Berlin - Day 2

I think my Northface puffa jacket has melted into my skin. It's very effective and much warmer than any of the other woollen jackets that I own. It's the one thing I can count on in wintry places like New York and now Berlin.

After yesterday's flight fiasco, I finally flew into Berlin without a single hitch. I arrived at Heathrow at 5am and much to my surprise, the never-ending queue was still there!!! People were sleeping all over the terminal with foil blankets. I'm so glad that I wasn't forced to do that.

I met with the others in time for our walking tour, only to have the tourguide not show up! This was a little concerning especially since we had already paid! J, Lil Miss J, Kt and I decided to wander around the Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market near our hotel to bide our time until a different company's 1pm 'free' walking tour.

For those not in the know, Germany's Christmas markets were traditionally held for stall owners to sell goods for the upcoming festivities and colder months. Nowadays, it's more a crafts and food bazaar but still retains it's charm, lacking the commercialism that is present in other societies. I really felt like I was celebrating Christmas in medieval times!

Us getting excited about gingerbread, bratwurst and Christmas balls.


The Christmas dough snowball which we shared but tasted crap. Mmmmm curry bratwurst. Lil Miss J taunting her bratwurst. A dessert of some sort (I can't find it's German name) - boiled soft, light dough with a chocolate spread centre covered in warm custard and sour cherries. Sounds gross but it was so yum!

After all that excitement we had a short rest at our hotel before heading off for the 'free' walking tour. Run by the same company who did my London walking tour, people might baulk at a 'free' tour but to be honest, because the guides work for tips, they usually work quite hard and are often better than those tours which are paid in advance. This is also where the story of Mike The Hottie begins. I can already hear girly squeeeeaaaals!

The four of us at the Brandenburg Tor. I do remember this as the pit stop in The Amazing Race where the husband pushes and berates his wife. He was an awful man.

I must have a thing for guys named Michael/Mike as demonstrated by my Stockholm post. We were greeted at the tour meeting point by an American who left his Yankee roots and had been residing in Berlin for the past three years. Mike The Hottie gave us a brief history of himself, citing that Berlin was his last resort destination to study an art course but he fell in love with the city and hadn't been back to the States in about 2 years. *swoon* Artistic, passionate and romantic! All four of us girls gave each one another the 'he's a bit alright' look and continued to remain at the front of the tour. Tee hee!

Unfortunately, I was too busy trying to take proper tourist shots and didn't manage to get a good photo of MTH before my BATTERY WENT FLAT! Grrrrrr... Trust me, the photos I do have don't do him justice.

Mike The Hottie in his beanie *sigh*

Alright, well back on the tour, we were shown the Adlon hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby, Checkpoint Charlie, WWII remnants, all with colourful commentary courtesy of MTH. Berlin itself has a rather sad, fascinating history which I feel needs a return trip to explore further!

(L-R,T-B) The brick in the road shows where the Berlin Wall once stood. The Holocaust Memorial.

Inbetween the blocks of the memorial. The site of Hitler's bunker.

A remainder of the Berlin wall. Yep, us three at the Berlin Wall.

Now, back to Mike The Hottie. With his beanie on, none of us really knew what colour his hair was. At at mid-walk break he removed his hat to reveal strawberry-blonde-beanie-tousled soft hair which after a while fell flatter and sat perfect in all it's freshly washed glory *gush*. Not greasy boy-hair or even I-just-woke-up hair. That was probably the best time to take a photo except none of us did! I have the most valid excuse - my battery was already flat! This manga is the best I could find which most closely resembled his hair. Sorry J, if it's not to your liking!

While on our break, J and Lil Miss J had fairly legitimate questions and motioned for him to come closer. He pointed out clubs and churches on a map which he pulled out of his back jeans pocket. It is that same map that J now cradles in her sleep.

Being girls, we discussed possible reasons why MTH stayed in Berlin. We've concluded that he'd stayed for a girl (or a guy) and that he must be really devoted as he even speaks a bit of German. He mentioned that he usually does the morning tours but today took the afternoon one, to which we've decided that his meeting us and we missing our morning tour was purely fate. J and I even contemplated taking the tour again! Hahahahahahaha

MTH stood right next to Lil Miss J, where she admittedly could not stop staring at him while he answered her questions, stating "OMG, HE IS SO HOT" before melting into a warm, glowing Lil Miss J-puddle. "He has the most perfect nose!" she says. The freezing weather unfortunately was unbearable so Kt and Lil Miss J left the tour early.

The rest of us floundered to the Gendarmenmarkt, where another Christmas market was located. Then onto Humbolt University, Neue Wache, Book Burning Memorial and finally Museum island. I did point out to J "He's a little bit skinny" to which she giggled "I like skinny guys". Hahahahahahaha I couldn't stop laughing - I've never heard a girl say that before.

J and I manage to get a photo and look at the glee on our faces :D. It's a bad photo of him :(

Later that night, being Christmas Eve we realised that the Germans were at home celebrating as most of the markets had closed by 6pm, few restaurants were open and the streets were bare. Except for this group of 11 people walking together. In the end we did find a place to stuff our faces. Lucky us.

Kt with the schnitzel that was as big as her face. Actually I think it was bigger.

The entire crew at dinner.