2014 EUROPE by Rail 23 - Someone Special

By text message, we finally coordinated a time to meet for dinner with our niece Teshia's someone special. Not sure if Cory is Teshia's BFF, best buddy, sweetheart, main man, boyfriend, or what, but we know he is someone special to her.

Anyway we made contact and will meet him at the hotel at 18:00 for a little "get-to-know-you" time. In the meantime, we meandered back to the hotel to refresh.

From Brandenburg Gate we zigzagged through the neighborhoods, business, and shopping areas and past more impressive museums. We used the Berlin radio tower a few blocks from our hotel as our guide.

We wondered if you could tour the tower and Wiki (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Berlin) says "Yes." There is also a bar and restaurant you can visit. No prices listed, but we imagine it is for a special occasion budget. It would be fun to compare views from the tower vs. the Reichstag glass dome for winner of best view of Berlin.

Along the way we saw street musicians, among them a Jamaican steel drummer with a red/yellow/green/black knitted rasta hat and dreds. Later we enjoyed a LOL in traditional dress playing traditional music on a well-used accordion. She gave us the most beautiful smile when we tossed a Euro into her tin pan.

We passed by the old German National Art Gallery, another splendid example of Greco-Roman-ish architecture. We didn't go in, but there were numerous old and modern sculptures surrounding the building in the gardens. We wandered there a bit before continuing.

Farther along we saw numerous pieces of public art. This one was the most interesting. It was a 2+ story man with his head peering inside the Collegium Hungaricum. The sky reflecting in the window added to its interest. From our view across the street it looked like it was made of butter.

We also saw a wedding party stopping for a cigarette and beer break. I hope no fiery ashes land on that "frothy" white dress.

Often we came across huge blue pipes connected at odd angles high above the streets and sidewalks. We wondered if this was some kind of nouveau "art" or had some practical function. Back home we learned that they are temporarily constructed and appear and disappear unexpectedly.

Berlin is built on a swamp and water is pumped from under it into canals and are especially needed when a new building is erected. We heard there are about 40 miles worth throughout the city. They come in pink and purple also, but we did not see any of those.

On the way back near the Berlin Cathedral we noticed a white tarp structure with square window openings. We were puzzle as to what its use was. We decided it may be one of the light shows we had seen on Euromaxx. Animated light shows are projected onto buildings at night for a beautiful display.

When we got back to the hotel, we inquired at the front desk. Yes, the Berlin "Festival of Lights" was happening now. The dates were October 10 through 19. Coordinated music and light projection events were displayed at various famous places around the city--Brandenburg Gate and the nearby to us Berlin Cathedral were two sites. Could we fit that in?

After a refresher at the hotel, we decided to explore up the street in the opposite direction from the market. We ended up at Rosenthaler Place. We saw the Circus Hotel (our first but filled hotel choice). We ended up in the Kat & Maus Cafe Bar nearby. Our feet were hurting, so it was a good excuse to sit down.


It turns out this charming place is part of the Circus "complex." An entrance to the Circus Hostel (not our style at this point in life, but looked really cool for young folks) was nearby.

We enjoyed wine, and beer and appetizers to while away the rest of the afternoon. We would really recommend this place. Great people watching, too, as there is a trolley stop right outside the front window.

Finally it was time to meet Cory at our hotel. We had sent photos back and forth so we were easily recognizable to each other. We chatted for a few minutes at the hotel and then walked a few blocks to the restaurant (with his bicycle in tow).

He obviously knew the area better than we did, so we asked him to pick the dinner spot. He chose a Japanese / Vietnamese sushi place called Kuchi (www.kuchi.de). What a cute name; means mouth in Japanese.

It is a little hidden gem not frequented by tourists. It was small and quaint, perfect for getting to know each other. Our selfies are not great, but you can see we are all happy campers. Cory has a wonderful smile.

I ate veggie sushi as usual, and I think the guys started with California rolls and then tried something more adventurous. The food was wonderful, but the focus was more on getting to know each other a bit. Cory has a charming and fun personality. We were glad to finally met and welcome him as a friend to the family and someone special to our dear niece Teshia.

Dinner came too quickly to an end. I think we could have talked late into the evening. But C had another commitment, so we said our good byes and went our separate ways. As he rode off, Uncle Mike said, "We should suggest Teshia buy him some lights or reflectors for that bike for Christmas." We were a bit worried he might not be seen by traffic as he disappeared into the dark of night.