Chilling in the city

One of the main goals for my trip was to completely relax. I live for the European idea of sitting at a terrace on some street corner and just watching the world go by. In my opinion, the best place for this in Berlin is the Gendarmenmarkt quarter of the city. It is just beautiful, with a large square containing a theatre that's bookended by two identical churches and surrounded by wonderful restaurants and cafes. This was the view from the terrace I chose.




While in full people-watching mode, I even saw Joschka Fischer (an infamous German politician) pass by. And this place served the best mojitos I have ever tasted - it looks like a whole mint plant is growing out of that puppy.


The service, however, is definitely not fast in Berlin (I had been warned to expect this). It was much more Mediterranean a city in that respect. Berliners seem to have a pretty good work-life balance, and I was certainly not alone to be taking a time-out to drink on a sunny midweek afternoon. I have to say, sitting in the sun sipping my cocktail while knowing everyone else back in Japan was heading to work was one of the best feelings I've enjoyed in a long while. Of course, Gendarmenmarkt is pretentious as hell; the guy at the table beside me could not have been a day over 30 and was sitting there smoking a pipe!



Full disclosure; if I smoked, I would probably choose a pipe too for the eccentricity value. So this is definitely the pot calling the kettle black here.

Speaking of eccentric, here is Ampelmann - the much-loved, jaunty-hat-wearing crossing signal used in Berlin since the sixties.


This little character is big business these days with shops exclusively selling Ampelmann merchandise dotted around the city.



Like any good little consumer, I totally bought into the kitsch and came home laden with t-shirts and key rings and the like. One thing I will say, though, is God help the old and infirm of Berlin. Little old Ampelmann gives you no time at all to cross. I'm a pretty fast walker but I was constantly getting caught half way across the street by this unequivocal stop sign.

It kind of got up my goat.

Another motif running through the Berlin cityscape is that of bears, both old and new. I'm sure there's nothing more touristy than coming home with a bunch of photos of these guys, but once again I do not care. They made me happy.