Berlin day 7 - Trip day 14

Today we moved into another apartment owned by the same owner. He is giving us a 50% discount due to the circumstances regarding airspace closure over Europe due to the volcano ash. Very generous so we took him up on the offer. The apartment we were in was already rented out to someone else that was coming in by train.

So this morning we packed up and Stefan called us a taxi and took us over to the other apartment. He even paid for the taxi. We were unpacked and all settled by noon. The apartment is in a real Soviet East Berlin apartment building, in one of the mid-rise buildings that the DDR used to parade their military down the street to show the world how well everything was here in East Berlin. We have taken pictures because it is a very unusual building. It is strong, and the rooms are quiet, but it is so plain, so functional and no adornments. In the entryway and hallways there is nothing on the walls, other than the paint. A view down the hallway looks like something out of a movie. The apartment itself has been remodeled and it is very nice. The building reminds us of two movies, "Good-bye Lenin" and "The Lives of Others". Both very good movies and if you have not seen them, it's time to take a look. The apartment is very warm and functional, and has VERY hot water!!!

The next three pictures are the building we are in. The doors with slits on the top are storage rooms, not apartment doors.

Below are views from our room. The buildings across the street look just like the building we are in.

We have TV in this apartment, but it is all over the air, and digital like in the USA. Unfortunately, without cable, we only get the local broadcast channels, all in German. :-(        :-)
But it is very interesting to watch. And you understand more than you think you would. Mark has done very well with his few German language skills this trip, I'm so proud of him!

We took a walk to the grocery store and bought food and some beer (Augustinerbrau Munchen - Lagerbier Hell - Helles Vollbier - 5.2% alcohol). The clerk fell out over the AMEX card, like he had never seen one! The beer Mark bought was the one we had in Munich with Joseph and Gabrielle. This is the beer that Joseph drinks himself. Then we took a walk over to Alexander Platz and the DDR TV tower. We are now very close to the tower. After browsing around the multi-story Galleria department store we headed back to the apartment to make dinner. Tonight, spaghetti with onions, garlic, bell pepper, cucumber, black olives, and sun dried tomatoes.

The airports are now all open today, and we have even seen several planes coming in for a landing to Berlin's Tegel airport. Yeah! Things are looking good for Saturday.

The first plane we have seen in the sky since last Thursday, 6 days ago!

The weather has been very strange here today. Sun, rain, wind, sun, rain, sun, wind, SNOW, sun, and now partly cloudy. We will take rain all day if it helps to clear the ash even more from the skies. :-)

SNOW!