Yesterday morning was a test. It was a test that we passed, with our shoulders back and our heads held high, and our eyeliner flawless. There was no hangover, but we were both feeling the burn of the previous night's excursion. Walking home had been a mad idea, but we didn't regret it. The only negatives were the tiredness and poor sleep that followed. This challenged our friendship, but we jumped each crack and dealt with eachother's appalling moods without comment and all became well as soon as we left the catalyst of a hotel room. Our first stop was faithful old Potsdamer Platz where we began our walk to towards Brandenburg Gate.
Part way there we found the Jewish Memorial (The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) and walked over to take it in. It was dark, shadowed and striking, with paths running through in patterns as far as you could see. Some kids sat on the lower few, while others played hide and seek, shrieking in excitement. It was many things I didn't expect it to be, but I was glad to be surprised. The life of the children brought a positive glow to the place, and I felt as if I was entering another world as I traced the lines of grey.
We walked only another few minutes before we found the Brandenburg Gate, a place I had actually been before as a young girl. My family have a photo of all of us in front of it in our living room above the fireplace. Pippa and I melted when we saw several women in wedding dresses with their husbands and family having pictures and celebrating their marriage in front of it. It was so beautiful to see.
We wondered on and found a perfect space for photographs and Pippa used her usual skill and captured some amazing shots. It was slowly reaching dinnertime so we decided to head towards Alexanderplatz for a meal before we went up the TV Tower. We had tapas and a bottle of pinot grigio and all the while the excitement was growing within me that was going to experience the tower and have the view of the Gods over Berlin with my best friend.
The travel upwards was via a lift that shot up an made our ears pop. We were told we were going to be 203 metres high, and Pippa and I couldn't wait to go to the bar. We arrived, giddy with excitement and spent some time taking pictures and wondering around the 360° view, pointing places out and marvelling at the tiny buildings below.
We sat at the bar, having already decided we would have at least one drink up there. We had some coupons that we wanted to use and cocktails seemed the best way to take advantage of that. We had a drink called Horizon which was melony in taste, and discussed business ideas and our plans for when the trip was over and we were to come back to England. It wasn't long before we were quite tipsy with the previous wine against the spirits, and we decided to have another, this one called 360°. We felt we had to sample the sky-bar themed cocktails as a priority to get the full experience and be completely touristy.
After 11pm we made our way down, on a high from it all and made our way back to the hotel, with one little stop on the way to get a bottle of prosecco. We had a glass, spoke about in the final weekend to come, then retired to bed.
So on our final two days here, Pippa and I have created a challenge. We are going to cram as much into 48 hours as we possibly can, having new experiences, checking out bars and filling our memories. The next time you will hear from me I will be back in england, and I will have written sensitive, possibly silly and definitely detailed memoirs of the last days of our trip.
See you on the other side. Thank you for everything.
AKC x
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