Meeting the Commandant in Berlin (17 September 2024)

 

Berlin Hauptbahnhof - even more impressive from the other side

Our accommodation was on the same line as the airport, so all we had to do was walk a couple of hundred metres to get to the train.  No need for a timetable - just turn up and go.  Copenhagen airport is much larger than I expected and they were in the midst of rebuilding it.  Going through security was a breeze.  I love the Schengen agreement with no need to present a passport. 

 

It was all so quick we had time for a coffee.  After wandering down to the gate we got a portent of what was to happen.  The plane we were going on arrived late meaning we were delayed.  Then once we were on board we got the announcement all air travellers dread; “This is the Captain speaking to you from the cockpit.  We have a little technical issue which requires an engineer”.  Then there was the sound of flaps malfunctioning.  A little later there was another announcement, “Your captain again, we now need to get the engineer onto the plane.  Please be patient.” At that point I commented to Bev that I thought we would have to get off the aircraft as they would not fly because for safety reasons.  Sure enough we had another “This is your captain, we have determined that for safety reasons we will have to change planes.  We need to get off the gate so we are being towed to another one and you will have to disembark.  We are not sure how long it will take to get a new plane but we just ask for your patience”

 

And off we went for the little ride across the airport.  In all we were delayed for over two hours.

 

Bears are a symbol of Berlin

Our next challenge was trying to understand the train system for getting from Brandenburg Airport into Berlin.  It took us a while to find out and even finding a person who could speak English proved a little elusive.  We had to wait quite some time for the train which went every half hour surprisingly. 

 

We got some foretaste of the Commandant by then.  She had been tracking our aircraft and seemed to want some certainty of our arrival time.  We had no idea as we were going to be negotiating a new city in a foreign language.  Bev got a couple of messages saying “you should be here by now” even after Bev had already explained where we were – she had to give almost minute by minute updates. 

 

Our tram to the Apartment

Eventually we made it to the apartment.  The next half hour was taken up with Barbara, our host, telling us what we could and could not do in the apartment. (No real welcome to her city or interest in us). We quickly learned not to question anything. The orientation included a demonstration of use of the microfibre cloth  and we were told not to use detergent on the granite top.  We also got a demonstration for how to use the oven, open blinds, not open certain window etc We were not to use the dishwasher – this was for her use only and we were instructed to just leave our dirty ones in there for her to deal with.   Bev had to water the outdoor plants twice a day with a little bit of water which was duly demonstrated – this filled her with fear that she might overdo the job and kill them.  Never have we encountered so much OCD.   

 

Eventually “she who must be obeyed” departed and we had the place to ourselves.  It was in fact a very nice place – small, but it had everything we needed.  The only drawback was that it was on the second floor with no lift so our strength was tested taking the bags up and down the stairs. 

 

The area in which were staying had several restaurants in adjacent streets which provided for a lively night life. 

Enjoying the evening

 

We chose an Italian restaurant for a meal as the German Gasthaus seemed like it was just meat and potatoes which was not the sort of meal that we both wanted.