Berlin: Live from Berlin Germany . . .

Whoo hoo! I'm in Berlin, former East Berlin to be exact. I'm in a District called Mitte and my beautiful Apartment (well, it's actually a Studio Apartment) is wonderful. It overlooks a park and has a view of the very tall TV Tower which I hope to go up today.

It is 1,000 times colder here than Amsterdam and last night I had to buy a hat which I never ever wear but that's how cold it is.

I arrived safe and sound in Berlin's main train station and let me say that if you didn't know it or saw the trains here and there within the structure you might have guessed that you were in some kind of shopping mall. It's a very modern and beautiful train station.

I took a taxi to the apartment and was met by Stefan who was soooo nice. After showing me the ins and outs of the apartment he took a lot of extra time to point how how to get to certain attractions. Very nice.

It was getting too dark to go up the tower today for a view but Stefan told me that there is a nice Christmas Market at Alexander Platz so that was the plan.

I studied the map a little then dashed out the door. The U Stop was not too far from my apartment, maybe a block and a half. The fee which a girl helped me to purchase was 1.30 euros and AlexanderPlatz was the second stop away. I probably could walk it in warmer weather. :)

I arrive and it is pretty cool. I can see the Tower much better and it is a huge place.  Here are a few images of my first night in Berlin.

The world clock . . .

View of Alexanderplatz  Christmas Market (open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm daily until Dec. 26, 2010) . . .

The potatoes looked yummy (I'm going to have to try them). . .

Wish I could sample these . . .

It was a fun time.  I had some coffee at one of the cafe/bars they built for the market, bought my hat and checked out all the stands.  I think this could be my favorite hang out in Berlin . . . .

So after freezing my you know what off, I decided to get back to the apartment.  I easily found the entrance to the U Station again but while waiting this really nice guy told me that due to rail maintenance (which I learn they sometimes do on weekends), the U will not take me back to the stop that I'm familiar with.   I will have to take the Metro for the rest of the way to my stop.  That was very nice of him to alert me as I couldn't understand the German announcement and he knew it and took the extra time to seek me out and tell me.

Ok, back to my story.  Panic sets in as I usually navigate based on memory and landmarks and if I don't return to the exact U stop this may be interesting.  He then told me to get on the train then follow all the rest of the people to the M stop and get off on the next stop.  He said don't worry because they were all in the same boat.

I have to mention this. I people here in Berlin are so nice and friendly.  But I remember on my last trip to Munich how nice the people are which is another reason I wanted to return to Germany.

So I follow his directions. I just missed the next M-1 bus along with another handful of people. It was only about 10 minutes before the next one came which gave me time to buy some water at this little food store.

I get on the M line and exit at the next stop.  I look around and nothing looks familiar and I'm in that I have no clue where I am state. Not panicking . . . I make my best guess in the direction to follow and just go.  Well, I'm still in that I have no clue state and there aren't very many people around. Finally I see this guy eating a sandwhich and I get bold and stop him to ask for help.  He was very nice and waited for me to pull up the address of my apartment on my i-Touch. He immediately recognized the street (since when I was pronoucning it, he couldn't).  He told me it is the next street over. I then recognized the park. I was so thankful. The guy was very helpful and I might add nice looking too . . .

He smiled, I smiled and then we parted ways like two ships or U trains passing in the night. Him continuing on eating his delicious sandwhich and I happily and thankfully walking through the park back to my warm and cozy apartment . . . Will I ever see this good samaritan and hotty ever again. Probably not,  but his wonderful smile and kindness is etched in my travel memories forever . . .

So as you can gather from my first post, I think I'm beginning to fall in love with Berlin already and I can't wait for day 2....