Now, the downside. Our luggage was not there when we returned to our room. And so Ginger became the prime negotiator with the airlines and managed to work out a solution of sorts.
Ultimately, We did end up with our luggage. However, to make a long story short…we were held up by the super-slow-not-concerned-with-our-rush-and-was-initially-unavailable desk clerk who was insistent we check out but wasn’t even manning the desk when we first walked up to it, we then had a crazy speed walk through the streets of newly snowy, very quiet Amsterdam at 5:45 in the morning, so we missed the train from Amsterdam Central to the Amsterdam airport, baggage claim didn’t open until 6:30, and we ultimately missed our train and the next one was not until 9. And then because of snow, the train was running an hour behind. If you are confused, you should be. We are too. Ultimately, even though we did get our luggage, we got into Berlin at 4:30 instead of 1:30 like we had hoped.
Now…on with the better news, we got our luggage! And since we then knew we had missed our train, and since it was early in the morning and the airport was quiet, we filled the hallway as we all dug through our bags to find clean underwear, socks, shirts, and better layers and shoes. We took our time and enjoyed a breakfast, went to the supermarket to buy food for lunch on the train, and then caught our train to Berlin.
The train ride was okay, but we were booted from our seats several times by people who had reservations. Daniel actually had to stand for an hour. We slept a bunch, read some, Beth mapped out our time in Berlin, and everyone did a lot of vegging and napping.
Once in Berlin we were delighted to see that our hotel was very close to Check Point Charlie – we can see if from our hotel entrance! After wrestling our hotel’s amazingly convoluted elevator, we managed to settle into our rooms and spend some time with our luggage – all getting clean showers and clothes.
And then we were off to scout Berlin! So we headed up Friedrichstrasse, the main road, that our hotel is on, and discovered a parade! It was the ultimate Coca-cola commercial as there were multiple Coco-cola semi’s all lit up carrying various bands, broadcasting the “holidays are coming” theme song, and men walking with buckets full of mini-Coke cans that they handed out to the crowds like candy! We reached the parade just in time to catch the highlights…as well as to discover we were standing on Unter den Linden full of lots of individual trees all lit up, creating a beautiful boulevard of light leading to the Brandenburg Gate!!! If Amsterdam didn’t instill the magicalness of Europe, the parade and Unter den Linden at Christmas definitely did!!! :)
We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant that had so many taps it had a beer stock exchange with different brands gaining or losing stock prices based on demand – so the price of beer changed every five minutes. We all enjoyed some traditional German dishes and then we braved the extremely cold, snowy night to see the Reichstag. After security we arrived at the base of the Dome and enjoyed the pictures explaining the history of the Reichstag’s existence, tracing it through the Weimar Republic, rise of the NSDAP (Nazi) Party (and the 1933 fire), and the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately we couldn’t go to the top of the Dome because it was so cold the ramps were completely ice.
From there we again braved the cold and headed around the corner to the Brandenburg Gate and then walked down the beautifully lit Unter den Linden. We managed to make it home and spent the latter part of our evening thawing, looking at pictures, and mapping out our major touristy day in Berlin.
More about today tomorrow…or soon…
We will have stable internet as of the 23rd. We’ll fill you in soon!
Cheers!
Beth, Daniel, Justin, Ginger, Chris, and Phil!!! :)
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