Main Entrance
Potsdamer Plaza Christmas Market
Pariser Platz by night
The "Schloss" - Steglitza fascinating mix of east meets west, Berlin
Berlin is a huge city and to truly explore it takes weeks, but even on a short trip, you can see more than just the central tourist sections by jumping on its extensive mass transit system. We got into Berlin a little later than planned but easily found our hostel and asked the receptionist if there was a Vietnamese restaurant in the city. He said yes though his bewildered look made me feel that he'd send us for Thai just not to look uniformed. Since it was in the same neighborhood, we decided to give it a go. We passed a little authentic Turkish place en route and I made a mental note in case our chase turned out to be mere wild goose. The area was a bustling one, full of student energy and cool cafes. It was very western looking even though it was in the very heart of what was once the east part of Berlin and I could have easily been walking around the village in NYC. There were lots "happy hour" signs and the bars looked more like places back in the States than the traditional beer halls of Germany that I love. Still, there was something comforting in finding it like this as I was to go home in a couple days, and maybe this would allay the culture shock of returning there. Though there were many different types of ethnic food represented, there was nothing remotely resembling a Vietnamese one so we walked back to the little place that caught our attention on the way. It was a small one-man operation and the friendly owner greeted us warmly. We ordered one big plate of food to share, not knowing how good it would be. It was delicious and though not really full, we decided to head to one of the cafes for happy hour to unwind from the long drive. Afterward, I was still hungry but we couldn't decide where to eat and finally I suggested just going back to our little Turkish place as at least we knew we liked the food there. It was a little embarrassing going back after only a couple hours but he was obviously happy to see us. The food was just as good this time around and after paying, we bid our new friend adieu. He smiled and laughingly said he'd see us in a couple hours, but it was more likely that I would never see him again.
