Partho was supposed to meet me in Berlin the day before yesterday. He wasn’t able to finish his work the day before and was stuck at Frankfurt because of some strike. He reached Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 9:30 AM and waited for me. We had some hot chocolate and cookies for breakfast following which, he checked-in.
An Indian lunch
Partho wanted to have an Indian buffet for lunch. About two weeks ago while I was in Hamburg for work, a colleague of mine took me to an Indian restaurant. I absolutely hated the food and swore not to go near any Indian restaurant. I was a bit skeptical but I went along just to honour Partho’s wishes.
A graffiti near Mehringplatz vandalised by more graffiti.
We went to a restaurant called “Delhi 6”. I was glad that I paid a visit. The food was not only better than my expectations but was better than a lot of Indian restaurants in India.
The bar inside Delhi 6. We had Chicken Butter Masala and Lamb Rogan Josh.
Checkpoint Charlie
We were headed towards “Checkpoint Charlie”, an important transit and patrol point for the Western forces and Soviet influenced East Berlin during the days of the wall.
En route Partho chatted up with a ninety-two-year-old lady whose name was Drachma. She was chatting with Partho in German and I was trying to follow them along. She talked a lot about how she views the various German folks and how her mother wanted a boy but her birth disappointed her. When we asked if we could take a photo. She didn’t directly say no, but instead joked if we would publish her photo in the newspaper. She followed it up with a story when a goon had followed her and tried to get into her house. She punched him and called the police. The latter had joked if she wanted to start boxing at a role old age.
We accompanied her till a McDonald’s shop near the checkpoint.
Checkpoint Charlie named because it was the third checkpoint at the wall. (No. C or Charlie according to the Int’l NATO alphabet.)
There was an exhibit regarding the erection, evolution and fall of the wall at Checkpoint Charlie.
Partho posing in front of a schematic map of divided Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was a meeting point of borders of all the territories controlled by different allied forces.
Brandenburg Tor
We walked till Brandenburg Tor and took some photographs. It was drizzling and my fingers were getting too numb to take any photos. We later made our way to a nearby coffee shop. I was more interested in the shelter than their coffee.
Brandenburg Tor at night. Even though the weather wasn’t favourable, a lot of people flocked around to take photographs and selfie. I had to wait a long time before I got a clear view.
We had a late dinner near Alexanderplatz. By the time we were done, it was shivering cold outside.
While walking back we chanced upon this amazing scenery near Reichstag. That’s river Spree.