U2 Sighting in Berlin

Our first night in Berlin had a distinct U2 theme, even though we certainly did not plan it that way. We walked past the Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin) and the nearby Zoo Station, which inspired the song, Zoo Station, the opening song on U2's Achtung Baby album, recorded in Berlin.
Our walk also took us through the Tiergarten, a large park in the center of Berlin designed in the 1830's that was once a hunting ground. As we walked past the Victory Column, I could not help but think back to U2's Stay (Faraway, So Close) music video. In the video (as well as in Wim Wender's movie of the same name) this 66+ meter column with a sculpture of Victoria on top servers as the gathering place for angels watching over the city.

As we passed under the Brandenburg Gate, we noticed a large crowd standing in front of the enterance to Hotel Adlon. Apparently, Bono was signing autographs at the entrance of the hotel. I climbed a railing for a better look, but still could not see anything. What can I say--the man is short.

As you can tell, I was greatly entertained by the fact that our almost U2 sighting happened right after we walked by so many places that reminded us of the band.

More On Liquid Exchange in Europe

If you feel uncomfortable reading about bathrooms, you may want to skip this particular post.

When leaving Zurich, we almost missed our train to Munich because I wanted to use the bathroom. The bathroom required 2 CHF (Swiss Francs), and we did not have any cash. What followed took well over 40 minutes. I first searched for an ATM machine, returning to the bathroom only to find that the change machine would not accept my 50 CHF bill. So after fruitlessly searching for a place to change the bill, I gave up and bought a pastry at a nearby shop. Only then was I able to finally enter the bathroom successfully.

My natural tendency to use the bathroom before getting on most forms of public transportation turned out to be just the wrong strategy in Europe. Train station bathrooms, while generally very nice, cost money. I thought prices were steep in Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof (€0.80), until I tried the train station in Florence (€1). In the meantime, the bathrooms on the train are usually clean, always free, and easy to find. Bathroom prices culminated in Venice where to use a public restroom costs €1.50. To add insult to injury, these bathrooms close at 7pm.

(Getting cash before getting on the direct train from Zurich to Munich turned out to be a good thing after all. The train passed through Austria, which was not covered by our Eurail pass, and the conductor only accepted cash.)

In Berlin

We have actually left Berlin and are now in Rome. The internet access in Pension Peters involved a single Linux machine in the lobby, so I didn't do any posting. Don't get me wrong though--we liked the hotel. It was a bit spartan (no shampoo--just a large jar of gym-like orange soap for body and hair), but very cute and clean with super friendly staff and an excellent location.

However, before I start posting about Rome, I thought I'd do a quick summary post on what we did in Berlin.

We spent one full day in Berlin, during which we took a four hour walking tour of parts of what used to be Eastern Berlin.
On Tuesday we headed to Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin that is predominantly Turkish. We walked through a market which among other things included many fabrics and sewing notions stands. Later we sat down for some excellent Doner Kebabs.

In the two hours we had left in Berlin we headed to Treptower Park to visit the Soviet War Memorial.

We Love Berlin

We arrived here yesterday, walked through Tiergarten, and visited Reichstag.