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.

Hotel Breakfasts In Europe

Breakfast was included in every hotel we stayed. Bread, rolls, cheeses and cold meats were served almost everywhere. Canned fruit salad was also a popular offering.

Hotel Atlanta in Munich offered pouched eggs, but during our first breakfast there I could not figure out where people were getting them from. Eventually I noticed a tray of toy rabbits! The body of each rabbit was exactly the size of an egg; each soft plush rabbit kept a single pouched egg warm.

Croissants in hotels in Italy were particularly good. Nick fell in love with jam filled croissants at Casa Formosa in Venice, while my favorite ones were in Residenza Domizia in Rome.

Hotel Maxim in Florence was the first place we have encountered serious fresh fruit—bananas and enormous kiwis. (Just to be fair--Hotel Atlanta did serve really sad looking apples, but I just could not count those as a real effort to serve seasonal fruit.)

The breakfast at Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen knocked me off my feet. I could not get enough of their Birchermuesli—muesli (rolled oaks soaked in water or juice overnight) mixed in with fresh yogurt and fresh fruit. Mixed in with the yogurt and oats were red currants, wild blueberries and gooseberries. While we have seen currants and wild blueberries sold in the markets in Germany and Italy, I have not seen gooseberries anywhere but Russia. So they were an extra special treat. Apparently gooseberries are readily available in Switzerland, and we actually saw some gooseberry bushes while walking through Gimmelwald.

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.)

Our Water Consumption in Europe

On Friday, the New York Times published a small blurb that, among other things, lamented the fact that drinking fountains in America are not “as ubiquitous as fire hydrants,” forcing people to carry water bottles around. I felt the article was a cue for me to blog about tap water and drinking fountains in Europe.


Water fountains are indeed ubiquitous in Rome. Still I felt compelled to refill and carry a water bottle. Murphy’s Law told me that there would be no water exactly when I needed it. Plus even a short walk under the blazing Italian sun caused dehydration.

Of all drinking fountains the New York Times article surveyed only one (in San Francisco) was designed to provide water to our four-legged friends. The omission especially stands out after seeing all the happy omni present canines in Europe. In Bern and Zurich, most water fountains collected the water in a pool below, and dogs, little ones helped by their owners, happily drank from the pools.

Europeans do not tend to drink much water with their meals. Italians seem to prefer carbonated water. Everyone also seems to be used to the restaurant charging for every item served, including bread. Given all these facts, I did not expect to be automatically served tall glasses of cold tap water, but often I could not resist asking for one.

Both in Munich and in Berlin, when we asked, we did get tap water for free, though it came in tiny glasses (2 dcl). Germany was where the free tap water bliss ended. In Prague a waitress gently explained that tap water was “not very good” and brought out a bottle of water. In Venice the answer was much shorter—“no service.” The waiter almost snorted when I asked.

Paying for bottled water is far from shocking. I am also quite certain that people in the Czech Republic really do believe that their tap water is bad—nobody I know in Moscow drinks the tap water without filtering or boiling it. The paradox lies in the fact that while Rome has wonderful water fountains in every little piazza, and Venice prides itself on the purity and the excellent taste of its tap water, the restaurants refuse to serve it.

The change we experienced going from Venice to Lauterbrunnen in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland could not be more drastic. The air was cool, public bathrooms were free (more on bathrooms in a separate post), and waiters did not even blink when asked for a glass of tap water. Most (though not all) restaurants still charged 1 Swiss Frank per glass, an improvement over €3.00 for 500ml bottle.

Dogs In Europe

Dogs in Germany seem to live like kings. They follow their owners everywhere, including shops and restaurants. The smaller pooches proudly ride in bicycle baskets. Most dogs are not leashed. Yet they seem perfectly behaved. They walk at the heels of their owners, do not bark, and do not lunge at people.

Dogs in Italy are also omnipresent (and I do not mean homeless dogs--we did not see any). Yet here, most of them are leashed, and for a good reason. They are exuberantly happy. They bite their leashes, pull their owners in every direction, and joyfully jump regardless of their own size.

While we have been back at home for almost a week now, I still have more stories and observations to share with you.