Our fist stop of the day was the Winterfeldt market, probably not the best place to be when you’re still full from breakfast, but we had a good time looking through the stalls and drooling at all the displays of cheeses, meats, and pastries.
From there we headed up to the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (museum chronicling the history of the wall). It was a bit hectic, with lots of information about the many ways that people escaped from East Berlin. It went on, and on, and on, and eventually our stomachs told us that it was time to find a place for lunch.
We chose a random café just down the street, Café Persil. The waitress didn’t speak English, but helpfully gave us the English menu that listed everything except the specials. After trying to decipher some of the specials, we decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best, ordering specials #2 and 5. We were lucky, because they were great! I had spaetzle with a creamy sauce and crispy fried onions with a side salad, and Erik had fried ham chop, fried potatoes and salad. A satisfying meal, and only 20€ including beer.
We continued on foot to the Judisches Museum, a beautifully designed building housing the history of the Jewish Culture. This museum was excellent, well organized, very interactive, and very interesting. The museum contains the Holocaust Memorial tower, an unheated space, completely enclosed save for a small opening near the top that lets in a sliver of light. It was a very powerful.
After all that, we were ready for a break, and went back to the hotel to change and get organized for dinner. Our dinner reservations were at Oderquelle, a restaurant that was quite different from our previous night’s dinner. It was a cozy space, more relaxed, and perhaps more authentic. Other diners seemed to be mostly German, which is always a good sign. Erik started with lentil soup, and I had some dry and unexciting ‘Swabian Ravioli.’ Main courses included fried duck breast with gnocchi and cabbage, and roast veal chop with parsnips and roast potatoes. All of it was lovely, although both the cabbage and the veal chop had a very strong cheese on them, which was a bit odd (especially on the meat?). We finished the meal with warm apple crumble with a Calvados crème fraiche. Very tasty.
After the meal, we walked through the neighbourhood, and chose a busy café for one last drink. On the train ride home, we were entertained by all the people that were drinking (we were two of the few people in our car without bottles in our hands). We prolonged the evening by stopping again at a café across from the hotel, before settling ourselves on the couches at our hotel bar.
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