Day 2 Köln - Berlin, 587 Km

The Tibet Train-Trail Travellers’ Quartet is now fully formed. Carol joined in Köln and we got a taxi to the station at 8. The middle-aged woman driver was very excited that we were going to Tibet, she said that she would much rather meet the Dalai Llama than the Pope… but she also thought we were bonkers. We teased her, and she laughed. A good taxi ride.

The ICE train to Berlin was swish, but no more free refreshments. Grey, damp weather across the Ruhr industrial area. Breaks in the clouds as we passed the old East German border. The Inter-City Hotel in Berlin Ostbahnhof (East Station) is great – located directly on the station concourse and it gives out free travelpasses for all Berlin public transport. So we set off on the S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse Station, favoured meeting place of spies, and had a bit of lunch at the “Ständige Vertretung” by the river. That’s the old location of the representatives of the West German government in East Berlin, and essentially is a picture gallery of artists, politicians, and rogues that serves Köln beer and food: an oasis of West Germany in East Germany, now made redundant by reunification… all beautifully bizarre, but with excellent food.

Then the Norman Foster dome on the Reichstag. A 45 minute wait to get in but quite mind-blowing when you get to the top. Mirrors, spirals, a view of the city, hard to describe but brilliant. Multiple reflections of yourself and others. A place at the top where people lie down to look up at a hole in the roof with the sky filling the field of view. How did Foster design a model of all this in order to make people understand just how exciting it would be when built?

An evening with a distant relative on my father’s side and her husband. Magda and Stefan drove up from Dresden to have a meal and walk with us. She’s a live wire, with a highly contagious laugh, and breasts that are getting spectacular now that she is pregnant again. Stefan is delighted with the breasts, but he feels that most of East Germany has gone down the tubes and so he wanted to go to a “proper” non-tourist part of Berlin. And so we did. Wandered around. Big wide streets with apartment blocks, mostly 19th century. Had a steak-type meal in a restaurant with lovely friendly people. Then a quiet bar with kirsch and coffee.

Tomorrow, Warsaw! But first we have to get the 06.47 “Berlin-Warszawa Express” which leaves from the lobby of the hotel.