city to life, gives her shape and helps us to understand the complex history that contributes to her identity.

I meet Ivan on the tour. He is a gorgeous German man, and a judge in the family court, visiting Berlin for a funeral, and attending a course nearby. Professionally he has the unenviable task of making legal judgements about the custody of children after often bitter and complex relationship break-ups; personally he has visited concentration camps and tried to make sense of the senseless extermination of so many lives and yet he is neither broken nor defensive about a history that is part of his DNA. Long after we say goodbye I can conjure up his face and it makes me smile and I am very grateful that we met.

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I hate eating salad at the best of times. No matter how much I try, I just can’t manage to do it elegantly. I either miss my mouth, or manage to get some of the oily dressing on myself. So imagine how hard it would be for me to do it in total darkness!

I have booked into the Unsicht bar and restaurant http://www.unsicht-bar-berlin.de/unsicht-bar-berlin-v2/en/html/home_1_idea.html a unique experience where you eat in total darkness, served by staff who are blind or have partial sight and where you choose from 5 menus which are simply labelled vegetarian, poultry, fish, meat or “surprise”. The vegetarian entrée for example is described as

“A taste of Aztecan masculinity on a very green, and voluptuous red bedding”

(sliced avocado marinated in lime juice, with field greens and tomato)   

I am looking forward to the opportunity to practice being mindful while trying something new.

When I arrive my order is taken (this bar area is lit normally) and I am asked to remove anything that might in any way illuminate a totally dark room like watches or mobile phones.

While I wait on my own to be escorted into the dining room, I am more than a little anxious and a lot of questions cross my mind; Will I bump into things, knock over my glass of wine, spill things on myself, manage to eat, cope with the experience without making a fool of myself??

By the time my waiter Marcus greets me I have calmed myself down. “At least no one will see me” I think to myself.

Marcus asks me to put my hands on his shoulders and I follow him into the pitch black room. He takes my hand and gently guides me into my seat and tells me what is on the table and where and then moves away and leaves me on my own.

It is a strange, disconcerting experience to be totally in the dark. I am on my own, surrounded by people speaking German, and I have no idea when, what and how I will eat.

Judy Killen a childhood friend who was blind and went on to become a physiotherapist comes to mind. She and I used to spend hours in the garden and I would ask Judy to guess the colours of things. Judy had a way of cocking her head slightly as if tuning in to her surroundings and she would always get it right. To this day, I don’t know how. I find myself cocking my head slightly to try to tune in to what is going on around me, but unlike Judy I can’t even guess how big the room is or how the staff don’t bump into each other and only hear Marcus when he is gently whispering in my ear that he is back with my food.

I trace the outline of the plate with my hands and feel around for my knife and fork and napkin. I move the glass that Marcus has also brought me out of the way and make a mental note of its position.

I tentatively move my fingers over the plate to try to work out what is on it and groan when I realise it is some sort of salad. The only way I can eat is to use my left hand to guide the food onto my fork! There is a sweet mayonnaise style dressing on the leaves and I manage to get a few forkfuls into my mouth, when my mouth closes on a succulent morsel of seafood which is a real surprise. I manage to find 2 more bits before I finish.

I am waiting for a long time between courses. Marcus tells me later that there are only 5 staff for over 100 customers and I hear him clicking his fingers from time to time –perhaps a way of communicating with his colleagues about his location? My main course when it finally comes is also fish with some sort of vegetable risotto. I am a little disappointed in the food, which is rather stodgy, with little aroma. But dessert when it arrives is sensational. A kind of passionfruit cream brulee in a sealed pot, with some fresh stewed berries and a small biscuity cake on the side. I can smell it, and feel it and taste it and it is glorious.

I am glad that I had the experience, but am in no great hurry to repeat it. What made it particularly difficult was being on my own, without being able to understand what was being said and I realise how much you miss out on when you are unable to see and understand what is being said around you. I would love to try this exercise with a loved one, or with friends and with really good food. But for now, I am simply even more grateful and appreciative for the amazing gift of sight!

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In silence is embedded the marvellous power of clarification, purification and concentration on essentials 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Just underneath the Brandenburg gate is a small sign marking the silent room.

Modelled on a similar room in the United Nations Building in New York, it has a dual purpose. The first to provide a place where anyone regardless of background, colour, ideology, religion, and physical condition can remain in silence for a while, relax and meditate and secondly it serves as a symbol of tolerance, a reminder against violence and xenophobia, a small step towards peace and spiritual unity.

The room’s decoration is neutral and simple. A woven wall hanging by Hungarian artist Ritta Hager symbolises light penetrating darkness.

If you are in Berlin. It’s worth a stop.

www.raum-der-stille-im-brandenburger-tor.de

 

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I am watching the flat screen TV in my room but it’s not a TV program. It’s a film of a log fire burning in a fireplace. The flames lick and slowly consume the burning logs and I watch mesmerised, listening to the sound of the logs crackling. It is so realistic that I actually feel warm, even though there is no heating in the room!

I am just about to check out and catch a train to Prague.

My fire is still crackling and I listen and watch for a while reluctant to move from my comfortable space.

Even while you are having adventures you can get lazy...

Ok better go…I have a date with a 90 year old Count!

the silent room Brandenburg gate

my fake fire... it looked and sounded real...