Second Full Day In Berlin…Going Really Well
Woke up in the afternoon, as opposed to the morning, and we headed out to see what was going on in Berlin. There’s a cemetery next to the hotel we’re staying in so we decided to head over there and take a lot of pictures. The cemetery was pretty big, a couple of hundred years old, and very pretty. I think I took more pictures of that than anything else. We went to the main train station yesterday (which is five stories high and kind of like a huge mall with trains going through it) so we decided to do something a little different.
We hit up a taxi and rode over to a palace that was here in town. It was pretty big but only one of the wings were open. We got to the gift shop and got a couple of things then walked around the palace. You can immediately tell the difference between modern and classic when you walk around these old places, modern places are big and give people lots of room. Classic places are small and don’t give off that much room, I guess decadence and space didn’t make its way into history until recently. Anyway, we walked around for a little while before I started getting hot, so I took my jacket off and slung it over my arm, then things started getting odd.
A guard came up to me after a few minutes and said I wasn’t allowed to hang my jacket on my arm. After supressing the urge to slap him backwards for being ridiculous, I slung it over my shoulder. This seemed appropriate as he let me on my way. After a couple more rooms in the palace, another guard walks up and says I can’t have my jacket over my shoulder. I have to tie it around my waist. After supressing the urge to knee his ribcage through his back, I tied my jacket around my waist and was immediately transported to 1985, since that was the last time I remember doing something so stupid.
I understand why I can’t take pictures inside ANYWHERE in Europe (after last year’s trip I didn’t even bother this time) but not having my jacket draped on my arm OR shoulder? Please, now you’re just being a jerk. We got what we came for here, we saw a palace, got some souveniers, it’s time to get something to eat. So I put my jacket on properly, transporting myself back into the present time, and walked out into the cold, rainy day.
There were a chain of restuarants across the street from the palace and we picked one that boasted to be a beer garden. Although I didn’t get any beer (I’ll have some on the way back through after Poland), I did have some of the best German food I’ve ever had. That’s an ironic saying, since one of the dishes weren’t even German, it was Polish. I’m not even going to start to spell it, so I’ll sound it out. It’s pronounced per-oh-gee. It’s a fried ravioli-type noodle with meat in it. Don’t know how it’s made, other than the fact that it’s delicious. Then I had some curry wurst, which is bratwurst with ketchup and curry powder. My mom had wienerschnitzel, which is always good. No, I’m not talking about the hot dog chain, it’s a flattened, breaded, fried meat.
Tomorrow, we’re going to another palace where, I hope, I can hang my jacket on my arm if I get too warm. I’d like to have that explained to me, there are some strange things I can’t do in this country that nobody can explain because I don’t understand their language and they don’t understand enough of mine. Anyway, it’s getting a little late and I’m going to read a little before I go to bed. PIECE!!!!!
