(Friday, Sept. 11)
“I’m ugly, but I glow at night” read the sign on the marquee of the Michelber Hotel located near the end of the U-Bahn #1 and just a block from the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
Tucked in between the hole-in-the-wall Kebab and Asian food cafes was the Exotixx (presumably spelled with a double “x to indicate the strength of the porn videos and “adult” books offered for sale).
I was almost bowled over by bicyclists whizzing downhill toward the wall (some talking on cell phones) while I stupidly stood right in the middle of the bike lane shooting photos. This part of the city is a bit run down at the heels and is where much of the Turkish population of Berlin (fourth largest in the world). The part of the Berlin Wall in this section of the city is known as the East Side Gallery, runs for about a mile, and is covered by murals down by artists from all over the world. Barge-like boats ply the river Spree and we would have taken a cruise if it had been shorter of if we had come earlier in the afternoon.
About 4:30 pm we hopped back on U-Bahn #1 and rode for about twenty minutes to the end of the line in West Berlin, a half mile or less from our hotel. We did some window shopping (Cindy took a hard look at the “Botox To Go” store, but decided that she was cute enough already), and bought a gift for a friend in a little shop near the restaurant at Savigny Platz where we had dined on first night in Berlin.
Feeling fairly foot-tired at the end of the day, we decided to return to Ristorante Mario, just a block or so from our hotel, and were we enjoyed fine Italian cuisine two nights before. But it was Friday night, the tables were full of Berliners drinking and eating, the waiters were rushing about carrying four or five plates in both arms, shouting to each other for assistance, and the service we received was not even close to that given during our first visit. But the “people watching” experience was worth the price of admission. Lots of slim and finely dressed women (maybe they’d stopped at “Botox To Go” before going out for the evening), men in business suits, others not so clad (maybe it was “Dress Down Friday” for them), and wine and beer flowing in steady rivers to their tables
So about ten o’clock were returned to Hotel Astoria, its exterior lit up with red flood lights, a “Zimmer Frei” (room vacancy sign), making us wonder if it, too, would “glow at night" especially since Berlin's Erotic Art Museum is just around the corner.
