Checkpoint Charlie

Yet again they found themselves looking for a place to stay at the last minute.  A good price came up for a 4 people dorm-style room at the Meininger Hotel, next to the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) in the Mitte area of Berlin.

They booked 2 nights there and during this period the winter really kicked in.  The coldest temperatures Dave & Kate could remember (about -11C) and they were stuck out, wandering between the Christmas markets and internet points, trying to discover where they were going next.

Checkpoint Charlie started to become a focal point.  There they would stop off for a coffee at Einstein's - where Madonna's song 'Like A Prayer' ("life is a mystery...") always seemed to be playing - and reason through things as they were increasingly becoming aware of a movement from the West to the East through the city.  At this point they were in the middle (Mitte) and it felt like there was a struggle to get to the East.

After much searching they couldn't find a suitable place after the Meininger and so their only option seemed to be to remain there.  So they booked a further 2 nights, changing rooms and now with a different view.

During those 4 days they would use the Hauptbahnhof for internet and food.  The energy in the place wasn't easy though and they often felt waves of confusion in there and this manifested as difficulty in finding the right things to eat.  They started to consume lots of bananas and drink numerous cartons of orange juice during this period, a strange thirst coming upon them each night.

It literally felt like they were stuck, waiting to cross the border to the East.  Then the night before they left the Meininger they stumbled upon a great last minute deal on a 4 star hotel.  It was a mystery hotel so they had to book first before they found out exactly where and what it was but it had to be done.

It turned out to be the Winter's Hotel right in the heart of the Mitte area, close to Checkpoint Charlie.  Again, they felt truly blessed, appreciating the comfort even more so coming from a minimal dorm room with bunk beds.  The photo on the wall opposite their beds seemed to be a symbol...

Welcome To Berlin - Citadines

When Dave & Kate arrived at Citadines in the Kurfürstendamm area to check in the manager happened to be behind the desk and saw they had booked through a last minute website.  She revealed to them her amazement that she had only just put the offer up that morning when 5 mins later their booking came through.

The offer was so good and all the staff so welcoming it was 4 nights later before they could leave.  Each morning they went down to the lobby to check the internet and each time they saw the offer still on they booked again.  The woman behind the desk was amused by this and they joked about how they were the guests who wouldn't leave.

When the offer ran out and the time came to go, it was the first time Dave & Kate had felt a tinge of sadness at leaving a hotel.  The staff were the friendliest so far, they had Kaisers supermarket across the road and could go down to the lobby to make themselves a free cup of tea or coffee whenever they felt like it.  All of this felt like a real treat.  The Buddha also appeared 3 times within the area.

Before they departed they had a few things they had to do.  First of all, there was no longer any room for Jesus at the Inn and so he had travelled with them from Amsterdam to Hamburg and was now shipped off from Berlin via DHL to Edinburgh where he would eventually be told he didn't look like himself.  Secondly, Dave & Kate felt the time had come to finally abandon their backpacks and buy some suitcases.  They had spotted some in a luggage shop near Zoo Station.

Spending money on new suitcases at this time when they were almost out of cash seemed totally illogical and yet they had to do it.  They may be going back to Edinburgh with the cases but at that time they knew they couldn't go any further forward with the old backpacks, which increasingly represented a weight on their backs.  Why carry a load on your shoulders when you can let the earth take the weight?

The Rasta turtle from World Cafe in Hamburg seemed to think so, showing up next door to Citadines...

And funnily enough, the perfect place to dump their shells was round the corner from Citadines.  Kate had spotted this big charity bin that the backpacks could fit inside.  They zipped them up into their black body bags and disposed of them there.

Hash Adam & Jesus (complete with poseable arms and gliding action)

Midway through their time in Amsterdam, they received a package from Edinburgh with winter clothes which they were very chuffed with.  It had been getting considerably colder all the time and they still only had summer clothes and jackets.

On their way back from buying train tickets for Hamburg (their next destination), they collected the package from the agency, and then in a gift shop nearby Anne Frank's house, they found a friend in Jesus.  He ended up leaving with them and so that day they arrived for a coffee and smoke at La Terturia with their winter clothes and Jesus alongside them.

There was a young guy just leaving at the table next to them but he spent a few moments staring at them before he got up and left.

The next day they returned there - this time without Jesus and clothes - but the young guy was there.  He soon introduced himself as Hash Adam, a young Dutch/English outlaw, his weapon of choice being a camera.  He was a freelance photographer apparently.  He didn't appear to recognise them from the day before although they recognised him.  Instead after asking to borrow the Bob lighter, he got straight down to the benefits of hash, which he was smoking, and spent the first 20 mins telling Dave & Kate in great detail all about hash and how to make it. 

He offered them a toke of his joint and was determined to find out if they enjoyed it as much as he did.  They were neither this way or that about it.  It was nice, but so was the weed they were smoking.  They continued chatting, mainly about the system, and when Dave & Kate explained their situation and what they were doing, and how much money they had left.  He looked on in wonder.  Then a long pause....

His face suddenly creased up and he burst out laughing with the phrase "have you guys ever thought about getting jobs?!"  They all cracked up at this but as he left it looked like a guy who had contemplated some of what was spoken.

Meanwhile, Jesus remained with them.  He was supposed to depart and head to Edinburgh from Amsterdam but the bastard wouldn't leave and ended up following them on to Hamburg.