I was in Berlin yesterday. Missed Karnivale here becuase I needed to get a visa for Canada, pronto. Note to travellers: If you are not carrying a Dutch passport, but need to travel to Canada from NL, you will need to get a visa from Berlin. I tried to courier my application on Saturday, only to be told by nice postmaster that because of the Karnivale, nothing would be leaving the post office until Monday morning. Checked flights: Cost of last minute ticket same as cost of my flight to NY. I had no choice but to take the last train out to Berlin on Sunday, check myself into a hotel and be at the embassy at 9am on Monday. Only to be told that my passport would be ready at 3pm. So there I was, freezing my buns off, trying to figure out how to kill 6 hours. How much coffee would I have to consume?
What do I do? Get on a hop-on-hop-off bus of course. Did Berlin in a few hours. Spent a bit more time at Checkpoint Charlie. Still trying to figure out what that Dome is famous for because I had to interrupt my taped tour to reassure D over the phone that it is OK to eat a steak he had defrosted on Saturday, but stuck back in the freezer.
Berlin is a beautiful city, still retaining its remaining historical buildings. As usual, any remnants of communism is now fully commercialised, but hey, isn't that why we fight for democracy. It does make you think though as the bus brings you along one of the few remaining parts of the wall still standing. A city divided.
At 3pm, I picked up my now even more valuable passport (that sticker cost me Euro 200 in total!) and headed home.
Just as I am getting use to the weather here, I have to figure out how to pack for a weekend in NY and a week in the wilds of Canada. I sometimes wish time would just stand still for me to catch my breath.
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