With Christmas just around the corner, Fritz and I packed up our Frankfurt apartment and set out for Berlin where we hoped to secure a flat for our post-Christmas return to Germany. The character of the capital city was immediately apparent. It's amazing how cities really do have a "personality". I don't know enough about Berlin yet to speak to its personality, but I can tell you that the flavor is quite different from that of Frankfurt.
The subway, which originally opened in 1902 and has undergone 3 major construction phases (1913, 1930, and 1953), is quite colorful with old yellow cars, brightly tiled walls giving the platforms a retro flair, and musicians that pop on and off the train to serenade the passengers in exchange for a few loose coins.
Fritz and I found ourselves, once again, feeling so thankful for the wonderful people we met while we were in Frankfurt. Our friend Frederic connected us with his parents who maintain a room in a Berlin flat so they have a place to stay when they want an escape from their home in Venice. Frederic's father is a journalist for a leading German newspaper as well as a published author of books on Sweedish architecture and decor. Needless to say, their apartment was lovely and they let us stay in it for our three days in Berlin.
The room was spacious with a high ceiling, a huge bookshelf well stocked with books in multiple languages, an enormous bed with feather pillows that seemed to eat me up as I dozed, a giant picture window overlooking the quiet street below, a large clean desk, and a cozy sitting area perfect for late night reading. What luxury! How did we ever get so lucky?
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